When I was younger, we didn’t have a reliable heating source in our house.
Dad had an ancient coal furnace in the basement, but it was out more than it was burning.
Most mornings, mom would be up and have the oven on. The door to the oven would be open to heat the kitchen. I remember many mornings when she would wrap a blanket around me so I could get warm. I swore I would never use an oven as a substitute heating source for the furnace. My husband is an HVAC technician so I never need to worry about having a working furnace. We have the best HVAC system in the neighborhood because my husband is always upgrading. I guess I shouldn’t say he is just an HVAC technician. He owns the local HVAC company. He has access to all the latest and greatest HVAC equipment, and he never wanted his kids to worry about being too hot or too cold, like we did as kids. I was teasing him one morning, about the thermostat. I said I thought we needed a new one, because it was a bit chilly in the house that morning. He looked at me and smiled. He asked if I had the oven door open. All I could do was laugh, which woke up our youngest son, who was now sixteen. He was complaining we woke him up with all the noise down here, and he asked what was so funny. My husband told him I was going to bake because it was chilly in the kitchen. He didn’t the joke and mumbled something about old people.