Reznor creates a warm glow at St Giles-in-the-Fields

If the congregation emerges from St Giles-in-the-Fields church with more of a glow now, one reason could be the new Reznor warm air heating system that has recently been installed. Since the temperature has been lifted in the historic building in Bloomsbury, central London, worshippers can now concentrate more on the church service and less on the cold.

There has been a house of prayer at the site since 1101, when St Giles was a small village outside London, but the existing church was built in the early 1730’s, in the Palladian style of architecture. The church was designed by Henry Flitcroft who went on to work at Woburn Abbey, the seat of the Dukes of Bedford.

The previous heating system, which had been in place for at least 30 years, had broken down and was beyond repair. A replacement needed to be found that would satisfy the particular requirements of an historic church; that is, not to interfere with the existing framework of the building, to make use of existing under-floor ductwork, to be as energy efficient as possible, to warm the church quickly and effectively in preparation for services and to operate at low noise levels.

A Reznor heating system was installed, comprising a Reznor Europak PV 2095-20 gas fired warm air heater, complete with supply air fan, optional filter section and modulating burners, which provide enhanced temperature control. The system was installed by M&E contractor Alloyvale Ltd of Guildford.

Since no dedicated plant room was available within the church, the new system had to be located in the confined space of the church basement. This also ensured the system made full use of existing under-floor ducting. Access to the basement is very restricted and therefore the heater had to be specifically engineered by Reznor. It was supplied in sections and re-assembled on site.

Guy Bryn-Jacobsen of Alloyvale comments: “The project was very difficult logistically, but we were able to accommodate the new system very successfully, to the satisfaction of the architects, church ministers and the congregation. It has provided an extremely well controlled environmental system for the church with maximum comfort conditions.”

The Reverend Richard Haggis, Associate Rector, goes on to explain: “The new heating application has been linked into the existing distribution system within the church, leaving the framework of the building intact. It is proving to be economical to run and almost inaudible in operation, which is a great benefit.”

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