The Jefferson Avenue Baptist Church in East Point was built in 1952. The church had a 60-ton air handler installed in the historical church’s sanctuary attic during the original construction. Reliance Mechanical, Inc. was asked to come and service the unit and found several refrigerant leaks.

Due to the age and condition of the system, it was determined that it needed to be replaced. Since it was in a very difficult spot, a direct replacement was not attainable. As it was found, it would take a removal of the church roof to replace, and that was not an option on this historical building.

Reliance was awarded the replacement job. They consulted with their supplier, Johnstone Supply for the project. The local Fujitsu representatives, The Nixon Group LLC was also involved in the process. It was determined that the best design would be to install (6) 8-ton ducted air handlers and heat pumps. Used for the renovation were Fujitsu J-IIIL systems. The AOU96RLAVL and ARUH96TLAV matched systems were used to complete the replacement.

The first step taken by Reliance Mechanical was cutting the 60-ton air handler into small enough pieces to fit through the attic door and out of the building. They were then able to get the new air handlers back through the attic door and then ran new copper line sets down the side of the building to the storage addition where the old condensers were located. Reliance Mechanical then made metal transitions to adapt to the existing ductwork. Upon completion of the project, the system has done an excellent job of heating and cooling the sanctuary providing excellent comfort to the church members.