Summer proves the ideal time to replace church boilers

The Parish Church of St Michael and All Angels in Tettenhall Regis, Wolverhampton looks at first sight to be a traditional listed church building. It is sited in one of two manors in Tettenhall parish, the other being Tettenhall Clericorum.

It is indeed Grade Two listed. But that belies a secret. In 1950 a terrible fire virtually destroyed the old church, leaving only the 16th-century tower and Victorian porch standing.

The church was rebuilt between the two extremities, in the modern Gothic style, creating a delightful hybrid of ancient and modern, which was consecrated in April 1955.

Time marches on, however, and a couple of years ago the church heating was in need of a makeover. The old boiler, which dated from the 1980s, had split, to the extent that flames were visible through the splits. It was time for a new boiler.

The church turned to church heating specialists Mellor and Mottram, based in Stoke-on-Trent, also in Staffordshire. Over a period of three weeks over this summer a team from Mellor and Mottram replaced the old boiler with a new, modern Gas 120 Ace 65kW model from Remeha.

The boiler was fitted with a plate heat exchanger to separate the boiler side from the heating side.

Stuart Mottram, MD at Mellor and Mottram, explained: “That prevents the heating side from over-pressurising. It also keeps any magnetite out of the boiler, which could damage it.”

In addition to the boiler installation, a pressure unit and expansion vessel were installed on the heating side, with the boiler side left to openly ventilate.

The new boiler at Tettenhall was one of a trio of installations carried out by Mellor and Mottram over the summer. The same period also saw them on site at Stoke Minster in their home town. Although the building itself dates from the 1820s, on the site of churches dating from the Saxon era, it only had the name Minster conferred in 2005 in recognition of its importance to the civic life of the wider area.

The church had been without heating for more than 18 months as the existing Clyde boilers, dating from 1982, were obsolete; so the team from Mellor and Mottram were a particularly welcome sight.

In the case of Stoke Minster the new installation comprised a brace of Remeha Gas 120 Ace 65kW boilers. Both are fitted with plate heat exchangers; and the pressure units and expansion vessels are fitted to both the boiler side and heating side. Like all such devices they are sized to suit the particular installation.

Stoke-on-Trent is contiguous with the borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme, which in turn includes the village of Knutton. St Mary’s Church in Knutton was the site of the third installation by Mellor and Mottram, in this case during July. Again, it was the boiler that was replaced – in this case an appliance dating back even further, possibly to the 1960s.

The new boiler is a Remeha Quinta Ace 65kW model. Although designed as a wall-hung boiler, in the case of St Mary’s it is fitted onto a free-standing frame.

Again, a heat exchanger has been fitted, together with a pressure unit and expansion vessel on the boiler side only.

In all three cases the chimneys were re-lined with 316-grade stainless-steel liners.

The controls fitted to all the boilers can be operated via a mobile app on a smart phone. All the upgrades have resulted in a saving of up to 45 % of CO2 emissions, helping all three churches to follow the Church of England’s Shrinking the Footprint policy.

By having the installations done during the summer all three churches are now in the perfect situation to stave off the winter chill.

For further information visit mellorandmottram.co.uk