Sales of room heaters have not zoomed as would be expected in the winter chill because of increased power cuts and a shortage of cooking gas, traders said. Halogen heaters which operate on electricity, gas geysers and blowers, among other heating appliances, are sitting on store shelves even though the temperature has been dropping by the day, they said.

Sales are down 50-80 percent compared to the same period last year, said most of the merchants. These items are usually in high demand during the winter season from November to February.

According to the weather office, there will be cloudy conditions in the Eastern Region in the next few days, and rain is likely to bring temperatures down further. A gradual drop in temperatures will continue for the next few days, but the Nepal Electricity Authority has announced there will be load-shedding lasting 10 hours per day. Similarly, there has been a rise in the number of transformers blowing out due to a power overload as householders have been using electric cookers with cooking gas in short supply.

“The mercury has started plunging in the Kathmandu Valley and across the country in the past few days, but we are not seeing a rise in sales for heaters. Perhaps frequent power cuts have discouraged consumers from buying room heating appliances,” said Bishnu Gyawali, sales manager of CG Electronics.

The company launched a range of new heaters which sold out. “We had brought 5,000 heaters by re-routing the shipment through the Bhairahawa customs point. But retailers have only a few units in stock. He said that 18,000 blow heaters were stuck at various border points. “Sales of gas heaters have come to a complete halt. Sales of some heaters have been slow, and demand has not picked up yet,” said Binil Bajracharya, national sales manager of Triveni Byapar Company, the authorised distributor of Yasuda, Panasonic, Samsung and Sansui.  

Uttam Dangol, the proprietor of Uttam Kitchenware at Mahabouddha, said, “We used to sell 10-15 units of heaters per day during this time last year. But we have been able to sell only two to four units per day this year.”

However, traders said that sales of induction cookers, electric kettles, microwave ovens and rice cookers had been increasing by the day as there is no cooking gas to prepare meals.

“Many customers are asking for electric cookers and electric cooking pots, but there have been few inquiries about room heaters although the temperature is falling. We also don’t have many room heaters in stock,” said Ishwor Dangol, proprietor of Ishwor Stores at Mahabouddha.