Now with all the changes in our world, things most certainly haven’t got easier.
On top of staying mindful of the virus, many of us face the dilemma of keeping our shindigs enjoyable for all who attend — feeding everyone and keeping the temperature just right so everyone stays comfortable and enjoys themselves for the event. While feeding people is pretty straightforward, keeping everyone comfortable can be complicated. Whenever you put a group of people in one place, especially in a dwelling, you’re almost certain to have at least one person who becomes too hot or too cold, especially during the wintertime.
If you’re looking to heat your holiday party in a way that keeps everyone content without compromising your budget, we at Delaware Heating & Air, put together the following list:
Top 12 Holiday Party Heating Tips:
- Be up front and communicate with everyone. If your goal is to keep your holiday guests comfortable and don’t want them adjusting your thermostat’s settings while you’re looking the other way, tell them so. Be polite, assertive and clear. Let them know if they aren’t comfortable, they can let you know and you’ll do your best to accommodate. Since you have a variety of people under the same roof, it’s worth mentioning that compromise is essential to everyone’s comfort and everyone’s communication is key.
- Keep an eye on your temperature levels during your gathering. If you’re cooking food while your guests are arriving, things can get too hot in a hurry. With this in mind, it’d be helpful to monitor your home’s temperature levels while your night is unfolding. Doing this is much easier for homeowners who have smart thermostats, because they are able to monitor levels and adjust them with their smartphones from any location whenever needed. If your home isn’t outfitted with a smart thermostat, having us install one would make an amazing Christmas gift to yourself, and to your home. Thermostat upgrades like Wi-Fi Thermostats or smart thermostats are very affordable. Not only that, however, they are very easy to install and they pay for themselves in savings very fast.
- Get a furnace tune-up prior to your gathering. 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 your ceiling fans’ setting. 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.
- Keep your furnace and air vents from being obstructed. It is very important, for safety reasons, to guarantee the areas surrounding all your heat sources stay open with plenty of room so air can flow freely. This means keeping them free of storage and any sort of clutter — and expressly anything that can cause a fire — year-round. Because furnaces (and all heating sources) and air vents can get overlooked when our homes are filled with loved ones and other visitors, we suggest keeping this in mind during your gathering and taking steps to make sure they don’t get something placed on them or near them. All heating equipment must always have several feet of space and proper airflow.
- Check air filters in your furnace. If necessary, replace them. 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.
- 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. A lot of times, problems like these can be expensive if not caught early on. So if you have this problem in your home, you should give us a call right away so we can discuss it.
Don’t Wait to Call 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 in this article — such as seasonal maintenance, smart thermostats, humidifiers, or full system replacement, please call Delaware Heating & Air today at 740-227-8302, or schedule an appointment online now by clicking here!
