St Mary's heating system is the result of an exhaustive search by one traditional English church to find the most cost effective way to reduce its 'carbon footprint'. We think it is important that the results being achieved by St Mary's Ground Source Heat Pump (GSHP) system become more widely known and this website is one way of achieving publicity. Each church building offers different opportunities for 'shrinking the carbon footprint' and we think schemes need to be compared in terms of the reduction of carbon dioxide emitted per year and their capital costs.

Our investigations showed that GSHP systems are much better in the UK than Solar Cell installations generating electricity when measured in these terms. For example, on present projections of savings of carbon dioxide emissions, the capital cost of St Mary's system will work out at between £2,000 and £2,500 per saved tonne of carbon dioxide emitted per year. By contrast, Solar Cell systems described in the press cost over £10,000 on the same basis.

St Mary's innovative scheme uses a GSHP system running on purchased 'green' electricity to heat both a Grade II Listed Church and a new Church House constructed with high standards of insulation. The system is dimensioned carefully to make the maximum use of GSHP heating, only reverting to carbon based gas heating in the coldest weather. The system has a very high level of instrumentation and data logging so that performance can be accurately measured and compared to predicted results.

Registered Users may view the detailed performance information available using the Login button on the right of the navigation bar above. If you wish to register then please click on the Register button next to the Login button. Registration is free for Churches and Charities but a charge may be requested from commercial users.

The links on the left lead to basic information for which registration is not necessary.

If you're new to the idea of Ground Source Heat Pumps try the 'What's it all about' section, then read the October 2005 Magazine Article and dip into the Brochure.