Beacon

Portable gas heaters: they’re used in a third (35%) of New Zealand homes. They shouldn’t be.

On the face of it there are many benefits to using portable gas heaters.  For a start, gas is a relatively cheap option.  Cylinders can be easily replaced at most petrol stations for a reasonable cost. They provide high volumes of instant heat and can warm up a room quickly.  Because they don’t have a fixed vent, gas heaters are flexible, too.  They can be moved around in a room, or from room to room, so that when furniture arrangements change, or you need to be elsewhere in your home, it’s easy to change the placement of the heater. You don’t need a permanent gas connection to run one, so they are ideal for homes not connected to mains gas supply, or for those wanting to avoid monthly fixed connection costs. 

Associated health problems

But portable gas heaters are unhealthy.  Because they do not have fixed, attached vents to the outside, they release dangerous gasses into the enclosed spaces they heat: nitrogen dioxide and carbon monoxide in particular. Tests show that using an un-vented gas heater for just one hour results in levels of nitrogen dioxide three times the World Health Organisation limit for occupant health. Exposure to nitrogen dioxide inflames the lungs and reduces immunity to lunch infections, it prolongs the effects of colds and ‘flu, causes coughing and wheezing and results in more frequent and more severe asthma attacks.

In high concentration, carbon monoxide causes asphyxiation and death, but even at low levels it results in tiredness, clumsiness, loss of concentration, nausea, dizziness and headaches.  Worryingly, research shows that the long term, chronic effects of prolonged exposure to low levels of these gasses is fifteen time more consequential than short-term, acute exposure.

Quite simply, by using portable gas heaters we are risking the health of our families.  We’re slowly poisoning them, increasing their chances off illness, lethargy and discomfort.  While it’s unlikely to have fatal consequences, people living in homes heated this way are likely to be sicker more often, miss more school and work as a result, achieve less and be less active.

Generating moisture

But gas heaters do more than release toxic gases into our homes.  They are also a prime source of condensation and moisture.  Given how commonly they are used, it’s hardly surprising that 45% of New Zealand’s homes have problems with mould and mildew.

Mould is not just unsightly; it can cause irreparable damage to furniture, paint, wallpaper, curtains, window frames, wall linings and clothes. It smells bad, too.  Of even more concern, studies conducted by Otago University’s Wellington School of Medicine show that it also exacerbates respiratory illnesses and asthma. So not only are occupants in homes with these heaters exposed to higher levels of toxic fumes, they’re exposed to mould and fungi that makes them sicker, too.

To try and overcome the problem of condensation and mould, many homes simultaneously run a dehumidifier to reduce moisture levels in the air.  What false economy! Proverbially this treats the symptoms, but not the cause of the problem.  Dehumidifiers are expensive to buy, and to run – the initial purchase cost and the ongoing running costs are and probably far higher than the cost of installing a fixed vent for your gas heater – or better still, purchasing a ‘clean heat’ appliance to replace it.

Before you haul your heater out again next winter, consider the costs – the real costs – of using your portable gas heater.  It just doesn’t make sense – or dollars – to continue to do so.

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  22-Feb-2010 (Publication PUB/7)

  Unflued Gas Heaters Fact Bank (PDF 124KB)

  Vicki Cowan, Lisa Burrough, Verney Ryan

  This fact bank pulls together national and international research and knowledge about problems associated with using unflued gas heaters.