Dear Ian
Now that the weather has turned cooler, we have started to use our gas powered patio heater outside. It seems to be rather expensive to run, how can we economise? B.B. Carn.
Reply.The best way to economise would be to sit indoors and look out of a window at your garden! Patio heaters are amongst the most environmentally unfriendly objects on the planet, even more so than a 4x4 off road vehicle! There is something very enveloping about them though when there is a nip in the air. They have increased in popularity ten fold over the last year and one of the reasons is that pubs have started to install them in their gardens to accommodate all of the poor smokers who have been relegated to lighting up in the cold outdoors. Almost all of the heat that they produce disperses instantly into the atmosphere so they are incredibly inefficient. Using a standard 13kg canister of natural gas, outdoor heaters will warm up to 25sq metres for 12 hours. A gas fire with the same canister can warm a room up to ten times longer. The alternative to the heaters could be to get a brazier and burn logs that come from sustainable forests. Old papers can be formed into long burning logs as well by using a machine that compresses them. The only drawback to this is that it isn’t instant and it leaves a bit of a mess to clear up. Not too high a price to pay for a bit of heat in the cool evenings (I don’t think).
Environmental.
Now that the weather has turned cooler, we have started to use our gas powered patio heater outside. It seems to be rather expensive to run, how can we economise? B.B. Carn.
Reply.The best way to economise would be to sit indoors and look out of a window at your garden! Patio heaters are amongst the most environmentally unfriendly objects on the planet, even more so than a 4x4 off road vehicle! There is something very enveloping about them though when there is a nip in the air. They have increased in popularity ten fold over the last year and one of the reasons is that pubs have started to install them in their gardens to accommodate all of the poor smokers who have been relegated to lighting up in the cold outdoors. Almost all of the heat that they produce disperses instantly into the atmosphere so they are incredibly inefficient. Using a standard 13kg canister of natural gas, outdoor heaters will warm up to 25sq metres for 12 hours. A gas fire with the same canister can warm a room up to ten times longer. The alternative to the heaters could be to get a brazier and burn logs that come from sustainable forests. Old papers can be formed into long burning logs as well by using a machine that compresses them. The only drawback to this is that it isn’t instant and it leaves a bit of a mess to clear up. Not too high a price to pay for a bit of heat in the cool evenings (I don’t think).
Environmental.
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