Pandemic or not, preparing our homes for family gatherings and holiday parties can be a lot of work. Keeping everyone comfortable and happy can be tricky, too. Nonetheless, we try . . .
In addition to being mindful of the virus, many of us face the challenge of keeping our shindigs enjoyable for everyone — and keeping the temperature just right so everyone stays comfortable and enjoys themselves throughout the event. Keeping everyone comfortable can be complicated because whenever you put a group of people in one place, indoors, you’re almost certain to have at least one person who becomes too hot or too cold. During the winter months this is particularly the case. The more people present, the harder it is to please everyone..
If your goal is to heat your holiday party in a way that keeps everyone happy without compromising your budget, we at Kettering-Oakwood Heating & Air, put together the following list:
Top 12 Holiday Party Heating Tips:
- Communicate this to your guests. If your objective is to keep your guests comfortable while at the same time keeping them from adjusting your thermostat’s settings while you’re not looking, tell them kindly and in a polite way that you want everyone to be comfortable, and if they aren’t they should come to you directly. However, because you have multiple people under the same roof, it’s worth mentioning that compromise is essential to everyone’s comfort and communication is key.
- Get a tune-up before your party. If you have not yet had a professional come out to service your furnace this winter, it’d be a really good idea to do so before your holiday party. Seasonal furnace maintenance guarantees your system will run at its best all winter long, including during your gathering and after, and it gives us the opportunity to check for things that might be going wrong, to identify them before they become worse or cause a breakdown. In other words, there is no substitute for the benefits of this service.
- Reverse the rotation of your ceiling fans. By switching the rotation of your ceiling fans to their reverse mode setting, they are able to circulate air much better and propel your warm air, which is rising, back downward towards the floor level. This maximizes heat in the home and results in a more evenly heated atmosphere, which is a good thing for your party or gathering.
- Ensure there’s room around your furnace and air vents. It is imperative, for safety reasons, to guarantee the areas around all of our heat sources are free and open with plenty of room for proper airflow. This means keeping them free of storage and any sort of clutter — and expressly anything flammable — all year long. Because heating sources and air vents can get covered or cluttered when our homes are packed full of friends, family and other guests, we suggest keeping this in mind during your gathering and taking steps to make sure they don’t get crowded or covered. All heating devices must always have proper space and adequate airflow.
- Replacing air filters in your furnace. Because they need checked every month during the winter, it’s important to make sure the air filters in your furnace are clean, fresh and in good shape before your get-together. Doing so ensures proper airflow, which is crucial to maintain all winter long.
- Keep an eye on your temperature levels throughout the party. If you’re doing your cooking while your guests are arriving, things can heat up in a hurry. Knowing this, it’d be wise to keep an eye on your home’s temperature levels as your night unfolds. If you have a smart thermostat, this will be easy because you can check and change its settings via your smartphone from anywhere at any time. If you don’t own a smart thermostat, installing one would make an amazing Christmas gift to yourself. Smart thermostats and Wi-Fi Thermostats are very affordable; they don’t cost much; they are very easy to install and they pay for themselves in savings in no time.
- Set out blankets for guests who get cold. As previously mentioned, we all know people who get cold no matter how much you turn up the heat. For these visitors, we suggest setting out blankets. Let everyone know they can be used if anyone gets cold.
- Cook ahead of time if possible. We’ve touched on this already: During holiday parties cooking can heat things up in a hurry. If you would like to avoid letting your home become a steam room that turns your gathering into a sauna party, try to cook as much of your food ahead of time as possible. You could use food warmers, warming trays or heat lamps to keep the food warm and you can also keep those in the garage, or away from the party.
- Build fires in fireplaces. For added holiday ambiance that can curb energy consumption during your gathering, we suggest building a fire safely in your fireplace, if you have a working fireplace. With a festive fire aflame in the background amidst a house full of visitors, you’ll have no problem taking your thermostat setting down a few notches and no one will know the difference.
- Using your whole-home humidifier. Utilizing a whole-home humidifier will make your entire house feel more comfortable during cold and dry months of winter, which is going to be helpful when it’s time for your big holiday party. As we all know, during the wintertime the air in our homes dries out drastically so humidifiers help your indoor air retain heat a lot better. This makes heating a lot easier for your furnace, enabling you to adjust your thermostat to a lower setting without sacrificing anyone’s comfort. Humidifiers also reduce or eliminate static electricity in the air, which keeps your guests comfortable.
- Make sure windows are latched or locked. Keeping your windows latched, or better yet locking them, will form a tighter seal that will minimize air drafts that allow cold air in and warm air out. Additionally, locking/latching them should serve as a firm reminder to your guests that you don’t want them opening your windows.
- Utilize space heaters in colder areas — but do so safely. If you have rooms or certain zones in your house that are typically colder than the others, space heaters are a good way to keep people comfortable if those areas are going to be used during your gathering. Keep in mind, however, this is a temporary solution. If your home heating system isn’t evenly heating your entire home, it is almost certain there is some kind of HVAC problem somewhere. These sorts of problems can be expensive if not identified early on. If this is going on in your home, you should give us a call right away so we can discuss it.
Don’t Hesitate Contacting Us If You Have Any Issues!
If you are having issues with your furnace, or if you are interested in finding out more about any of the products and services we touched on above — such as seasonal maintenance, smart thermostats, humidifiers, or full system replacement, please call Kettering-Oakwood Heating & Air today at 937-502-3842, or schedule an appointment online now by clicking here!
