MeaganS Posted October 22, 2011 Share Posted October 22, 2011 We live in a 70 year old house (rented), with an ancient floor furnace as our only source of heat. It is placed in the middle of the hall, between our bedroom and our girls' bedroom, and across from the bathroom and the living room. It is basically the center of the path to get from one of those places to another. You only have about 6 inches of floor on either side, so you basically have to step on it to get anywhere. The thing is, it gets really hot. Like, melting toys that are left on it for 30 seconds hot. If I stand above it, I can see the blue flame about 8 inches under the floor. It looks like the one shown here, just older and in a much worse location. Last year, our oldest was 2 and our youngest was immobile. We taught the oldest to walk around it, and we only had one incident where she burned her feet (it was really sad). This year, though, we have a 1 year old walker who is still unsteady and can't follow rules, like "don't walk on that, it is very hot." Plus, if she were to fall on it, it would take her a while to get back up and she'd be pretty injured. The trouble I'm having is that this is basically making it so that we can only live in the living room or their bedroom, but not both, because they can't freely come and go with the baby gate I've set up for their safety. Does anyone with experience with these kinds of crazy dangerous floor furnaces have any better idea on what I can do? I don't think there's any alternative besides not using it, but if you have one, I'm all ears. Oh, and this is the last winter we'll be here, so nothing super expensive or permanent are a good option. Also, how are these things legal? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starr Posted October 22, 2011 Share Posted October 22, 2011 Is it legal? And if so is it being used properly? It sound like a potentially dangerous problem to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted October 22, 2011 Share Posted October 22, 2011 How cold does it get where you are? Can you get plug in units instead? Many of them aren't that expensive and have various childproofing things now. The cost of the electricity is the main issue... is the floor furnace gas or electric? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MeaganS Posted October 22, 2011 Author Share Posted October 22, 2011 The furnace is gas. We live in Arkansas, so it isn't as cold as some places, but our house can only run a few space heaters at a time (older circuits) and they just don't seem to cut it. We could maybe do it if we all stayed in the same room, but then we're back at square one. Even with the furnace, last year there was a week or two that we all had to stay in one room with the rest of the doors closed and the furnace only heating it because our house lost too much heat otherwise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Girls' Mom Posted October 22, 2011 Share Posted October 22, 2011 Wow, I sympathize. I would look into a different heat source if at all possible with little ones. My mother grew up in a house heated that way. She got some pretty severe burns when she fell on the furnace (she was preschool age). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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