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Utilities
Posted: Sun Oct 29, 2017 8:33 pm
by Give It Time
Anyone have any idea how much it costs to heat a ward-sized church building (with 1/4 of a second story) in Utah?
This could be the one question that well and truly outs me, but if I'm outed in the service of getting the building warmer, so be it.
Re: Utilities
Posted: Sun Oct 29, 2017 10:19 pm
by Thoughtful
Give It Time wrote: ↑Sun Oct 29, 2017 8:33 pm
Anyone have any idea how much it costs to heat a ward-sized church building (with 1/4 of a second story) in Utah?
This could be the one question that well and truly outs me, but if I'm outed in the service of getting the building warmer, so be it.
Totally depends on the construction and insulaton.
I heated 2 houses in March. One was 2500sqft and poorly constructed. $285/mo to heat to 62 degrees. The other 3500sqft and well built. $85/mo to heat to 69 degrees.
Presumably the churches are heated with boilers rather than furnaces?
I was so cold at church today I almost passed out.
Re: Utilities
Posted: Mon Oct 30, 2017 5:21 am
by Give It Time
Thoughtful wrote: ↑Sun Oct 29, 2017 10:19 pm
Give It Time wrote: ↑Sun Oct 29, 2017 8:33 pm
Anyone have any idea how much it costs to heat a ward-sized church building (with 1/4 of a second story) in Utah?
This could be the one question that well and truly outs me, but if I'm outed in the service of getting the building warmer, so be it.
Totally depends on the construction and insulaton.
I heated 2 houses in March. One was 2500sqft and poorly constructed. $285/mo to heat to 62 degrees. The other 3500sqft and well built. $85/mo to heat to 69 degrees.
Presumably the churches are heated with boilers rather than furnaces?
I was so cold at church today I almost passed out.
I could buy clothes to make me warmer or I could look around and see that there are others who are cold, especially children and a couple of elderly. Asking people to shiver for three hours is just really rude. I could use the money I would spend on clothes and donate it requesting the bishop use it to heat the building.
Alternatively, I could bundle up in some crazy, whatever is warm combination, and then use the cold as the perfect excuse to only go to church for an hour.
Re: Utilities
Posted: Mon Oct 30, 2017 8:17 am
by Emower
Or you could move to Phoenix. We dont have that problem down here...
In fact I have noticed that in my building there is no AC vents in the hallways, only in the classrooms and Chapel/Cultural hall. It makes things kind of hot for a foyer dweller such as I.
Re: Utilities
Posted: Mon Oct 30, 2017 8:34 am
by Red Ryder
Please take a sweater, jacket, or snow suit. Us "hot" guys can't take anything off to cool down when the temperature inside the building is over 78 degrees.
Re: Utilities
Posted: Mon Oct 30, 2017 9:25 am
by Korihor
Most modern LDS meetinghouses don't have boilers. They run forced air systems.
I don't know how much they pay in utility costs. One challenge is the buildings aren't occupied 24/7 like a regular house, so they only run the heat/AC when the building is in use. So Sunday morning could be cold because they turned the heat on only and hour or two before the church services began. It takes a while to heat all that mass.
I don't think it's utlities cost concern, I think the chruch is more than willing to pay the gas and electric company. I think it's just a logistics and timing issue as the seasons are changing and they get accustomed to new schedules and temperatures. Just ask the bishop's wife if she is cold and the problem will be remedied very quickly.
As Emower and RR mentioned, we are still running AC units in PHX.
Re: Utilities
Posted: Mon Oct 30, 2017 2:59 pm
by Give It Time
Emower wrote: ↑Mon Oct 30, 2017 8:17 am
Or you could move to Phoenix. We dont have that problem down here...
In fact I have noticed that in my building there is no AC vents in the hallways, only in the classrooms and Chapel/Cultural hall. It makes things kind of hot for a foyer dweller such as I.
I used to live in AZ and I was sitting in RS in February. I happens to be sitting under a vent and I swear that thing was spitting ice at me. I was looking at the vent trying to figure out if those were actual ice crystals I felt in my face when the teacher called in me!
Re: Utilities
Posted: Mon Oct 30, 2017 3:20 pm
by Give It Time
Red Ryder wrote: ↑Mon Oct 30, 2017 8:34 am
Please take a sweater, jacket, or snow suit. Us "hot" guys can't take anything off to cool down when the temperature inside the building is over 78 degrees.
I was PM-ing with a friend, last night, and this very subject came up. How the church is cold, how there are women and children in lighter-weight clothes and the men in suit coats.
What I'm thinking, right now, is a much more productive thread than complaining about porn shoulders and socks with sandals would be actually designing a dress code wear everyone is thermostatically comfortable in the same building for three freaking hours.
Re: Utilities
Posted: Mon Oct 30, 2017 3:25 pm
by Give It Time
Korihor wrote: ↑Mon Oct 30, 2017 9:25 am
Most modern LDS meetinghouses don't have boilers. They run forced air systems.
I don't know how much they pay in utility costs. One challenge is the buildings aren't occupied 24/7 like a regular house, so they only run the heat/AC when the building is in use. So Sunday morning could be cold because they turned the heat on only and hour or two before the church services began. It takes a while to heat all that mass.
I don't think it's utlities cost concern, I think the chruch is more than willing to pay the gas and electric company. I think it's just a logistics and timing issue as the seasons are changing and they get accustomed to new schedules and temperatures. Just ask the bishop's wife if she is cold and the problem will be remedied very quickly.
As Emower and RR mentioned, we are still running AC units in PHX.
You have a point, but I've been attending this building for over ten years and this is the first time it's been uncomfortably cold for two weeks in a row. I thought the first week was an experiment and the bishop would raise the thermostat, but it was cold yesterday and I think things are going to stay this way. We are actually the later ward so the building is as warm as it's going to get.
Personally, I think what's happening here is a budget cut. The wards that occupy the building could be losing members, ergo, losing tithing which results in a reduction in funds coming back from SLC.
Re: Utilities
Posted: Mon Oct 30, 2017 6:55 pm
by Just This Guy
Part of the problem could be who is setting the temperature. A man wearing a wool suit will be warmer than a lady is a lighter dress. So to the guy in a suit, it could be perfectly fine. Someone wearing warm clothes could be setting it to their comfort level.
Another issue is that semi modern buildings are commonly divided into different zones. Just because you turn the heat on in one part of the building, does not mean another part will get heat. So when someone comes in to tun on the heat, do they do it throughout the building or just one part of it? Could they be missing a zone or two?
Re: Utilities
Posted: Mon Oct 30, 2017 7:09 pm
by Jeffret
Give It Time, can you talk with the ward leadership and see if they can do anything to improve it?
It seems possible that it's a problem that the leadership just doesn't recognize. Maybe if they receive some feedback, they'd be willing to make a change. If nothing else, you might learn something from the answer.
I recognize that sometimes there are problems like this in the switch-over or shoulder seasons. The equipment may not be set up for the change. Or it may not be responding correctly. Or the people managing it may not have caught up to the seasonal changes.
Re: Utilities
Posted: Mon Oct 30, 2017 7:20 pm
by Give It Time
Just This Guy wrote: ↑Mon Oct 30, 2017 6:55 pm
Part of the problem could be who is setting the temperature. A man wearing a wool suit will be warmer than a lady is a lighter dress. So to the guy in a suit, it could be perfectly fine. Someone wearing warm clothes could be setting it to their comfort level.
Another issue is that semi modern buildings are commonly divided into different zones. Just because you turn the heat on in one part of the building, does not mean another part will get heat. So when someone comes in to tun on the heat, do they do it throughout the building or just one part of it? Could they be missing a zone or two?
Very well could be.
I have no clue. I know the bishop is aware of the situation, because he said, "yeah, yeah" in that annoyed way to the comments. Now, remember, this is the more compassionate bishop, not the asshat, so I really do want to give him the benefit of the doubt. That's why I keep harping I think it could be budget.
Re: Utilities
Posted: Mon Oct 30, 2017 7:54 pm
by Thoughtful
I'm pretty sure my building (circa 1980) uses a boiler as do all the large buildings (schools) in town. Once the boiler is on, it's on for the season. So it's cold until they turn it on.
To convert a building to ducting for a/c or forced air can cost millions especially if you're building infrastructure.
So it really may depend on how old the building is. Something built 2000 or later might have a furnace, but boilers are common in "older" buildings. 1980 doesn't seem that old though, but Yes in the West it's kinda old.
Re: Utilities
Posted: Mon Oct 30, 2017 9:28 pm
by Give It Time
Thoughtful wrote: ↑Mon Oct 30, 2017 7:54 pm
I'm pretty sure my building (circa 1980) uses a boiler as do all the large buildings (schools) in town. Once the boiler is on, it's on for the season. So it's cold until they turn it on.
To convert a building to ducting for a/c or forced air can cost millions especially if you're building infrastructure.
So it really may depend on how old the building is. Something built 2000 or later might have a furnace, but boilers are common in "older" buildings. 1980 doesn't seem that old though, but Yes in the West it's kinda old.
It might be the case they are delaying turning it on.