Getting to Know Your Victorian Gas Heater

Moving into a 15 year old Victorian house was a bit of an adjustment after living in a brand new house for several years. One of the things that scared me the most was the gas heater. There were four of these old contraptions that the gas company quickly came out and put big red tags on. I wasn’t sure what to think. It had been a long time since I had seen any type of an open flame being used to heat a house and being from the south I wasn’t so sure about anything to do with house heating anyway.

We moved into the victorian in March right after a ski trip. It was a rainy year and being the safety conscious father that I am I decided that it would be better to wear our ski clothes inside rather than use that gas heaters. They just looked a little too archaic and considering that our entire house was made of wood I just wasn’t so sure about the whole open flame thing.

All of the older people that I knew around town still used the gas heaters or propane heaters and had no problems but I still couldn’t help thinking that a gas heater might be the culprit when I would smell smoke and hear a fire engine racing to the scene of a blaze.

I am not too sure when we first lit the gas heater but I will never forget the warmth. Living in a cold house for a couple months with nothing but blankets and ski clothes gets a little annoying. At first we could move all of the furniture at least 10 feet away from the gas heaters and I would carefully watch as the kids came to warm themselves by the fire. And I would instantly turn off the pilot light and cut off the gas the second we turned the heaters off.

Times have changed and now after a couple of winters in the old cold victorian we have come to love our gas heaters. They are much more friendly than the piddly air conditioning that we suffer through in the summer. Coming down to a warm living room for coffee on a cold morning is a treat that I look forward to all summer. Sitting by a warm gas heater and sharing coffee is a great way to start the day.

I realize that gas heaters can be dangerous but here are a couple of things that I have learned that have allowed my family to use them safely.

Keep the furniture away. This sounds straight forward but this is one of the most common ways that house fires start. Kids playing or dogs romping can knock furniture that is too close into the danger zone of a gas heater. Make sure that all furniture is out of the way and that curtains are out of the way and cannot fall into a dangerous area as well.

Keep the heaters clean and well maintained. I didn’t do this for the first couple of years because I simply didn’t know how to deal with these things. When one stopped working I took it to a propane shop where they cleaned and serviced the heater and explained to me the importance of proper maintenance. I now trust the experts to any service and at the first sign of a problem I take it to the repair man.

Use a carbon monoxide detector. Ventless gas heaters have not been available for quite some time now because they have the potential to suck all of the oxygen out of a tightly sealed room. My 150 year old victorian doesn’t have a single room with a door that doesn’t shut without at least an inch gap but I still use carbon monoxide detectors. I also do not close doors or set heaters up in closed off rooms. They stay in rooms that are adjoined and well ventilated. If I am going to leave a gas heater on for awhile I will also crack a window near the heater to let in some fresh air.

I make sure all of my family knows what to do in an emergency situation. If they hear the fire alarm go off they know where to go and how to get out. We have fire extinguishers and emergency ladders for the second floor. We conduct drills on a regular basis and the kids know if they need to they can break a window.

If we are leaving for more than an hour I will turn the heat off and shut off the gas. If it is very cold I will leave the heaters on during the night and double check the locations of any furniture.

Ventless gas heater are not dangerous if they are used properly, but if they are not maintained or used with proper precautions they have the potential to be deadly. I have found my gas heaters to be some of the best most relaxing things about living in a victorian home.