Heating Advice For Holiday Parties

Another holiday season is in full swing this year, as people all across Ohio prepare themselves and their dwellings for festivities — for fun-filled holiday parties, family gatherings and dinners. 

For homeowners who’ve hosted holiday parties or gatherings in the past, the challenges involved are familiar ones. Among those challenges, it can be difficult as a host to maintain the right temperature that keeps everyone in a group comfortable. Anytime you have a group of people under one roof, temperatures can easily become too hot or too cold for someone. During the wintertime this is especially the case.

To help homeowners find that ideal ground that’s right for everyone, we at Mason Heating & Air, put together the following list of our Top 12 Holiday Party Heating Tips:

Top 12 Holiday Party Heating Tips

1. Change your ceiling fans’ setting to “reverse” mode. By reversing the rotation of your ceiling fans to reverse mode, they are able to push the warm air that is rising back downward, which maximizes heat in the home and improves air circulation. The result is a more even temperature inside, which is a good thing during any party or gathering.
2. Communication is helpful. If you’re hoping to keep your guests comfortable during your gathering and prevent visitors from messing with your thermostat’s setting, let them know in a kind and polite way. You should also mention, because you have a group under the same roof,  that compromise and communication is essential to everyone’s comfort.
3. Maintenance. If you have not yet had a professional come out to service your furnace this winter, it’d be wise to do so before your holiday party. Maintenance guarantees 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.
4. Check air filters. Replace if needed. 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 party. Doing so keeps airflow healthy, which is essential all winter long. 
5. Make sure heating sources have plenty of space. It is imperative, for safety reasons, to guarantee the areas around all of our heat sources are free and open with plenty of space for airflow. This means year round keeping them free of storage, clutter or messes — and expressly anything flammable. Because heating sources and air vents can get covered or clutter when our homes are packed full of guests, we advise taking steps to make sure they don’t. All heating devices must always have proper space and ample airflow.
6. Monitor your home’s temperature levels. If there is cooking going on while guests start to arrive, things can get very hot in your home in no time. As such, it’s important to remember this and keep an eye on what the actual temperature is. Having a smart thermostat will make all this much easier because you can look at your temperature with your smartphone and adjust your thermostat remotely from any room, before, during and after your cooking. If your home does not have a smart thermostat, we strongly recommend getting one installed. Smart thermostats and Wi-Fi Thermostats are very reasonably-priced; they are very easy to install and they pay for themselves in no time.
7. Leave out blankets. As we touched on at the beginning of this article, we all know people who get cold no matter how much you turn up the heat. For these guests, we suggest setting out blankets. Persuade them to use them if or when they get cold. 
8. Cook before the big night as much as possible. As previously mentioned, during holiday parties where a group of people is gathered inside a single residence, under one roof, cooking can make things hotter in a hurry. If you want to prevent your gathering from becoming a steam room or sauna party, it is a good idea to try to cook as much of your holiday food beforehand as possible. You could use food warmers, warming trays or heat lamps to keep the food warm in the garage.
9. Build a fire in your fireplace. For added holiday ambiance that can curb energy consumption during your gathering, we suggest building a fire safely in your fireplace. With a festive fire crackling in the background amid a house full of guests, you’ll have no problem lowering your thermostat’s setting with no one knowing the difference.
10. Whole-home humidifiers. Utilizing a whole-home humidifier will make your entire house feel more comfortable during cold and dry winter months, which is especially beneficial when it’s time for your big holiday party. During winter’s coldest months, the air dries out dramatically so humidifiers help your indoor air retain heat better. This makes heating a lot easier for your home heating equipment, permitting you to lower your thermostat without sacrificing anyone’s comfort. Humidifiers also reduce or eliminate static electricity in the air, which keeps your guests comfortable.
11. Seal windows using latch or lock. Keeping your windows locked or latched will form a tighter seal around them, which should minimize air drafts and prevent cold air from coming in and warm air from escaping. Furthermore, locking them should serve as a firm reminder to your guests that you don’t want them opened.
12. Utilizing space heaters. If your residence has rooms or certain zones that are typically colder than the rest of the house, space heaters are a good way to boost comfort in those areas during your gathering or party. However, we should warn you that this is only a temporary solution. When there are uneven temperatures in a dwelling, it is almost a sure sign of an HVAC problem that could become very expensive if not looked at. As such, if your home isn’t heating evenly you should give us a call to discuss it.

Call Us Anytime!

If you are experiencing problems with your furnace, or if you are interested in hearing more about any of the services we mentioned above, like humidifiers, smart thermostats, seasonal maintenance, or furnace replacement, please call Mason Heating & Air at 513-496-2477, or schedule an appointment right now by clicking here! We’d love hearing from you.

Until then, Happy Holidays!