One essential part of being a good holiday host in Sacramento, CA is providing a pleasant indoor environment. That means making sure to optimize your HVAC system so that your guests feel neither too hot nor too cold. Optimizing your HVAC system for holiday parties can potentially involve quite a few different things. We’ll provide you with some basic tips for ensuring all your guests are comfortable this holiday season.

Have Your HVAC System Inspected

It’s wise to have your heating system inspected and serviced by a certified HVAC company at the start of each winter. Annual inspections and maintenance help ensure that your heating system works effectively and doesn’t have any issues that could cause it to break down over the winter. If you haven’t done so yet this year, schedule an inspection and tune-up before the holidays arrive. After all, the last thing you want is your heating suddenly failing right before your guests are due to arrive, potentially forcing you to cancel the party.

Check Your HVAC System’s Air Filter

One of the most important tasks for ensuring your HVAC system works effectively and your energy bills aren’t higher than necessary is checking the system’s air filter monthly. You may not need to replace the filter more than once every two to three months, but there may be times when it gets dirty more quickly and needs replacement sooner. If you haven’t checked or replaced your air filter recently, this is another thing to place on your to-do list before hosting a holiday gathering. If the filter looks dark or is covered with lots of dust and hair, replacing it will greatly improve your heating system’s performance.

Keep Interior Doors Open if Possible

Unless you’re worried about guests wandering into your bedrooms or other parts of the home you don’t want them to enter, it’s a good idea to keep all your interior doors open. This will ensure that air continually circulates around your house, which helps make your heating work more effectively. Closed doors block air from circulating as well as it should and can result in hot and cold spots in a house. Poor air circulation can also lead to the air quickly becoming stale when all your guests are over.

Optimize Airflow by Opening All Vents and Registers

One of the most common misconceptions when it comes to HVAC systems is that they work more effectively when you close the vents or registers in unoccupied rooms. The thought behind this is that it blocks air from flowing to those rooms and results in more air flowing to the rooms that are currently in use, so the people in them stay more comfortable. This isn’t the case — it makes the HVAC system work less effectively instead.

HVAC systems need to continually draw in and put out the same volume of air to work properly, and this isn’t possible when more than a couple of vents or registers are closed. The hot air the system is putting out builds up inside some of the ducts since it has nowhere to go. As the air builds up more and more, it gets to a point where the air pressure inside the entire supply duct system starts increasing.

The increased pressure creates additional air resistance that makes it much harder for the system to move hot air through the supply ducts. This in turn results in the system being unable to draw in as much air. These issues combined contribute to the system performing much more poorly than it should. You also end up with poor air circulation, which can again lead to the air becoming stale.

Another issue if you have a furnace is that the buildup of hot air can cause it to overheat and turn off. If this happens, it can sometimes take at least 30 minutes before the furnace cools down enough to where it will turn back on. All these issues explain why you need to go around the house before your holiday party to make sure that all your vents and registers are fully open and not blocked by furniture or other items.

Turn the Temperature Down

Whenever you’re having people over during the holidays or any other time during the winter, remember to turn your thermostat down a few degrees around an hour before they arrive. This is to ensure that your house doesn’t get too hot, and everyone stays comfortable. When more people are in a house than normal, the house quickly gets hotter since it shelters additional warm bodies continually giving off heat. All this additional heat means your house should stay plenty warm during your holiday gathering without your heating system needing to run much if at all.

If you leave your thermostat set where it normally is, your house can quickly become uncomfortably hot not long after everyone arrives. This is especially the case if you’re also using the stove and/or oven when everyone is over. That’s why it’s a good idea to take care of as much cooking as you can before the party starts. This way, there will be less of a chance of your home getting too hot and you can help keep everyone comfortable.

Run Your Ceiling Fans

Another thing that can help you maintain a more comfortable environment is to turn on any ceiling fans in the parts of the house everyone will be in. When you run ceiling fans in reverse, so they spin clockwise, they produce an updraft that forces all the hotter air at the ceiling downward. This helps make the main part of the room feel warmer so that none of your guests start feeling too cold.

If your house starts feeling overly hot, you can also reverse the ceiling fans so that they spin counterclockwise. This will provide two benefits. The first is that it will pull hot air upward, so more of the heat gets trapped near the ceiling, and the room feels cooler. The other is that it creates a gentle breeze that will further help cool your guests. Nonetheless, we’d recommend running the fans on the lowest speed in this situation. If not, the breeze they produce could be strong enough that some people quickly start feeling too cold.

Crystal Blue Plumbing, Heating & Air was founded in 1976, and our team has years of experience providing top-notch services in Sacramento and the surrounding areas. We’re locally owned and take pride in helping our community with all their indoor comfort needs. Our technicians service and repair all types, makes and models of HVAC equipment and will work to ensure your heating is ready for the holidays. We also have what it takes to ensure your holiday gathering isn’t disrupted by clogs, sewage backups and other plumbing issues.

If you need any assistance with your HVAC or plumbing, give Crystal Blue Plumbing, Heating & Air a call to get the best heating maintenance service, support and advice available.