Public Notice: Faculty for new heating solution for St Nicholas Church
View the Public Notice here
As many of you will be aware our current gas boiler at St Nicholas’ Church broke down last year and we endured a winter of cold services.
The Church of England has a policy of encouraging the replacement defunct heating solutions with ones which help us to achieve our Net Zero Carbon (NZC) target, and St Nicholas DCC and the PCC support this policy.
Following an Energy Audit of St Nicholas Church, extensive consultations with the Diocese NZC officer and with heating professionals, the PCC has authorised the heating solution in the Public Notice to be carried out to enable us to have a warm Church in the coming winter.
Briefly this consists of replacing the now defunct gas boiler with a more efficient modern one which will be used in combination with 2 air-to-water heat sourced pumps (AWHSP). The AWHSPs will provide all year-round heat to maintain the Church at 12C which is necessary to maintain the fabric of the Church and the organ. This will be combined with additional heat from the gas boiler for when it is very cold and to raise the Church to 15C when it is being used.
These solutions will use the existing heating infrastructure in the Church so no changes will be made to the main Church building. The new gas boiler will be located where the existing one is so there will be minimal disruption.
The AWHSPs will be in the relatively discrete area outside the Cloisters/Flora Humm corridor.
Photos of prosed AWHSPs location …
The AWHSPs will require a channel to be dug under the Cloisters/Flora Humm corridor to link it to the existing heating infrastructure.
The AWHSPs will be screened and protected by a mesh screen with plantings to soften the effect.
AWHSP Screening Diagram 1 of 2
AWHSP Screening Diagram 2 of 2
For more information on the operation of the AWHSPs see the Viessmann brochure . The heat pumps proposed emit 35db. This is comparable to the sound of a refrigerator or a quiet conversation. This is quieter than other outdoor appliances like air conditioners, and our placement will minimize the noise further.
In addition to a Faculty from the Diocese, we will also require planning permission for the AWHSPs and this has been applied for. The St Albans District Council planning reference is No. 14153131
If you wish to view more detail on the process and advice received the full document set can be found in the Parish Office, and in the Dropbox folder here
A member of the DCC or PCC will be available to answer questions in Cornelia’s on Saturday 26th July from 10am to Noon.