Health authorities want the 'poor person's heater” to be phased out of homes.
The Commissioner for the Environment's latest report says that, while regional councils deem unflued gas heaters a clean form of heating, noxious gases create dangerous indoor air pollution.
Health authorities say gas heaters create noxious gases in an indoor environment.
In her analysis of the 2014 Air Domain Report, Dr Jan Wright says health authorities wanted free-standing gas heaters, dubbed 'poor person's heaters” because they were cheap to buy, phased out.
Regional councils had the power to ban or restrict forms heating that polluted the outdoor air but not those that pollute the indoor air, says Jan.
Several have made strict rules, including Environment Canterbury (ECan) and Nelson City Council, around heating which pollutes outdoor air, including log burners.
The South Island has the most polluted areas nationally, particularly Timaru, Invercargill, Christchurch and Alexandra, because of colder weather and inversion layers that trap polluted air at low levels.
Open fires and older log burners were banned by ECan and Nelson City Council as part of their obligation to meet the government's standard of no more than three high pollution days a year by 2016.
'They [councils] have no influence over indoor air pollution,” says Jan.
'Because these heaters emit pollutants into inside air, not outside air, they are 'clean' from a regional council perspective.”
The heaters emitted water vapour, carbon monoxide and nitrogen dioxide, which is particularly bad for asthmatics.
8 comments
Wisechief
Posted on 26-03-2015 13:54 | By Wise Chief
So we ban them & let poor old's die of cold & their children also get sick & die of all sort of preventable complaints. I mean this IS THE KIWI thing to do these days to get revenge for Rich and Selfish many of whom have arrived from overseas with hoards of cash so don't care & who want our Social Welfare System dismantled so they can save on meager taxes they are forced to pay. So banning heaters which council-government already know are crucial to many elderly- poor and beneficaires just to be able to survive during cold winters will shrug their heads and dismiss the deadly outcomes of such a ban via many children and elderly dying as a result of inability to be able to afford heating, not that Kiwis really care. I mean KIWI's not to fussed about poor kids going hungry let alone col
My taxes pay for this
Posted on 26-03-2015 15:08 | By Murray.Guy
I accept that there will be all manner of assertions and recommendations that emanate from the dark recesses of a few minds BUT what gets me is that my taxes are paying these people!!!!
What about bars and resturants
Posted on 26-03-2015 15:17 | By Angel74
They use gas heating are we all getting closer to death while enjoying a meal and or drink while we are out.
These heaters
Posted on 26-03-2015 16:01 | By The author of this comment has been removed.
are dying a natural death. (Pun intended).
Oh my!
Posted on 26-03-2015 16:12 | By nerak
Dreadful thought, ‘poor old's and their children' dying or getting sick without the use of the inherently unsafe and unhealthy portable gas heaters. They might have been known as the poor person's heater, but there are superior, healthier electric heaters available, which, if used correctly, probably cost less to run. Fan heaters, for instance, or many of the newer types available, will quickly and efficiently heat a room, and there is almost no risk of a child being burnt, inhaling toxic fumes, getting health complaints due to the sheer amount of moisture introduced into a room when a non flued gas heater is in use. A quick search shows a selection of electric heaters from around $40 up. No gas bottle to refill (cost?) , no WOF for bottle (cost?). Guess what the WISE choice would be. And maybe less poor old's and their children will die or get sick
gassed..
Posted on 26-03-2015 16:43 | By Me again
Pray tell us Dr Jan wright who will or what will replace the heater that some of these people have purchased to keep them warm in the winter. All they have to do and I suspect they do, is a bowl of water near the heater and or a window slightly opened.It's is all very well saying these things need to be banned. What about replacement that people can afford. Ooh, pollution of gasses, then we will have to start walking, get rid of cars, buses airplanes, the list goes on, and on.
heating
Posted on 26-03-2015 18:03 | By peter pan
We have been using bottled gas since it came on the market years ago.We use a maximum of 5, 9kg bottles of gas each winter.We exchange our bottles and cost for year is around $165.00.We could if we wanted put in a heat-pump but at a cost of around $1800 to $2,000 and still have to pay for the power.In my opinion its a waste of money.By the way we are in our 70ties and have been breathing in all those evil fumes for all those years and funny thing neither of us are on any medication.Smile every day is a bonus.
Laughable
Posted on 26-03-2015 21:04 | By Capt_Kaveman
yet farmers can pollute whole districts with one pile of tree stumps and green waste, ban the heaters but lower the price of power, gas heaters when $12/$14 for 9kg was ok but not the price is crazy
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