The building itself is a two-floor multi-use space, fit with a large foyer, sanctuary, classrooms, community gym and offices. Despite the two levels of the church, there were no thermostats on the second floor. In fact, the building had been zoned for the north and south, so the two floors were controlled by one piece of equipment. The result was that the classrooms on the upper level would routinely reach 80 degrees, while the offices below would freeze, and staff required space heaters to stay comfortable. “There is no doubt that we were in dire straits. Our HVAC system was falling apart,” says Jon Lemmond, lead pastor at Trinity Covenant Church.

The gym was another issue. “The community room gets a lot of use, and it had historically been a challenge to keep the temperature comfortable in there,” says Chuck Burleigh, a member of the church since he was 13, who is a retired engineer and works as a volunteer facility manager. “We used to have issues with cold drafts that would blow through randomly.”

To fix the continual temperature issues, the church partnered with local contractor Jason Burns, owner of Focus Heating & Cooling, to design a new HVAC system that could keep every part of the building at maximum comfort, no matter the floor or season.

With the church’s new HVAC system, the building was rezoned to better meet the needs of both levels, which included zoning the first and second floors separately. Church staff no longer need space heaters while they work in the offices on the main level, and airflow in the gym was corrected to eliminate cold drafts and provide comfortable, balanced temperatures.

“I come in, the building’s cold, I turn the thermostats up, and the place actually gets warm quickly,” Burleigh says. “Everybody has been really happy with the system.”

Ruud always wants to do what’s right, and they always want to try to make a product that is going to last a long time, is easy to install and good quality equipment for the contractors and the end users,” says Jim Wheeler, Ruud district sales manager. And for Trinity Covenant Church’s congregation—and the larger Salem community itself—Ruud did just that, providing comfort to every person who walks through the church’s door.