Proper Ventilation During the Holiday Season

November 15, 2018

When you're the holiday host/hostess, it means more people in your home. The extra bodies, shower use, and cooking power can really bring on the heat. While that's nice for lowering the thermostat a little, it may cause unwanted ventilation issues in your home.

Kitchen

The kitchen is likely to be used overtime during the holidays, so remember a few tips for keeping smoke from getting in your eyes and steam from coming out your ears.

• Use the hood fan Turn on your oven hood fan to reduce all the steam rolling off your boiling stovetop items.
• Open windows You can create an air-freshening draft by opening a couple of windows to create air flow. If you need a little more draft power, place a box fan on the sill and point toward the outside to suck smoky air from the kitchen and blow it outside to dissipate.
• Avoid burning things It sounds simple, but it's true that if you don't burn things (like food, oils, or pots) you won't get smoke. Cooking at lower temperatures aids with that - as well as keeping steam down.

Garage

Your garage is a useful addition to your house for storing things - but it's not a great place to grill. Sometimes you may want to grill when the weather isn't cooperating, but resist the urge to drag in your gas or charcoal grill. Your garage isn't designed to offer the proper ventilation for grill smoke and fumes, and it's just not safe.

Fireplace

Nothing sparks the holiday spirit like a cozy fire, but if you have a wood burning fireplace make sure you allow enough of a draft by opening your chimney flue damper before igniting. Keeping that flue closed other times is a good way to keep energy from escaping up your chimney, but when there's a fire it should stay open until the last ember dies. And as a reminder, you should have any wood-burning chimney cleaned each year to remove the creosote which builds up from soot - it's not only unsightly around your fireplace, its buildup is also flammable inside your chimney.

Bathrooms

The ceiling fan does its best, but when there's a lot of extra shower use, there can be a lot of excess moisture. Utilizing a dehumidifier can help maintain the right moisture level in bathrooms and everywhere else it may build up, such as the kitchen or laundry room.

Of course, having a professional check out your ventilation system is ideal. This is a good time to have air ducts cleaned, air filters changed, and heating equipment tuned-up. If you're interested in something like adding a dehumidifier to your system or if you would like to know more about a general maintenance plan, contact a local HVAC company like  A.J. Perri.