Public Servant Lifestyle

Patio heaters should be banned, according to environmental pressure group Friends of the Earth.

The Government should ban planet-wrecking patio heaters, Friends of the Earth said today. The call comes as a new survey by British gas warned of an upturn in the use of patio heaters following the introduction of the smoking ban later this year.

In April this year Friends of the Earth revealed that leading garden chain Wyevale is to stop selling patio heaters following concerns about the impact that these products have on climate change. Subsequently garden centre chain Notcutts told the environmental campaign group that they will follow suit and "have now elected to sell through current stocks of Gas and Electric Patio heaters and not to stock in the future".

Welcomed

A Friends of the Earth survey* of do-it-yourself (DIY) stores and garden centres shows that Wyevale is taking a lead on this issue. Wyevale's move has been welcomed by Friends of the Earth which is calling on other stores to follow suit, and on consumers to avoid buying these products.

The move by Wyevale represents the latest example of companies boosting their green credentials by removing polluting products from sale. The electrical store Currys recently announced it was phasing out the sale of incandescent light bulbs.

Friends of the Earth climate campaigner Craig Bennett said: "We're delighted that Wyevale has decided to stop selling patio heaters, and urge other retailers to follow suit. Using a patio heater for just one hour can waste enough energy to make 400 cups of tea. Climate change is the biggest threat the planet faces and the responsible thing for companies to do is to stop selling the most polluting products…we want people to enjoy sitting outside, but hopefully they can do this without buying a patio heater."

Patio heaters have been described as ‘environmental obscenities’ by former energy minister Malcolm Wickes, while, former Liberal Democrat environment spokesman, Norman Baker, called them “an absurd invention” saying that "It is ludicrous that people are trying to heat the open air".

While estimates of the impact that patio heaters have on climate change vary. The Energy Savings Trust has estimated that a propane patio heater with a heat output of 12.5kW will produce around 34.9kg of CO2 before the fuel runs out - after approximately 13 hours. This is equivalent to the energy required to produce approximately 5,200 cups of tea (or 400 cups for every hour of operation).

A recent report by the Market Transformation Programme (MTP) - which supports Government policy on sustainable products - estimates that there are between 3,000 and 12,500 patio heaters in the hospitality sector (pubs and restaurants), and 630,00 in the domestic sector.

It is difficult, however, to estimate the overall contribution that this ‘population’ of patio heaters is making to climate change because it depends on how much each heater is used. According to Friends of the Earth’s figures based on liquid propane gas sales for 2005 – excluding electric patio heaters - the MTP calculates that LPG patio heaters produce 22,200 tonnes of carbon dioxide each year.

Modelling

However, a modelling exercise by MTP on the energy use of the 630,000 UK domestic patio heaters calculated that they could produce a total of 140,000 tones of carbon dioxide per annum. This is roughly equivalent to the CO2 emissions from all the homes in the English city of Bath

In response to this Friends of the Earth is calling on:

Retailers to stop selling patio heaters and to do more to reduce the impact of their activities and the products that they sell

Consumers to avoid buying these products

Friends of the Earth's The Big Ask climate campaign is calling for a new climate change law requiring annual cuts in UK carbon dioxide emissions of at least 3%. The Government has agreed to introduce a new law and is currently consulting on the details: www.thebigask.com

*Friends of the Earth received answers to its survey from high street names B&Q, Focus, Homebase, Wyevale, and Nottcutts. Wyevale was the only store that indicated that it was ending the sale of patio heaters at the time as of June 2007.

PSP Ltd is not responsible for the contents of external websites.

More information available in Garden, Outside Living