Lichtervelde (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – Sint-Jacob de Meerderekerk in Lichtervelde replaced its 45-year-old faulty heating system with gas for €140,000. Mayor Ria Beeusaert-Pattyn and Steven Dejaeghere led the project despite installation delays.
According to officials, the church in Lichtervelde municipality in the province of West Flanders, Belgium, Sint-Jacob de Meerderekerkthe is warm again after a year without heat. The work isn’t finished, but the next step is to make the heating system more energy-efficient. This includes adding insulation to the pipes and updating the computer program that controls the heat.
People won’t notice any changes while this is being done. The mayor is happy that the problem is solved. Fewer people went to the church when it wasn’t heated, so many services were held at a different church nearby. The whole project cost about €140,000.
“We have seen that our church was less visited, while many celebrations were also moved to the nearby Sint-Henricuskerk, which belongs to the same pastoral unit,”
Mayor said.
How did Lichtervelde’s Sint-Jacob church solve its heating problem?
The new heating system for the church arrived in November 2024, but it was hard to put in. The church’s door was very small, so everything had to be moved through it, which took a long time. It was like putting together a puzzle, said Steven Dejaeghere.
The company that was putting in the heating system went out of business. But the town’s technical department was able to connect the pipes, so the heating system could work even though it wasn’t finished.
“We were left with a half-finished heating system. Fortunately, our people from the technical department connected the necessary pipes, so the heating is already working,”
Says the mayor.
The town decided to use gas for the new heating system. They thought about putting heating panels above the seats, but those only heat the area around them, not the whole church. They also visited other churches that had those panels, and they didn’t like how they looked inside the church.
Officials mentioned that they didn’t want to change the look of the church too much. They said that they decided to use gas because it would be good for the church, comfortable for people, and would keep the church looking the same.
“Heating panels above the seats provide heat from close by. The air in the church does not heat up then. We visited several other churches and we thought that the view in the church would change too much.”
Says Ria Beeusaert-Pattyn
The church in Lichtervelde had an old heating system that was 45 years old. It kept breaking down, and even after fixing it many times, it still had problems. So, about a year ago, the town decided to turn off the heating system completely because it was not safe.
They then started thinking about what kind of new heating system they could put in. They talked about using oil or gas, or even putting heating panels in the church. They wanted to find a system that would keep the church warm but also protect the inside of the church and its history.
“The problems remained after every repair,”
Says Steven Dejaeghere of the technical service.
“We thought it would be safer to switch off the system a year ago.”
