Churches and Heritage building heating

Churches and heritage buildings and halls are notoriously difficult to heat. This is an issue because most churches, heritage buildings and halls are occupied only intermittently, e.g. just a few hours a week for worship.

Benefits of SunSwitch infrared heating for churches and heritage buildings:

Because hot air rises, tall buildings will lose most of their warm air up in the ceiling where it's of little use to the congregation. SunSwitch heaters counter this problem. They work by heating objects rather than the air, so people quickly become warm without wasting energy.
SunSwitch short wavelength infrared heaters work instantly, so there is no lengthy warm up period. This is of particularly significant benefit in intermittently used buildings where great cost savings can be made by turning on the heating only when the building is occupied. 
Electric heating is often the only option available to many remote churches and heritage buildings, because of the absence of water and other types of fuel. The good news is that electrically powered heating is comparatively cheap to install and significantly cheaper to run than say gas or oil.
SunSwitch heaters combine instant warmth with low, calculable running costs. And since pre-warming the building for hours will not be necessary, there is virtually no energy wastage.
Other types of electric heating are often fitted in churches, such as off-peak storage radiators, under-pew convector tubes, wall-mounted convectors, fan assisted, and radiant overhead infrared heaters. For better economy and efficiency, these can be superseded by modern shortwave infrared quartz halogen heaters, from the SunSwitch range.

Churches and heritage buildings and halls are notoriously difficult to heat. They are usually poorly insulated by modern day standards, and may have thick stone walls and floors, so they also may have a high thermal mass. This means they take a long time to heat up and a lot of heat energy is used in the process. This is an issue because most churches, heritage buildings and halls are occupied only intermittently, e.g. just a few hours a week for worship.

Traditional heating can be very damaging to older churches, particularly where they are subjected to weekly heating cycles. It is only in the last 150 years that we have sought to heat churches and often the signs of damage are evident. The thermal and humidity shocks caused by warming air, coupled with the release of moisture from people, produces condensation on cold walls, timbers and artworks. This presents a tremendous challenge for conservation. The damage is cumulative with long term implications. The black mould spots of the Stachybotrys fungus, dry rot and wet rot are all too familiar.

SunSwitch shortwave infrared provides a completely different heating technique with major benefits:

Instant warmth 
Highly controllable
Energy-efficient
Outstanding comfort
Kind to the building fabric

Bespoke Control Panels

Our off-the-shelf controllers listed below go up to 6kW and are great when installing one or two heaters. However, for larger industrial installations, where multiple heaters exceeding 6kW are being used to warm an area and require to be controlled simultaneously, we also offer bespoke control panels. For more information and to contact us with your requirements, please click here.