Key Ideas
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Proper HVAC cleaning and maintenance is integral for the longevity of your system.
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You can mitigate excess strain on your heating system during the holidays with simple upkeep tasks.
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Dusting, changing the air filters, checking your vents, adjusting the thermostat, and scheduling routine maintenance will optimize your heating durig the holidays.
Imagine you’re hosting a holiday party this year for all your friends and neighbors. The guest list is expansive, with last minute additions continually increasing the total. You've spent days on end in the kitchen finishing enough dishes to feed the extra mouths (okay, maybe you forgot the pumpkin pie until an hour before the first guests show up so you were forced to make a mad dash to the grocery store). The feast is ready up and your guests are settling in at the table. But disaster strikes: the heat goes out. This isn’t a simple annoyance like a dishwasher breaking down two days before Thanksgiving, leaving you hand-washing all your dishes. This is your central heating system giving out in the middle of winter in front of your loved ones.
The holiday season is a joyous but stressful time of the year for most of us. With all the hustle and bustle of buying gifts and preparing your house to host Christmas parties, it’s easy to forget about our heating and cooling systems. Before the family arrives, it’s important to prepare your home (and your HVAC system) for the extra bodies. Not only will this reduce the chances of mishaps, it may save you from a system failure. Let’s take time to check your HVAC units before the party starts to make sure they’re in good shape to take on the extra workload.
Why Should I Prepare My Home for the Winter Holidays?
It doesn’t matter if you’re the main host for this year’s Christmas get-together or not. The fact is, most of us have increased traffic in our homes around the holidays. Think back to the frantic cleaning your parents forced you to do before company arrived when you were a child. If you prepare your home ahead of time, just in case, you won’t be caught off guard when family from out of town ask to see your new kitchen renovation at the last minute. From decor ideas to complement your fireplace to creating a cozy outdoor lounge with fire features, IWAE has your front and your back this holiday season.
Holiday Home Prep is More Than Just Meal Planning
The holidays are a great excuse to prepare a delicious meal for great company. Your friends may be the kind of people to make the most of any situation, but in-laws can be harder to impress. Proving you can handle the intricacies of holiday hosting is one great way to earn brownie points with them! After you’ve cleaned stains in the carpet and hidden the clutter in the closet, the menu is the next big focus. With your family gathering quickly approaching, don’t forget to give your HVAC system a little TLC. Not even succulent smoked meat will save the party if the heat gives out.
Effective Holiday Heating is All About Preparation
Preparing for your holiday party should never cause you to shirk routine maintenance and checks. It’s crucial to ensure your heating system is in order before winter is in full swing. Frantic calls to local HVAC technicians won’t help the day of your party, especially because most technicians require at least a full day’s notice to pencil you into their schedule. The large number of guests may keep your home warm enough while you look for a space heater in your attic, but no amount of remnant heat from the extra bodies or your oven will offset a winter heating emergency. Don’t leave yourself set up for failure! Use these helpful tips to ensure you’re ready before the holiday heating season arrives:
- Dust your home
- Change your air filters
- Check your air vents
- Turn down the thermostat
- Schedule routine maintenance
Tip #1 - Dust Your Home
As simple as it sounds, a good dusting around your home is essential to your heating and cooling system’s longevity. Dust travels through your ductwork, gathers in your home, and causes problems for your HVAC setup. The more you dust, the less of a chance those particles will get into the air and accumulate in your HVAC system and ductwork. Most of us deep clean this time of year before putting up holiday decor and welcoming guests into our homes, so why not add this to the list? After all, dusting your home is simple:
- Grab an old towel, preferably one that you don’t use but won’t throw away
- Dampen the towel and wipe any exposed surface around your home that has gathered dust or is prone to dust exposure
- Put the towel in the washer to clean off the dust particles. We recommend only using this towel for dusting purposes from now on
Remember — Don’t forget the air vents! This is where dirt likes to gather and settle until a new HVAC cycle scatters the dust throughout your space.
Tip #2 - Change Your Air Filters
This simple maintenance task is often forgotten, but that doesn’t take away from its importance. Routinely changing your air filters maintains your indoor air quality and keeps holiday heating at peak performance. Remember — common practice is to change air filters every one to twelve months, depending on your use case and filter choice. It’s easy to change your air filters if you keep spares of the right size air filters tucked away in storage. But let’s be honest, most of us forget to pick up spare air filters at the store when we go out for a grocery run. Don't worry, you can buy air filters online from us whenever you need.
Tip #3 - Don't Neglect Your Air Vents
Homeowners miss cleaning the air vents when dusting, even though this task is crucial for the overall “health” of your home. Air vents are always collecting dust and other particles. As your HVAC system cycles, these pollutants will be blown out into your living space. These allergens and particles then decrease the air quality within your home. If you never learned how to clean out your vents, don’t sweat it!
Here’s how to easily clean air vents:
- Remove the vents
- Wash and wipe both sides thoroughly; dust likes to collect on both the front and back
- Let the vents dry completely, then put them back in
See? Simple!
Tip #4 - Turn Down the Thermostat
The holidays bring many opportunities for cooking and baking, especially to enjoy the wild game meat you’ve scored this season. This means the oven will be on more frequently, in turn increasing the temperature in the kitchen without as much demand from central heating. This extra heat can warm your entire home. Many of us avoid turning on the oven during heat waves in summer to keep the house cooler. If you think about it in reverse, turning your thermostat down a few degrees helps offset the temperature spike from the oven. We recommend turning it down a couple degrees at a time until you settle on a temperature that you’re comfortable with.
Tip #5 - Don't Avoid Routine Maintenance
Decrease the likelihood of a serious problem occurring with your holiday heating by calling in a trained professional before crunch time. Routine maintenance of your HVAC unit is key to keeping your system in top shape over the years. Some of these servicing tasks include:
- Thermostat checks
- Airflow testing
- Duct inspection
- Capacitor testing
- Safety control tests
- Compressor operation checks
All we want you to worry about this holiday season is where to seat those last-minute guests and how to fit the leftovers in your fridge — not your holiday heating.
Get Prepared for the Holidays with IWAE
The holidays are stressful enough without adding concern for the health of your heating system. IWAE is here to take that emotional load off your plate with these simple tips and tricks to keep your HVAC units in great shape all year long. Our team of experts is never more than a phone call away, so don’t hesitate to reach out if you’re unsure what your next move should be. We can help walk you through the cleaning process and connect you with a certified technician in the event that your system needs a check-up well before your guests arrive for Christmas.
