THE PRESS SATURDAY, AUGUST 20, 1983. Bigger carrot for clean air

Press, 20 August 1983, Page 16

THE PRESS SATURDAY, AUGUST 20, 1983. Bigger carrot for clean air

Once again, Christchurch is coming out of a winter aware that too little has been done to reduce the causes of air pollution since the smoggy months of a year previously. The case against air pollution is sound and well-known. It is dangerous, uncomfortable, and expensive; it damages property and people’s health, adding to the cost of maintenance and health care. Nevertheless, every winter, Christchurch continues to suffer. Winters continue to be reminders of the need for action, but good intentions seem to disappear with the smog for the clear summer months.

The decision by the Government this week, to increase the maximum level of interest-free loans available to Christchurch householders to convert home heating from open fires to electricity, might speed up the removal of open fires before next winter. The limit on loans has been raised from $250 to $l5OO. The increase is a recognition that the loan scheme, at the lower limit, was not encouraging nearly enough homeowners to switch to electric heating. In the first six months of the scheme, only 24 applications for loans were received by the administering body, the Christchurch City Council. These loans made a claim on only $6OOO of the $400,000 available each year in the scheme. Of this sum, the council contributes $lOO,OOO and the Government provides the rest. If the unused pool of money can be translated into the more rapid demise of the domestic open fire, the benefit to Christchurch will be marked. An outmoded and expensive method of home heating, the open fire must take the lion’s share of the blame for the smog that chokes Christchurch each winter. The former low level of loans available for conversion to electricity was simply insufficient to serve as a real inducement. The small number of loan applications suggests that the loans were taken up mainly by householders who had decided already to change to electricity; the availability of loans in itself does not seem to have persuaded many to make that decision.

The increased limit is more realistic. The scheme intends to bring about the removal of open fires, and associated wet-back water heating, to make way for fixed electric heating appliances. In many instances, this will also mean replacing the existing hot-water cylinder with one larger in size. Without the assistance of wet-backs, many small cylinders are incapable of providing adequate hot water for household use at peak times. For the cost of all this, $250 in an interest-free loan was a bagatelle; $l5OO is a more serious contribution. The borrowers will still have to find $l5OO of their own eventually to repay the loan, but the more sizeable sum, interest-free, will make the change to electric heating less painful. The loan scheme does not apply to conversions from open fires to solid-fuel heaters approved for use in clean-air zones. For many people, the certainty of a back-up waterheating system from a solid-fuel heater in the event of power cuts, or to counter the imposition of ripple control on electric heating, is an important consideration. Conversions to approved, solid-fuel heaters may be more popular than all-electric conversions; the council’s own figures show that during the time 24 loan applications were made for electric conversions, 800 householders sought permits to install approved solid-fuel appliances. Unlike electric heating, these appliances give off some pollutants, although much less than do open fires. By whatever means the open fire is replaced, Christchurch’s winter air is improved with each conversion. The increased loan level for all-electric conversions is a positive attempt to increase the number of conversions. The council must now market the scheme aggressively through the summer months, when conversions can be made without disrupting heating requirements. The people of Christchurch should be given every encouragement to avail themselves of the loan scheme; the city cannot afford to arrive at the threshold of next winter with so few conversions from open fires.