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Phil Burton

We are finding that our tower is becoming uncomfortably hot during the summer months.

As a sandstone tower, it tends to retain the warmth sometimes days after the heat outside has subsided. Similarly, in winter, the walls remain very cold even after a cold snap.

We have next-to-no ventilation in our tower. There is a large, partitioned, stained glass window (age unsure, but I'm guessing over 150 years old) on one wall. Opposite this is an arch shaped glass window with a circular opening which opens in to the main body of the church.

There's holes in the ceiling (for sound) and a trap door leading to a clock chamber.

The question is - does anyone have any experience of installing ventilation in a tower like this, and have knowledge of the steps required re. faculties etc?

I've considered putting vents in the floor, but I'm not convinced that would help much. The only thing I can think of is to put some kind of vent(s) on the stained glass windows - perhaps even a hinge.

Can anyone offer advice?

Peter Sotheran

We have a 24" wide (approx) wall mounted heater over the door. It is mounted on brackets which enable us to tilt the fan up and down. In winter (and chilly days) we tilt it down to make a warm air 'curtain' over the door; on days when the ringing room gets a bit stuffy, we turn off the heating elements and tilt it up, to blow cool (unheated) air horizontally over the heads of the ringers.

(I was intending to include a photo but I can't remember / find out how to paste an image into a message! How or where do I find or create a link to an image in my Picture Folder?)

Phil Burton

Thanks Peter - we already have a large fan which moves a decent amount of air, our problem is getting cold(er) air in to the tower.

We have a trap-door style entrance which has to be closed during ringing, hence my question as to whether anyone has experience of modifying stained glass windows, as that appears to be our only option of getting air in.

John Harrison

We have a trap-door style entrance which has to be closed during ringing — Phil Burton

I once rang at a tower where they put a grid in the trapdoor while ringing, strong enough to stand on.

Phil Burton

Yes - installing a grid, whether it be to the floor in general, or to the trapdoor, is an idea I have considered. A neighbouring tower has a similar thing.

My concerns would be that a) it wont draw much air in, and b) the air that it will draw in will just be from the base of the tower, which wont be much cooler air unless the tower door is wide open.

John Harrison

↪Phil Burton

after Covid we had plans (and in fact still do but on ice) to install a fan in the ringing room ceiling, ie in the clock room floor, to draw air up through thee ringing room. To avoid it going Barack downs thee rope holes wwe were going to feed it via a flexible duct to the clock room window. It got as far as flows rated calculations, fan selection and outline design but didn’t get progressed when the urgency passed.
Our concern was to increase the air changed rate to avoid build up of anything harmful. Heat wasn’t an issue since we already have air conditioning.

Peter Sotheran

↪John Harrison

A tower near us has dome the same. Their ringing room is quite small, perhaps only nine feet square with an eight foot high ceiling and entrance is through a trapdoor in the floor. A sturdy metal grill about 18inches square in the corner of the room allows fresh air to rise into the room and it is covered with a carpet sample square.
Another tower in the vicinity has a large bell-sized trapdoor in the ringing room ceiling, forming the floor of the clock chamber. For many years this was lifted and rotated a few degrees creating wedge-shaped holes in the corners, sufficient to aid ventilation but much too small to be a hazard.

John Harrison

a large bell-sized trapdoor in the ringing room ceiling, forming the floor of the clock chamber. For many years this was lifted and rotated a few degrees creating wedge-shaped holes in the corners, sufficient to aid ventilation but much too small to be a hazard — Peter Sotheran

Sounds like a trip hazard. And if the holesIf the hole is too small for a foot to catch in I doubt they do a lot for ventilation.

Peter Sotheran

↪John Harrison

All very valid points but in this particular location, the clock room had a locked door to prevent unauthorised access. I can't quote the dimensions of the spaces in the corners of the trapdoor, but they were effective ventilators and also enabled us to hear the bells more clearly. I should add perhaps that this was quite a long time ago, before the man from Health & Safety was even born!

The trap was closed some years later when the the ingress of birds transformed it into an avian hotel and the clock engineers declined to service the clock due to the state of the clock room and bell chamber.

Gerald Wilson

A tower I ring at has a metal grill which fits over the open trap door hole. We put a portable fan on the open grill and get quite a nice draft.

Robert Brown

I would have a chat with an air conditioning firm , the right kit will not only cool the tower down in summer but heat it up in the winter, with the right controls you coukd also set it to come on before you get there.

Graham John

Air conditioning and ventilation are not the same thing. A tower near us had air conditioning installed just before Covid, but then they worried about air flow and high CO2 levels and started investigating ventilation systems, although no conclusion reached as yet.

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