Ok, post-Sandy we've decided we ought to have a backup for our oil-fired hot water home heating system (which needs electical power to run). Problem is we don't have a lot of extra room in our living areas for clearance around hot surfaces and flames and we have lots of little kids running around.

Any ideas for a "safe" backup heat source?

How about catalytic heaters, as well as an extra layer or two of warm clothing? It would be like camping out in one's living room. The auxiliary heat factor is one reason I have always liked fireplaces.

How about a small gasoline powered generator (outside) with an extension cord running inside to your furnace, to supply its electrical needs? You may have to do a little minor wiring change at the furnace so that it accepts electricity via an extension cord rather than normal home wiring, but that should be very simple to do. A switch with one circuit going to the the home power and the other circuit going to something that will accept an extension cord. Get something from an RV store that attaches the RV to an electrical power shoreline. Your local hardware store may even have such a thing in stock.

With this setup, you would have to go flip the switch at your furnace, run the extension cord, then fire up the generator. The electrical needs of your furnace should be small. Probably just an electronic ignition setup and maybe a blower and pump of some kind. That would need only minimal wattage - so a small generator would do. Maybe get a 4kw generator and that could power your furnace, water heater, refridgerators and freezers and still have enough left over to power up a few lights around the house and charge your cellphones.

How large an area do you need to heat?

I have been messing with a Mr. Heater "Portable Buddy" heater. Runs on propane -- either the 1 lb. camping type or a 5-20 lb. refillable tank (long adapter hose lets you put the tank outside -- much safer). It's a radiant heater, 4000/8000 btu, catalytic burner, safety guard on the front, and a low oxygen sensor. Pretty safe with adequate ventilation and doesn't need much clearance.

(I notice you Americans can also buy the ventless wall heater from the Mr. Heater folks. They're not legal up here.)

The other safe heat source I occasionally use is those 2-3 hour wax/sawdust fire logs. They're really just a big candle -- don't flare up, don't overheat an old-style single-wall chimney. Using a small, portable wood stove, I can break the chill in a small cabin or workshop. I sometimes chop them in half with an axe, light one half, double-check everything, and walk away for an hour. No worries. And, you can safely store them anywhere, forever.

With all that said, it seems to me that the easiest solution might be a power source for your existing heating system. [Edit: haertig beat me to it.]

I'm with Doug on the Mr Heater brands. Up here, the the 4,000 to 18,000 BTU model retails for around $180.00 but often come on sale for about 40-50% off. Plenty of people use them for heating cabins, RV's etc. Like any gas powered heater, an adequate fresh air source/intake is required and a carbon monoxide detector should be mandatory.

this has been my backup heat hassle also.we have never had a power loss in the winter,or anytime for long,but we need power to run the gas furnace and its fan.a ice storm that brought down wires all over the Minneapolis area is the only natural disaster i need to plan for.
so i have been going back and forth over a vent
less gas heater i can hook up to the clothes dryer line.i have put a new gas line into that and it's a fast easy job. a gas heater with a long line that would bring it over to the basement steps and heat the rest of the house.i'm not looking for normal heating just enough to keep it from freezing cold,the 50's would be fine if its subzero outside and lots of rooms would be closed off.
the other thought is a generator of course.that would run the furnace and power a few lights but would mean i would have to keep a good size supply of gas on hand and go outside to tend the thing.
a gas burner that can be set away with it's line seems the best bet.
i tried small camping style heaters in my cabin years ago and they could never keep up with the really cold weather.a cast iron box stove however kept it warm as toast.

How about the Manhattan Portable Heater

if you are looking into a portable kerosene heater, like I commented to Jackie, this site was very helpful... make sure you have 1-K available at a good price

http://www.milesstair.com/

Switched two fireplaces from wood to ventless gas logs a few years ago. The only thing that would get us to switch back is a massive price increase on gas or gas shortage. We ran a line from an outside tank to the fireplaces & could pull it out of one easily if we have to. The easiest to remove is also the fireplace we heated with before converting.

There is a slight odor when we first start them in the fall but not bad. Either it goes away with use or we get used to it.

Bacpac lives in Canada and up here kerosene is prohibitively expensive to use even as an emergency heating fuel. I could not imagine the cost implications if someone up here had to run on kerosene for the same length of time and under the same circumstances as what is occurring in NJ and NY right now...