Patio heaters produce more CO2 than a small city

The government should ban patio heaters, say environmental campaigners Friends of the Earth. A recent survey by British Gas suggests there could be a massive increase in the use of patio heaters following the introduction of the smoking ban this summer. (Green Building)

Earlier this year Friends of the Earth revealed that leading garden chain Wyevale are to stop selling patio heaters following concerns about their impact 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".

Estimates of the impact that patio heaters have on climate change vary. The Energy Saving Trust has worked out that a propane patio heater with a heat output of 12.5kW will produce around 34.8kg 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)

Read full story