Campaign to ban portable gas heaters
Master Plumbers is calling for portable gas heaters to be banned from all residential properties, claiming they pose serious risks to health and safety.
Portable gas heaters lack a flue or chimney to carry combustion products outside, meaning poisonous gases can be trapped inside the home. They have been banned in Canada, some US states and parts of Australia.
Master Plumbers believes New Zealand needs to follow suit, and is welcoming the government’s move to review the use of the heaters in rental properties, as part of its consultation process on the Healthy Homes Guarantee Act.
“The Ministry of Health warns that portable unflued gas heaters release polluting gases directly into a room, which can harm your health,” CEO Greg Wallace said.
“They are also a source of condensation, making homes damp.”
New Zealand had one of the highest rates of asthma in the world, a 2007 study finding that the health of asthmatic children improved significantly when unflued gas heaters were replaced with cleaner heating sources.
“It’s not safe to use portable gas heaters in sleeping rooms or small rooms, such as bathrooms or hallways. However, as they can easily be moved to any room it’s easy for you to put yourself or your family at risk by using them in these areas,” Mr Wallace added.
Manually connecting a LPG gas bottle inside the house also created a serious fire hazard.
The close proximity of the burner to the gas bottle, combined with the fact that gas leaks build up indoors, makes it a very real fire hazard,” he said.
The Healthy Homes Guarantee Act, passed in December, enables the government to set standards for rental housing quality in terms of heating, ventilation, drainage, moisture, insulation and stopping draughts.