The Church Council warns a special meeting of the congregation on October 13, 2024, following worship, to decide on the following:
Will the congregation approve an amount up to $40,000 to install two heat pump systems, one for the sanctuary and one for the chapel/office space?
Quick background: In July 2023, the air-conditioning (part of the new furnaces installed when the office space to the church was constructed in the early 2000’s) stopped working. We called our heating repair guys and they got it running again, but warned that it would not last much longer. Indeed, a month later it failed again. Given that the refrigerant for that system is the old, ozone depleting kind, we decided not to pursue it. Then in June 2024, during our second serious heat spell of the summer and on the eve of the Juneteenth lecture held in our sanctuary, the air-conditioning unit servicing the sanctuary stopped working. The lecture that night was the first of several sweltering events held in our sanctuary last summer.
The Board of Business Administration began to investigate options and discovered that installing ducted heat pumps would be more cost-effective than ac units alone, partially because of rebates and partially because these units will delay the use of propane to heat the building in the fall and hasten the end of the propane furnace use in the spring.
These are ducted heat pumps, meaning that there will be virtually no aesthetic impact. I say virtually because the two condensers currently sitting outside (toward the back and under a sheltering roof) will look slightly different.
We hope you’ll be able to join us for the meeting on Sunday, October 13th following worship.
