Because the holiday season is now in full swing, a lot of us are busy preparing for our holiday parties, and many of us plan to host our own gatherings in the coming weeks.
If you’ve ever hosted a holiday gathering before, you probably know how challenging it can be to keep the temperature just right, keeping everyone comfortable. With so many different individuals in one dwelling, with so many different preferences, things are likely to be too hot, or too cold, for someone.
Because finding that middle ground can be so difficult, we at Fairfield-Hamilton Heating & Cooling, put together the following list of our Top 12 Holiday Party Heating Tips:
Top 12 Holiday Party Heating Tips
- Communication is indispensable. If you want to keep everyone comfortable during your gathering and don’t want anyone messing with the thermostat, let everyone know in a polite way. With a whole group of people under the same roof, emphasize to everyone that compromise and communication is key to comfort. Tell them to let you know if they aren’t comfortable.
- Seasonal maintenance. If you have not serviced your furnace yet, it’d be wise to make sure you do so before your party. Maintenance ensures your system will run at its best all winter long, including during your gathering and after. There is no substitute for the benefits of this service.
- Check your air filters. Make sure your HVAC system’s air filters are clean, fresh and in good shape before your party. Doing so ensures proper airflow, which is essential all winter long. If your air filter needs to be replaced, replace it.
- Change your ceiling fans’ setting to “reverse.” Reversing the rotation of your ceiling fans pushes your warm, rising air back downward, which maximizes heat in the home and circulates. The result is a more even temperature throughout your home and during your gathering.
- Give heating equipment plenty of space. It’s important to guarantee the area surrounding all your sources of heat are free and open with plenty of space for ample airflow. When it comes to these areas being free of storage, clutter or messes — it is particularly important to keep anything flammable away. Because heating sources and air vents can get cluttered when our homes are full of guests, we recommend taking the necessary steps to make sure they don’t. Make sure heating devices have space and proper airflow.
- Keep an eye on your home’s temperature levels while cooking and when guests start arriving. Cooking heats the home and with more and more bodies gathered under one roof, things can get hot in no time. With that said, having a smart thermostat will make all this a whole lot easier, as you can see your temperature any time and adjust your thermostat with your smartphone from any location. If you don’t have a smart thermostat, we strongly recommend considering one. They are very reasonably priced, easy to install and they pay for themselves quickly.
- Leave out blankets for those who get cold. As we touched on, we all know someone who gets cold no matter what. For friends and family members that might get cold, we recommend placing blankets on couches and chairs for them to use when they’re cold.
- Cook prior to the party. As we mentioned, during holiday parties where a group of people are gathered under one roof, cooking can heat things up quickly. Although everyone wants warm food, no one wants to roast their guests out during a gathering. If you want to prevent temperatures from getting uncomfortable during your party, it is a good idea to cook as much of your holiday food before your party as possible.
- Fireplace Use. For a more holiday-like feeling during your party, for ambiance that will cut heating costs, light a fire safely in your fireplace. Just be sure the fireplace is 100 percent safe and operational, with your chimney/flue open. Having a fire crackling amid your gathering party, you can reduce the thermostat’s setting and no one will know the difference, or lack comfort.
- Lock or latch windows. Latching your windows, or locking them if possible, creates a tighter seal around them that should prevent cold air from coming in and warm air from escaping. Moreover, locking them should hinder your guests from opening them if they feel hot.
- Whole-home humidifiers. Using a whole-home humidifier will make your entire home feel far more comfortable throughout the winter, which is a good thing when your holiday party comes around. During the cold months of winter, with the air drying out as it does, humidification helps the air to hold more heat. This can take stress off your furnace, giving it a break, so you can reduce your thermostat’s setting without sacrificing anyone’s comfort. Humidifiers also reduce or eliminate static electricity in the air, which will keep your guests more comfortable.
- Using space heaters. If your home has certain rooms or areas that are almost always colder than the rest of the house, space heaters are a good solution for your gathering or party. However, we should advise that this is only a temporary solution. Uneven temperatures in a home are a sure sign of an HVAC problem that could be expensive if not looked at. As such, if this is happening, you should give us a call to discuss it.
Don’t Hesitate to Call!
If you are having problems with your furnace, or if you are interested in discussing any of the services we mentioned above, like humidifiers, smart thermostats or maintenance, please call Fairfield-Hamilton Heating & Cooling today at 513-540-1716, or click here to schedule an appointment now. We’d love hearing from you.
In the meantime, from our family to yours, Happy Holidays!
