DRU Kamara wall heaters provide comfort and efficiency to rural village church

St Peter’s Anglican church is in the picturesque rural village of Stoke Lyne, near Bicester, Oxfordshire. It dates back to Norman times and still has several 12th century features. These include a priest’s doorway in the chancel, a chancel arch, three small lancet windows and the main south doorway.

The church has undergone many alterations and updates over the ensuing centuries, but still retains its unique charm and historical appearance. Services are held twice weekly and it hosts many other regular village activities.

The church committee recently embarked on a phased replacement of its Calor LPG-powered heating system. The existing heaters were over 15 years old and lacked the capacity and energy efficiency of more modern appliances.

After considerable research, the committee opted for DRU Kamara 16 powered flue wall heaters from Drugasar. These models have a substantial 16 kW heat output, forced air convection and a 92% efficiency rating. They also perform equally well on mains gas or LPG.

An additional benefit is that they can heat up the building in less than two hours prior to a service or community meeting. So, unlike a wet central heating system, they don’t have to be run continuously.

Air is drawn from outside the building for combustion through an unobtrusive flue which is inserted through the outside wall. This means that there is no depletion of the air inside the church, resulting in comfortable as well as efficient heating.

Although only two of the existing heaters have so far been replaced, early indications would suggest that there is a significant reduction in LPG consumption. This can only improve once all of the new heaters are in place.

The installation was carried out by DRU approved heating engineer Martyn Bentley of Burntwood, Staffordshire, who is a specialist church heating contractor. Chris Poole, joint churchwarden of St Peter’s expressed the church’s satisfaction with the project and the quality of workmanship shown by Martyn and his team.