St Paul’s, Ealing: How one church cut their electric bills 20% by asking nicely
The Environmental journey at St Paul’s Ealing is impressive.
It’s not just the glistening new solar panels, all 87 of them, chunking out a staggering 36,000 kilowatt hours of electricity in the first 12 months after installation in May 2023. They look beautiful on the roof, sitting flush with the other slate, as they have been installed as an ‘in-roof’ system to be as unobtrusive as possible.
“A normal usage for a year is 31,000 Kilowatts per hour, but in the first 12 months we used 15,300 kwh,” explains Simon Richardson, the Director of Operations who has overseen the installation. His face lights up at the achievement of the church, which saved for 10 years to get the panels on the roof. A sign of the changing times, he reveals they had remarkably few hoops to jump through.
There was unanimous agreement from the PCC; the panels fell within “permitted development” from the Council, side-stepping the need for Planning Permission; and the project was signed off by the Archdeacon, so it didn’t go to Faculty. It’s an inspiring story, and an amazing testimony to the benefits of having a long-term low-carbon vision – but it’s not their biggest achievement.
Nor is the switch to 100% renewable electricity four or five years ago. The church has just moved to a 100% renewable biomass gas contract. Coupled with solar PV, their carbon footprint will be tiny. Yet their most impressive win is that, over a number of years, they’ve knocked a sizeable chunk off their energy bills for free, (despite their new renewable tariffs coming in slightly more expensive than the old ones.) This wasn’t down to big projects and massive spends, just through a series of small-scale efficiencies.
And a lot of it was simple behavioural change.
“It’s just generally encouraging people to turn stuff off” Simon explains. Pointed remarks on big signs didn’t play any part of it, instead they achieved it by “just talking to people.”
To make substantial efficiencies – for free – just by using a kindly manner must come as a huge encouragement to other churches hoping to reduce their carbon footprint and their bills.
“In the church we’ve seen a 32% reduction in gas, and a 40% reduction in electricity from 2016 to last year,” Simon smiles, “Which only takes account of seven months of solar production.” Other cheap measures included swapping out blown light bulbs for new LED ones, as well as getting motion sensors fitted on many light switches. It wasn’t a big job. “We had the electricians in doing other work anyway, so it’s just changing the switch panels or light fittings” he shrugs, an outlay which paid for itself in a short space of time.
For the gas savings, beside draught-proofing external glass doors with transparent ‘shower seal and squidgy plastic’, and adding carpet through most of the building for insulation, they had the building ‘zoned’ six years ago. Pre- programmable valves control which parts of the building hot water will travel to, meaning with a single boiler you can still run heat through only the zones you need.
It is all very impressive. And St Paul’s provides hope for churches on even the leanest of budgets that small outlays and a kindly reminder can create a massive difference to a carbon footprint. Not to mention those ever-worrisome bills.
The Diocese of London now has a team in place to support churches on their journey towards Net Zero Carbon.
Find out the top 10 things your church can do on that journey.
| AT A GLANCE |
| What was done? |
| · Solar PV – 87 panels. 36,975 Kwp system
· Zoned heating · 100% renewable electricity tariff and 100% biomass gas tariff · LED bulbs 25% reduction in gas + 20% reduction in electricity through energy saving (prior to solar): behavioural changes (lights off/sockets off, doors shut) motion sensor light switches carpeting in most areas draught-proofing glass doors |
| Reasons for action? |
| Solar panels create approx. 70% reduction in CO2 emissions and electricity costs through reduced usage, and resale back to grid
Renewable electricity tariff enables energy to be produced in a Carbon Neutral way for the National Grid Zonal heating reduces bills and CO2e emissions by tailoring heat to just the spaces/rooms being used LED light bulbs greatly reduce energy consumption – payback is usually within a year or less Carpeting creates insulation in flooring, reducing heating bills Energy efficiencies lower energy bills and CO2 emissions |
| Costs |
| Solar PV = £60,000
Zonal heating = £300 100% renewable tariff = small increase in rate per unit Motion sensors light switches= £10 to £15 each LED light bulbs = pack of 6 for £12 to £15 Carpeting = £5,000 Door draught-proofing = £10 to £20 |
| Funding |
| Ealing Council grant for solar PV = £10,000 |
| Length of time |
| Solar PV = 4/5 weeks to install
Zonal Heating = 3 days Carpeting = 2 days All other measures = 1 to 2 hours |
| Impact |
| Solar PV = approx. 70% reduction in bills and up to 8.85 tonnes CO2 saved annually
Carpeting = warmer and more welcoming feel in building Zonal heating means small spaces can be properly warm and welcoming as needed, whilst reducing heating costs greatly |
| Lessons learnt |
| Explaining vision and benefits to congregation gets buy in and support for changes
Time spent researching & asking lots of questions pays dividends Work with someone with knowledge of the subject who can offer guidance & advice Be flexible as things do not always go to plan Assume things will take longer than you expect |
Photos by Brendan Foster Photography
Article author Alison Moulden