Smoking Bans and Outdoor Patio Heaters
The rise of outdoor patio heaters In the United Kingdom, the hospitality industry, including pubs, bars and restaurants, spent around £85 million on outdoor patio heaters after the indoor smoking ban was introduced.
Was this an inevitable consequence of forcing tobacco smokers to go outside? Increased sales of commercial garden patio heaters may well have been an anticipated side effect of forcing those who smoke cigarettes to do so outside.
This is not to say that I disagree with the smoking ban.
However a huge part of the appeal of going to pubs and bars for many people is to enjoy a drink while smoking.
Therefore to ensure that they do not loose their trade, these types of businesses took a rational business decision and spent money in vast sums on their outdoor patio heaters.
While it is comforting to think that they did this out of the goodness of their hearts, it is nothing of the sort.
Instead it is simply a business decision that many pubs and bars feel makes sense with regards to their bottom line.
If they can encourage people to continue to frequent their establishment despite not being able to smoke indoors then they will still be able to make healthy profits.
Politics and patio heaters Politics, health and the environment are not all mutually exclusive.
The decision taken in the political realm as a measure to protect peoples' health has unfortunately had a negative knock on effect on the environment.
However the patio heater manufacturing industry has been able to increase production and profits.
This just goes to show how seemingly completely unrelated fields can and do become mixed up with each other the more government gets involved with our lives.
Now it is being suggested that as well as a smoking ban, a ban be placed on patio heaters.
This is an interesting "answer" to the environmental problems posed by the use of outdoor heating appliances.
Of course if this kind of directive was passed some other unforeseen side effect may well become evident.
One potential outcome of this would be the scenario where smokers stop going out so much which results in a loss of business for the hospitality industry forcing some pubs, bars and restaurants to go out of business.
This could play a part in the shrinking of the economy.
A different outcome of a ban on patio heaters could be that smokers decide that their habit is not really worth all the pain of having to stand outside in the cold and therefore quit smoking.
This would be a more positive outcome which could lead to less pressure on hospitals treating people for smoking related illnesses and therefore people waiting for treatment for other issues may be seen more quickly.
These two hypothetical outcomes just go to show that political decisions are not taken in a vacuum.
Environmental impact of patio heaters Despite all the debate around the subject of outdoor garden patio heaters it has to be remembered that there are some facts that are known about their use.
An organization known as the Energy Savings Trust state that, a patio heater with a propane fuel source outputting 15.
5kW will give off around 34.
9kg of carbon dioxide in a thirteen hour period.
This sort of energy output is enough to make four hundred cups of tea for every hour that the heater is being used.
This just goes to show how energy hungry these appliances are.
Also the fact that they are literally sending hot air and pollution directly into the atmosphere is a cause for concern for anyone who is concerned about the environment.
Was this an inevitable consequence of forcing tobacco smokers to go outside? Increased sales of commercial garden patio heaters may well have been an anticipated side effect of forcing those who smoke cigarettes to do so outside.
This is not to say that I disagree with the smoking ban.
However a huge part of the appeal of going to pubs and bars for many people is to enjoy a drink while smoking.
Therefore to ensure that they do not loose their trade, these types of businesses took a rational business decision and spent money in vast sums on their outdoor patio heaters.
While it is comforting to think that they did this out of the goodness of their hearts, it is nothing of the sort.
Instead it is simply a business decision that many pubs and bars feel makes sense with regards to their bottom line.
If they can encourage people to continue to frequent their establishment despite not being able to smoke indoors then they will still be able to make healthy profits.
Politics and patio heaters Politics, health and the environment are not all mutually exclusive.
The decision taken in the political realm as a measure to protect peoples' health has unfortunately had a negative knock on effect on the environment.
However the patio heater manufacturing industry has been able to increase production and profits.
This just goes to show how seemingly completely unrelated fields can and do become mixed up with each other the more government gets involved with our lives.
Now it is being suggested that as well as a smoking ban, a ban be placed on patio heaters.
This is an interesting "answer" to the environmental problems posed by the use of outdoor heating appliances.
Of course if this kind of directive was passed some other unforeseen side effect may well become evident.
One potential outcome of this would be the scenario where smokers stop going out so much which results in a loss of business for the hospitality industry forcing some pubs, bars and restaurants to go out of business.
This could play a part in the shrinking of the economy.
A different outcome of a ban on patio heaters could be that smokers decide that their habit is not really worth all the pain of having to stand outside in the cold and therefore quit smoking.
This would be a more positive outcome which could lead to less pressure on hospitals treating people for smoking related illnesses and therefore people waiting for treatment for other issues may be seen more quickly.
These two hypothetical outcomes just go to show that political decisions are not taken in a vacuum.
Environmental impact of patio heaters Despite all the debate around the subject of outdoor garden patio heaters it has to be remembered that there are some facts that are known about their use.
An organization known as the Energy Savings Trust state that, a patio heater with a propane fuel source outputting 15.
5kW will give off around 34.
9kg of carbon dioxide in a thirteen hour period.
This sort of energy output is enough to make four hundred cups of tea for every hour that the heater is being used.
This just goes to show how energy hungry these appliances are.
Also the fact that they are literally sending hot air and pollution directly into the atmosphere is a cause for concern for anyone who is concerned about the environment.
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