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From January it will be even colder in the Geerteskerk of Kloetinge in Zeeland. The thermostat in the church is already at minimum, but since the beginning of the year the heating has been completely turned off.
Due to rising energy costs and the expiry of the energy contract, it is becoming too expensive for the church council to heat the monumental church, reports Omroep Zeeland.
Ab Lokerse, the caretaker of the church building: “We have to start heating on Friday to make it a bit comfortable on Sunday. It takes five hours to heat up one degree. So if you start heating around twelve degrees on Friday, then it will be 15-16 degrees on Sunday, which costs about 400-500 cubic meters of gas.
“We have calculated that we will have to pay around 1,000 euros for heating costs for each religious function”, says the president Willem Jan Duininck of the ecclesiastical council. “We discussed alternatives with the members, like moving to another building. But ultimately we decided to dress warmer.”
Not the only one
The church in Zeeland is not alone in taking steps to reduce energy costs. So close various universities the doors of campus buildings during the Christmas break and also hold shops and garden centres take into account their energy consumption.
The Wildlands Zoo in Emmen had previously lowered the temperature of the “Rimbula” jungle greenhouse eight degrees lower save money.
