CHURCHES in Devon are setting a good example to churches everywhere by their emphasis on shrinking their energy demands. Eighty churches, from all over the south-west, recently took part in a conference in St Stephen's, Exeter, to consider how to heat their churches more effectively.

They were being encouraged to carry out energy audits to determine how they could make them more efficient. There is a new national energy-measuring scheme, promoted by the diocese of London, that aims to grade our churches like fridges, and to improve them each year from F towards A ratings.

St Stephen's, the church they were in, was recently reordered, and uses ultra-efficient convectors that produce and circulate warm-air currents, with heat stored in ceramic plates. Examples were cited of using renewable energy such as solar electricity, burning wood pellets or wood chips from local sources, and drawing heat from the ground.

Those present heard that the regional project EcoChurch SouthWest had successfully installed more than 200 solar-panel schemes on church properties in Devon, Somerset, and Gloucestershire; and churches in Cornwall and the Cotswolds were among the first carbon-neutral churches in the country.

The Exeter Diocesan Environment Officer, Martyn Goss, pointed out that these measures were not only good for the environment. "If we can reduce our carbon, we can save energy and, therefore, save money, and still provide more comfortable churches for future generations."