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Comment by mikewarot | Hacker News Reader

A truck hit a pole near our house and we lost power overnight. It was running 2 burners with water on our gas stove all night long that kept our house from freezing, as it was 15 degrees F outside and 49 degrees inside. (Old house, no real insulation)

I was glad to have it as a backup plan.

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This is a really, really bad idea. Please do not do this. A quick search online will give you tons of results about potential fires and carbon monoxide poisoning.

https://ota.dc.gov/release/dangers-using-your-stove-home-hea...

Carbon monoxide detectors were in place, and, as stated, the house is drafty and cold, and I was staying awake the whole time.

I agree, it was a really bad idea, but better than letting the pipes freeze.

Do you have a carbon monoxide detector?

> It was running 2 burners with water on our gas stove all night long that kept our house from freezing

As in, boiling the water? Wasn’t it very humid?

Unlikely in the winter. My current humidity sits at 17%, for example, far below the comfort level (no house-HVAC humidifier installed).

I would welcome a couple of boiling pots in my room right now.

Yeah, I have a humidifier that matches the square feet of the house running and it can't keep humidity over 20% when it gets colder. Need to work on air leaks I guess.

You seem to be somewhere that has a real winter. I’m in a region of New Zealand where we have hot and humid summers and cool and humid winters. Our temperature range is only about 5-30 degrees C, which is small compared to many places.

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