I (18m) went Christmas shopping with my partner (20m) and got back with some parents for my family and his family.
There’s a cubord in the livingroom that Ive been using to pop presents into and its locked so no one can get in and take a peek. Came in with a bag of presents and went to the cubord (near the hob) and started to feel a bit hot as I got closer to my cubord. I trun to look at the hob (on my right) and saw that 2 of the eletric hob rings were on and on full heat. I quickly turned it off from the plug thinking somone has forgot to turn it off after making tea and said to eveyone in the living room "dont leave the hob on! It could of burned the cat or broke" i was really worried about the cat standing on it cos its happend before and had to take him to vets.
My stepdad (46m) pipes up saying "we are cold, and do NOT TAKE THAT F-ING TONE WITH ME IN MY HOUSE" I was visually shocked that they would use the hob I bought for the house as a heater. I said back "im sorry but a hob is for the pans, I thought u guys forgot to trun it off hence why I was so frantic about the hob" my stepdad took a deep breath in and shouted "oh soooorrrrryyyyyy mr ‘i bought the hob’ we are f-ing cold, we can do what we want cos its our house" i was in disbelief when he said that to me cos hes never done this stuff ever.
After back and forth, me trying to tell him its not right, to him saying its his house and hes cold. Mum (44f) says this "we will not do it again tonight BUT we are FREEZING in the livingroom and needed heat" i said to her "the ovens on is that enough heat, u all have blankets and duvets? Can’t u use thos" before mum could get a word in my stepdad gets annoyed and says "maybe we just want a warm house, maybe we dont want to use our blankets cos its not bedtime yet. ITS MY HOUSE NOT URS. Now gtf out of my living room" mum says "i have to agree with him on this we want a warm livingroom to sleep in no go"
I leave and go into my room thinking of what could of happend. To the cats we have, the dog maybe, paper may of gotten on to it, the pans hear it could of gotten really really hot like anything could of happened if I didnt see it and eveyones saying that ive taken away their heat. I didnt want to wake up to a burt livingroom or anything (we live in a house flat thing so I was also thinking of upstairs too)
Idk what to think, im getting called an asshole for telling them off. But my parents saying i did good for telling them off so the house dont get brunt down or anything so idk
AITA for telling mum and stepdad off for using the eletric hob as a heater
Don’t you have any other form of heating in the house? You mentioned the oven and the hob but is there nothing else? A space heater would be a far better option than using the hob.
Yeah we have the central heater (radiators) but apparently there’s air in it so my stepdads doing stuff to them and wont turn them back on till fixed
I suggested that when he turned off the radiators and he said “well cook all the time so we will be fine” so yah not the best chap atm
NTA. In the UK we have something called a radiator key, to use to bleed the radiators. Bleeding the radiators gets rid of the air. Don’t you have that? It is dangerous to leave the hob, oven on etc. It could cause a fire.
I assumed this person was in the UK given their use of the term ‘hob’.
That should take no more then 20 minutes to sort out..
Why do you all not have a proper space heater? If the house is that cold they should turn on the heat or get a space heater. NTA
NTA.
This may go against most redditors (and possibly yours) standards of importance, but while no one likes to see an animal get hurt, you need to focus on yourself and people first. Regardless of pets, using an electric burner to heat a room is not only ridiculous but dangerous.
Sorry OP, save up and move out.
I thought of my cats cos they like to sit near the window in thr kitchen and the hobs near it, but I was also really worried about the upstairs neighbour cos they also have dogs and stuff and I was like what happens if we burned their home like omggg I would feel so bad that my house burnt their house like omggg. I told them that and they were just saying “nah nah won’t happen”
Im trying to move out, applying for places and not getting any, been trying for 6 months. Cos I cant deal with this much longer (other stuff to but yk)
NTA buy them a space heater next
NTA Your stepdad is acting foolish to think a cooktop (for the Americans like myself) is a proper way to heat a house
NTA. Using an electric hob as a heater is dangerous, especially with pets and flammable stuff around, and it’s already hurt your cat before. You reacted because you thought it was left on by mistake, which is reasonable. Being cold doesn’t justify a fire risk, and your stepdad escalating doesn’t change that. You weren’t wrong for speaking up about safety.
NTA.
But there is clearly no point in continuing to argue with them. They don’t care what reasoning you have or that it’s a fire hazard and danger to your pets.
You told them, the didnt care and onky got mad. Let it be and hope they don’t burn the house fown
That is an awful waste of electricity in addition to being a fire/safety hazard!
Buy a small space heater which is designed to warm up a room. Modern ones are fairly safe and energy efficient. If you cannot plug one into a nearby outlet, make sure you buy an extension cord rated *HIGHER* than the amps/wattage of the heater. If the heater says 1000 watts, get an extension cord rated for 1200. Be sure to follow the instructions about how much clearance you need around the heater – you don’t want it setting anything on fire.
Remember that heat rises. If you have a ceiling fan, ensure that it is in its “winter” setting so that it helps circulate the air properly to keep the heat from accumulating at the ceiling. (Don’t forget to turn it on!)
Using a stove or oven is the worst way to heat a house – and beyond dangerous.
Did you buy the hob? Take it back.