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02 January 2009

Baby, it's cold outside – and I ran out of heating oil. Is it safe to have an electric oven on continuously as a space heater?→[More:]
I have electric baseboard heat upstairs, which usually isn't on at all. The main heat for the house is a Monitor-type heater downstairs, and I will not get fuel delivery until tomorrow. I'm worried about pipes freezing in the outside wall of the kitchen (downstairs), so I've turned the oven on with the door open.

Can the heating elements in a modern (two-year old) oven be on continuously for twenty-four hours without burning out or damaging them?

post by: D.C. at: 20:27 | 11 comments

I don't know if it's safe.

But I have done it.

Can you run get a small space heater somewhere?

posted by bunnyfire 02 January | 21:19

Drip the faucets (warm if possible, even if not, drip cold to keep the pipes running) and run the oven on a low heat until you go to bed. I'd shut it off then, but you could probably run it on warm all night. . .I'm in Virginia so the direness of the situation may be lost on me.

posted by rainbaby 02 January | 21:29

The "self-cleaning" feature of my (electrical) oven involves having it on for quite a few hours.

Don't come back to haunt me if your house catches on fire, though.

posted by qvantamon 02 January | 21:55

I think it's bad for your oven, but not too bad for you. (IANAFM*)

Running a gas oven as a heater is more problematic.

*I am not a fire marshal

posted by BoringPostcards 02 January | 22:27

I wouldn't do it. Leaving any kind of electric heating element on for 24 hours straight probably isn't a good idea, but the oven is probably safer than a space heater. Inefficient, but safer.

I'd put on a few sweaters, leave the pipes on a slow warm drip and bite the bullet for a while.

posted by arratik 02 January | 23:09

Thanks all. I decided to not risk damaging my new-ish oven so I went out and bought a micathermic flat-panel radiator heater (that exact model). With the electric heat also on upstairs, it's keeping things downstairs warm enough, I think.

Winters are not Interior Alaska cold here on the southern coast. It's warming up to snow more tonight (13° F at the moment), but this place is only a few years old so nobody really knows how easily the pipes in the exterior walls will freeze. I'm hoping not to find out.

posted by D.C. 03 January | 02:54

Here's a photo of my neighborhood" taken today, but my place is just out of frame. (Not my photo, either.)

posted by D.C. 03 January | 03:22

good choice, D.C.; I hope you can get fuel soon! One's heating fuel always runs out on the holidays, I've learned.

posted by taz 03 January | 04:21

Dude. I SO did not realize your heat went out and it was frikkin' Alaska. I hope you're not suffering!

posted by Stewriffic 03 January | 07:10

I did when my buildi g's boiler went out once. But, it was my landlord's oven so I wasn't really concerned about the damage. It seemed to work ok after , though, and I didn't die.

posted by kellydamnit 03 January | 15:29

Running the oven at low temp with the oven door cracked is probably fine. Last time I ran out of oil, I ran the self-cleaning cycle, which it needed anyway, so I didn't mind the expense, and it kept the pipes okay.

What a pain. Good luck.

posted by theora55 03 January | 16:31

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