St John the Baptist, Carhampton

Heating for Grade 1 Listed Church

Heronhill has successfully met the demanding requirements of the congregation of a Grade I listed church with the installation of a new heating system which copes with the aesthetic demands of the church and is cost effective to run.

Conservation architect Annie Evans turned to Heronhill to find a solution that would fulfil the need to make the large church space warmer, as well as ensuring its heritage remained untainted by anything as unsightly as 21st Century technology.

In conjunction with the appointed contractor, Western Refrigeration, Heronhill opted for two Mitsubishi Electric Standard City Multi Y Series outdoor units with a capacity of 25kW each. These were installed discretely at the rear of the church to ensure that they would remain out of sight to people using the entrance.

Ten indoor City Multi PFFY-P-VKM-E floor level, wall mounted units were installed to heat the internal space, strategically positioned to achieve the optimum heat distribution.

The units also feature a hot start capability, which prevents draughts at start-up, which is a key requirement in the church and one that enables the space to warm up quickly. In addition, at just 60 cm high and 20 cm deep, their presence in the church is able to go virtually unnoticed by its users.

The outdoor units feature a heating only option, which this installation makes use of as there is little need to cool the space at any time of year.

The units also feature a wrap-around coil for improved energy efficiency with branch pipes feeding the indoor units. They are driven by energy saving inverters with very low start currents and, in keeping with a gentle upgrade of such a historic building, there is no requirement for a plant room.

These units have a high-Performance Heating Mode which is perfect for low ambient conditions such as those found in the church in the coldest times of year.

The system is controlled by Mitsubishi Electric’s AT50 5inch touchscreen controller which has the capacity to link up to 50 indoor units and allows for daily and weekly scheduling, making it perfect for ensuring the church is warm when it is needed and also allowing small pockets of space to be heated individually when required for the meeting of smaller groups.

The challenge on this project for Heronhill was to come up with a solution that worked for everyone involved with such a historic building.

Nigel Manning concludes: “From local churchwardens to the parish council, Historic England, the Diocesan advisory committee, SPAB (Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings) and local authorities, there were quite a few issues to be addressed.

I’m pleased to say the Mitsubishi Electric system has met the demands of everyone – it is certainly a favourite with the congregation who are now much warmer than they have ever been!”