It is a pleasant surprise to report that this book (usefully and economically) does just what it says in the blurb. There must be many members of Parochial Church Councils (PCCs) whose knowledge of practical electrics dates from school (amps × volts = watts) and rather stops there. However, they know a cold damp church when they worship in one. This book gives guidance on how to make your church warmer, while trying to save the planet and the parish finances. It also gives a timely reminder that it is warmer to sit in the gallery if you have one, but climbing a pillar to reach a hot air level is not recommended.
This book answers the questions which have delayed many a PCC meeting: the boiler has broken for the last time; how can we afford to be sustainable in our heating? Why should we? How much will it cost to repair/replace? What method should we use to maximise/replace our old heating system? Will we get a faculty?
Every vestry ought to have a copy of this book for their PCC members to read, mark, learn and inwardly digest. Don’t wait until your heating breaks down. Plan now. Don’t just rely on the retired electrician in the parish. He may be out of date. However, don’t be seduced by trendy new methods. Take advice. This book not just another woke exhortation but you will find that it prepares you for the question which Chancellors/Diocesan Advisory Committees (DACs) are already raising about your rather old-fashioned proposals for improving your church heating. Hesitant about the route proposed by ‘keenies’ on the PCC? Worried about cost (both of installation and running) to your church? This book will help and guide you (and make you think). It has a splendid checklist and address list for experts. Usefully, it explains the options presently available with their respective advantages and drawbacks.
Read and use this book, then you can face your DAC or Consistory Court with a knowledgeable, firm resolve, even if your church is Grade 1 listed or the Victorian Society is prowling like a roaring lion in your churchyard. You will know what the questions are going to be and now you will have the answers.
If you don’t yet know your PPNZC from a gargoyle, or had given no thought to your church’s net carbon footprint, this book will guide you on what to do and (more importantly) why. It may result in warmer, cheaper, more ethical heating for your church.
The author, a conservation architect, is to be congratulated on a really timely, sensible and (jargon free) useful contribution to this practical debate.
