Patio heaters in hot water with retailers over environmental concerns
Woodies and Atlantic Homecare have joined B&Q in saying they will no longer stock the items after the end of this year.
B&Q was the first to announce that it had 20,000 heaters left in its seven stores in Ireland as well as all its outlets in Britain, but that as soon as they were sold off in the seasonal period in 2008 they would not be replaced.
“This has been in planning for a few years — last year the company decided to only stock double-walled patio heaters to make them as environmentally friendly as possible and will now be phasing them out completely,” said a spokeswoman.
“As B&Q is the largest home improvement retailer to make this announcement, this is good news for the environment and good news for consumers, 64% of whom told B&Q in a recent survey that they consider green credentials important when they’re buying products.”
However, the company said it will continue to stock “more sustainable” outdoor heating products such as chimneys and fire pits.
Woodies and Atlantic Homecare said they too would be looking for more environmentally friendly alternatives.
Patio heaters are being stocked in their thousands alongside barbecues in supermarkets, DIY stores and hardware shops.
They range in price anywhere between €200 up to €350 or more.
A standard 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.
That is equivalent to the energy required to produce approximately 5,200 cups of tea. In two hours it will produced the same amount of CO2 as a car produces in an average day.
Yet the figures have not stopped the estimated number sold in Britain alone to rise from 1.2 million to 2.3m this year.
