Home comfort is important when you gather with your family and friends in your Ronkonkoma, NY, home this holiday season. You should feel warm and cozy throughout the winter, which can get quite cold in this area. Unfortunately, heating your home can be an expensive process. Let’s look at ways to keep your home warm during holiday gatherings.
Consider Your Interior Temperature
The most ideal interior temperature during the winter months is 68 degrees Fahrenheit, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. Of course, 68 degrees Fahrenheit can feel different based on the humidity level in your home, the kind of clothing you’re wearing, etc. This is where adjustments are frequently necessary. If you plan to host guests during the holiday season, consider lowering your thermostat by a few degrees. Having more people in your home can raise your interior temperature naturally. You want to avoid your home getting too warm. Plus, dropping your thermostat a bit can save you money on your energy costs.
Sealing and Weatherstripping
Hold a lit candle or some incense near the edges of your windows and doors to check for drafts in your home. If the smoke flickers, that means there’s a draft coming in. For windows, you can use sticky weatherstripping tape along the edges where the window meets the frame to help seal those gaps. Double-hung windows can benefit from a special kind of weatherstripping called V-seal.
For doors, add a door sweep at the bottom to block drafts and put sticky foam tape around the frame for an extra seal. You can also use draft snakes or door stoppers at the bottom of doors for a quick fix.
Remember to check areas like mail slots, pet doors, and electrical outlets on outside walls, as these can also let in cold air. It’s a good idea to replace worn weatherstripping every year and consider using removable caulk for windows that you don’t open much, especially during the colder months.
Using a Smart Thermostat
Smart thermostats provide exceptional convenience to homeowners. You can easily control your home’s temperature from anywhere inside your home with a swipe on your phone or tablet. If you’re chatting with friends and notice that it feels chilly, you can change your settings from your smart device without stepping away. Some smart thermostats even allow you to speak to your device from across the room to make adjustments.
If you would like your thermostat to rise at a certain point in the day when guests arrive, you can preset a schedule on your smart thermostat. This alleviates the potential for forgetting to make the change when you’re busy preparing everything.
Addressing Humidity Concerns
As mentioned, the humidity level in your home can affect how comfortable your indoor environment feels. It’s recommended that humidity remain between 30% and 50% throughout the year. If your indoor air is very dry, this can make your interior temperature feel colder than it is. We often cook a lot to prepare for a holiday gathering and clean different spaces. This can raise the humidity of our home. When humidity rises above 50%, this can make a space feel very uncomfortable and stuffy.
Homeowners can use whole-house dehumidifiers and humidifiers to control indoor humidity better. We can install this equipment directly onto your HVAC system. This addresses humidity in your home entirely without moving a portable unit from one room to another. It’s also a quiet piece of equipment your guests won’t notice.
Promote Air Circulation
With many people gathering under one roof during holiday gatherings, increasing air circulation can make the home feel more comfortable. This can be done by running ceiling fans. Be sure to set your fans to run clockwise in the winter months. This will push warm air down from the ceiling, allowing colder air to rise.
Ventilation Is Key
Many smells and odors can accumulate in your home during the holidays, especially during a gathering. This includes cooking smells, perfumes, candles, air fresheners, and more. Allowing too much of these contaminants to build up in your indoor air can cause a decrease in indoor air quality. Your indoor air can also start to feel very stagnant if you don’t promote outdoor air ventilation. Run exhaust fans in your kitchen or bathrooms to allow for a healthy fresh air exchange during gatherings. This boosts air circulation and can make certain spaces feel warmer overall.
If you feel like ventilation is a problem in your home that should be addressed, some improvements can be made. We can install ventilation equipment in your attic, basement, or other areas of the house where there isn’t much air exchange. This will promote more airflow and possibly enhance circulation.
Run Your Fireplace
A fireplace is a great way to warm your main living space and make your home feel comfortable and inviting. When guests are over, have your fireplace running. You can utilize ceiling fans to help circulate the warm air so that your entire home feels warm.
Consider Using a Space Heater
Space heaters allow you to increase the temperature in a room without running your furnace. If you have an area of the home that tends to be very cold, you can heat that area without making the rest of your home too warm. Just ensure you don’t put your space heater in an area where it can get knocked over or tripped on. Keep cords out of the way, but never tuck them under rugs. This poses a fire hazard, preventing quality time with loved ones.
Utilize Blankets and Slippers
You can keep your home at an appropriate temperature but allow guests to feel cozy by placing throw blankets and slippers in various areas of the home. People who tend to feel cold all the time will appreciate the effort you put into making sure they’re comfortable.
If you host guests for several days in your home, leave extra blankets in their rooms. When your interior temperature drops slightly at night, they can be used to conserve energy. This is a scenario where zoned heating comes in handy. You can allow your guests to control the temperature in their area of the home without impacting the entire household.
Using Cooking as a Heating Method
Hosting a holiday gathering usually means cooking for your guests. Having your oven on and using the stovetop can produce heat that warms your home. You may even find that your kitchen feels warmer if you have crock pots or food warmers set out for a few hours. You’ll notice your thermostat needs to run less to produce a comfortable environment, which saves you money in the long run. Plus, the smell of homemade food helps make your home feel cozy and inviting.
If you would like to learn more about how to make your home feel warm during holiday gatherings, contact Cool Power LLC. We offer several methods of increasing home comfort, including expert furnace maintenance, enhanced ventilation, whole-house humidity control, and smart thermostat installation. We also install, maintain, and repair heating and cooling equipment. We address indoor air quality concerns and work on geothermal systems. We also offer commercial services to the Ronkonkoma area.
Contact Cool Power LLC to schedule an appointment for your furnace or heating system with our knowledgeable team today.
