Cleaner, cheaper heat came from forest surrounding church

 

 

By Rachel Pritchett, communicator
 
STEVENSON — The big oil furnace at Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church was 60 years old and at the end of its life.

For a replacement, members and friends of this tiny congregation in the Columbia River Gorge thought it might be time to look for a heat source that was carbon-neutral and less expensive.

This Thanksgiving, the community and church celebrated Shepherd of the Hills' new biofuel furnace, now fully installed and delivering heat that "absolutely gets in your bones," according to the Rev. Ron McClung. So far, the cost of running the furnace fueled by woody biomass pellets is about half what it cost to operate the old oil furnace.

Weaning themselves off oil didn't first come without a lot of research last spring by the congregation's furnace committee.

"A lot of them were skeptical," McClung said.

But in the end, it made sense to get heat from a forest products-based source produced by local people just a mile or two away. 

"We're surrounded by a forest here in Skamania County, yet we were using oil fuel," he said.

The Harmon Stoves furnace is about the size of an upright piano. Attached to the side is a small automatic feeder hopper for the pellets, which resemble pet kibbles. A bulk hopper that holds a ton of pellets is just a few feet away. To heat its small sanctuary and fellowship hall, Shepherd of the Hills goes through about a ton of pellets in five weeks.  The unit is so efficient that hardly any smoke comes from the chimney, just at start-up. Maintenance is low.

Members of the furnace committee were able to utilize the existing ductwork. They installed levers so that the heat could be targeted to specific spaces. They plan to move fans on the sanctuary's vaulted ceiling to circulate the warm air better. Among those at Shepherd of the Hills who helped plan and install the furnace were Tom Price, Norm Ward, Dave Hansen, Chuck Sweeney and Erich Geinert.

Total investment: $15,000, funded by a loan the congregation made to itself from its endowment fund. Total operational cost: about half of the $1,550 annually the church was spending to heat with oil.

"It my not seem like a big project to a lot of people, but to us it is huge," McClung said.

The people of Shepherd of the Hills feel good about using the locally produced pellets that help create jobs in a county where unemployment remains at 8.7 percent. And they feel even better about using waste byproducts from the surrounding forest for a fuel that's plentiful, completely clean and renewable. 

"It all came together," McClung concluded.

Pictured top to bottom: 

Norm Ward fine-tunes the gauges of the new furnace (Ron McClung)

Dave Hansen puts finishing touches on exterior modifications for the furnace. (Ron McClung)

Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church is in the picturesque Columbia River Gorge. (Ron McClung)

Members opted for he PF100 Harmon Stoves furnace model. (Harmon Stoves)