People, places or buildings without mains water or power
 
Subscribe to RSS feed


HomeShopDiscussArchive by month (by subject at end of page)RelaxClassifiedsLogin

We love outdoor gas heaters


Section: — by veg-head @ 31 Jan 2008
patio heater outdoors
Stay warm

Below is a list of ten things we would rather ban before even considering the restrictions on Outdoor Heaters to help tackle climate change being debated today in the European Parliament.

Patio heaters can be an important luxury in your off-grid life. There is often not a big difference between the temperature inside or outside your shelter, especially in spring and autumn, so you spend more time outside than most. And as in Sweden, you find that an outdoor heater is a joyous thing. Anyway, they have a minimal effect on the climate, especially the MOST EFFICIENT 37,500 BTU’s FROM AMAZON US or try this Heater from Amazon UK.

Because they rely on highly finite Calor gas (butane or propane) bottles, there is littlel moral hazard. When you live off-grid you are always watching your energy consumption. You would stupid to go out for the evening and leave your patio heater burning. Before the EU legislates for stupidity amongst the owners of Patio heaters:

TEN THINGS TO BAN BEFORE PATIO HEATERS

10. Stretch limousines
9. First-class check-in at Airports
8. Plasma TV Screens
7. Travel allowances and research budgets for MEPs, MPS and Senators
6. Chewing gum
5. Political advertising during elections – let them go on the stump
4. Free newspapers — trees die for nothing
3. Celebrity charity events
2. Electrical equipment on standby

AND THE NUMBER ONE THING TO BAN BEFORE PATIO HEATERS

Building new golf courses – they suck up the world’s water supply!

The heaters have a minimal effect on the environment, an expert said yesterday. Dr Eric Johnson, national expert reviewer for the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, said plasma televisions produced far more carbon dioxide than patio heaters.

‘The overall impact of outdoor heaters on global warming and greenhouse gas emissions is very minimal, and once you look at the domestic models used in homes, the impact is almost non-existent,’ he said.

‘Once comparisons start with wellknown offenders such as aeroplanes, outdoor heaters dwarf in comparison. In fact, plasma TVs produce far more CO2 than patio heaters when you compare normal usage patterns for each appliance.

‘What constitutes a waste of energy is always going to be open to debate but it is important that the public is properly educated about environmental impacts.’

Dr Johnson said Government figures showed that emissions from all domestic patio heaters amounted to 22,200 tons of carbon dioxide – only 0.002 per cent of the total UK CO2 emissions.

By contrast, TVs produce 4.6million tons of CO2 a year in the UK. It would take an equivalent of more than five patio heaters to produce as much CO2 as one TV on stand-by mode does in a year.

Today’s European Parliament vote was initiated by Liberal Democrat MEP Fiona Hall, who represents the North-East.

She has also called for the abolition of the stand-by mode on electrical appliances and new EU-wide minimum standards for energy efficiency covering air conditioning, TV ‘decoder’ boxes and lightbulbs.

If her motion is passed the Commission will have to consider it. The resolution does not specify how long the phasing-out period should be, saying the decision should be left to the Commission.



Possible related posts:

    You do NOT need to be registered to post a comment!

    3 Comments »

    1. Heating Guide » Blog » It’s OK to Use Patio Heaters:

      [...] The European Parliament is set to ban patio heaters in a bid to help the environment, the misguided view by ministers is that the ban will substantially reduce CO2 emissions, a view that Dr Eric Johnson does not agree with… “The overall impact of outdoor heaters on global warming and greenhouse gas emissions is very minimal, and once you look at the domestic models used in homes, the impact is almost non-existent,” A view that off-grid.net, the green un-plugged site, agrees with. [...]

    2. Mike:

      In absolute terms I’m sure they do have virtually no impact, and if we disregard the silly anti-politician posturing in the above list of 10 things then for sure there are more significant problem areas to tackle.

      But patio heaters are a complete unnecessary frippery, and there IS something morally obscene about heating the outside.

      They should go – no doubt about it.

    3. co2 gas:

      co2 gas…

      Your topic The Greenroom ” Forum Archive ” Pass Cap-and-Tax or Your Puppy Will Die was interesting when I found it on Sunday searching for co2 gas…

    RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URI

    Leave a comment

    (required)

    (required)



    • Loading...
    • INTERN WANTED

      • For Off-Grid.Net.
        Working from home is OK. Recent journalism grad would be ideal. Tasks: research, writing, dealing with PRs, occasional travel.
      • Send resume to nick@off-grid.net
    • OFF-GRID TV

      • We are preparing a TV series for possible broadcast next year. We are looking for people who currently live off-grid anywhere in the world, and for people who want to live off-grid but do not yet do so. This might be in a community or an individual situation.
      • Please Contact
      • nick@off-grid.net
      • + 44 7971 543703
    • Loading...

    • Loading...