The Project
In this case study we delve into a quartz halogen heater installation at St Michael & All Angels church in Creaton, Northampton. St Michaels was looking to switch its inefficient gas heating system over to a low carbon direct electric system.
This project was expertly installed by our friends at Bennett Electrical. In addition to installing the heaters, Bennett Electrical worked with Western Power to upgrade the incoming electrical supply to the church and were tasked with stripping out the old gas heating system. This is how it all unfolded.
It was a pleasure working with Jamie and his team at Bennett Electrical
Magic lamp heaters provide shortwave radiant heat without a deep red glow
The Church
St Michael & All Angels is a quintessential rural church with parts of the church dating back to the 12th century. As it’s a grade II listed building, it was essential that we designed a heating scheme that was unobtrusive as possible whilst still keeping the congregation warm in the winter months.
As the church is intermittently used, it was also vital we designed a heating system that was instantly effective with zero per-warming required. By switching from gas to a renewable energy source, St Michaels is well on it’s path to becoming net zero carbon as per the Church of England’s initiative.
The Specification
After carrying out a site visit with church’s treasurer and Jamie from Bennett Electrical, we were then tasked with designing a scheme to heat the pews in the nave, aisle and add some heating to the chancel. This was going to be done by installing our zero glare ‘magic lamp’ quartz halogen heaters as per the drawing.
Specification:
7 x 3kW quartz halogen heaters
4 x 1.5kW quartz halogen heaters
BN Thermic offer a free design service for any church or heritage building
The team at Bennett Electrical did an excellent job installing the heaters and upgrading the power supply to the church
The Heaters
Quartz halogen heaters provide instant comfort heat making them ideal for heating people in intermittently used churches. Quartz heaters heat people directly not the surrounding air meaning the church will no longer suffer from the high heat loss associated with their gas boiler system. Creating and maintaining a warm body of air with a gas heating system is costly as heat rises escapes through the uninsulated ceiling.
Zero glare magic lamps were also crucial for this project. A standard quartz lamp tends to give off a deep red glow which can be unwanted by a church. Magic lamps give off the same punchy heat as a standard lamp but with zero red glow – see photos.
Control
Control is crucial to keeping running costs to a minimum. To avoid the heaters being left on when the church is unoccupied, Jamie wired the heaters in zones and controlled them via push button timers. When activated, the timers energize the heaters for a set period of time and they switch off automatically.
This method is the most common way to control quartz halogen heaters and we always advise replicating this.
Zoning heaters with push button timers keeps running costs to a minimum and avoids the heaters being left on when the church is unoccupied
An example of the tidy work carried out by Bennett Electrical
The Finished Project
The finished project was a huge success and we thank Jamie and his team at Bennet Electrical for the images.
The church treasurer also had some very kind words about Jamie and his install.
‘Jamie, many thanks on an excellent job, almost looking forward to cold weather! Also very impressed with your lads – you have a good team.’
BN Thermic design heating systems for any size church. Please get in touch with us to discuss your heating requirements – 01293 547 361.