Energy crisis: reducing lighting and heating in churches

Because in some church buildings there are also valuable artefacts where a constant temperature is important, such as in the Saint Salvator Cathedral in Bruges. Bart Vercauteren, Diocese of Bruges: “It is heated with warm air that is circulated from the grilles in the building. We have a constant temperature that we maintain in the winter, but we have decided to install the heating as late as possible and that maintain a constant temperature.”

A degree less and a pull more for those who visit the church. This happens here in the Saint Salvator Cathedral in Bruges, but also in many other churches of the diocese. “We now see a lot of church factories that contact us because they are having problems with the budget for utilities. That ranges from a few thousand to tens of thousands of euros that they have to make up. We are lucky that the municipalities have to make up for our shortages, but that does not mean that that this is a blank check.”

That is why the diocese has issued guidelines. The lighting and heating are reduced and the celebrations are more closely aligned.