Patio heaters
Why everyone’s talking about...
This Saharan heatwave has fuelled a boom in al fresco dining. But when the weather cools, we’ll still want to sit outside in the evenings. Hence our increasing infatuation with patio heaters, those ubiquitous features of pub pavements.
Not for long, perhaps. They make greens red in the face with anger, believing them grotesque symbols of environmental vandalism. (Indeed one of the bestsellers used to be called the Sahara Big Burn). These fears are why France has just announced a ban on heaters on bar and cafe terraces, which could be the thin end of the legislative wedge.
Won’t that hit businesses already crippled by Covid?
Possibly. Heaters have proliferated since the smoking ban, when around half of British pubs bought at least one.
How much environmental damage could one heater possibly do?
Quite a bit. Wags say that pointing a hair-dryer at someone’s head would make more sense. Friends Of The Ear t h says the energy used by a heater in an hour is the same as boiling a kettle enough times to make 400 cups of tea. A pub running five heaters over the winter produces as much carbon dioxide as someone driving a car three times around the world.
On the other hand, one expert used by the United Nations has said that TVs are a bigger threat to the planet, as patio heaters account for just 0.002 per cent of British emissions.
That doesn’t sound so bad…
They can be dangerous, too. Last year, a blaze at The Ivy restaurant in Manchester city centre was blamed on a patio heater. In 2015, four people were hurt when one exploded in Basildon, Essex. And in 2013, Liam Payne, from boy band One Direction, saved a friend when a heater caught fire on the balcony of his East London penthouse.
The heaters also attract mosquitos – but the most persuasive reason not to get one for your home is probably that they’re seen as being a bit, well, naff…
Then what on earth could I do to stay warm in my garden when the evenings get cooler?
Have you considered a nice sensible cardie?