Kansas City homeowners love entertaining holiday guests, but the season can take a real toll on their home's core systems. Increased electricity demand, plenty of plumbing use, and unpredictable weather make hosting a bit complicated for even experienced hosts and hostesses. C.M. Mose & Son has a few tips to prepare your HVAC, electrical, and plumbing systems to handle the heavy holiday load.
How To Prepare Your Home for the Holidays
Unfortunately, the holidays often put additional strain on plumbing and electrical infrastructure. Having more people around the house means more water use, more toilets flushing, and more gadgets plugged into outlets. Thankfully, there are ways to prevent circuits from overloading and drains from clogging with a little preparation.
1. Prevent Overloaded Circuits
Consider your hard-working electrical system. You already know that connecting too many devices can cause blown fuses and increased fire risk. Then take into account that each guest is bringing an electrical gadget or two to plug in, and that holiday meals may require additional small cooking appliances.
How To Avoid Overloaded Circuits
- Try to balance out how many appliances are on any given circuit, especially in the kitchen. To do this, identify which devices and appliances are on the same circuit by turning off circuits one by one; whatever powers down is on the circuit.
- Once you’ve identified circuits with lower electricity demand, encourage guests to use these by placing a small table or sign with a subtle message (“Power Station”) nearby.
- Avoid using portable devices like space heaters and hair dryers at the same time and on the same circuit.
If your home is still experiencing overloaded circuits, rewiring can improve performance and reduce your risk of fire or other problems.
2. Clean Out Drains
Backed-up sink and shower drains can cause real problems, especially when there are more people in the home than usual. Make time before guests arrive to clean out drains and avoid back-ups, leaks, and foul odors from clogged drains.
- Kitchen drains: Food debris and grease are the most common causes of clogged kitchen drains. In some cases, you can clear out drains with water and baking soda. First, pour 1 cup of baking soda down the drain. After 10 to 15 minutes, pour a pitcher of hot (not scalding) water down the drain to flush out any lingering debris.
- Shower drains: You’ll likely need to use a drain snake, a wire hanger, and/or a plunger to clear a clogged shower drain. If your shower drain still backs up after trying these mechanical methods, your sewer line may be blocked by tree roots below your home or in the yard.
3. Prevent Clogged Toilets
It’s a holiday guest’s worst nightmare: they use the bathroom, flush, wash their hands, and spot a nearly overflowing toilet as they go to leave the room. Preventing toilet clogs is a smart way to protect guests (and yourself!) from the embarrassment of clogging up the throne.
How To Prevent Toilet Clogs
The best way to prevent clogged toilets is to remove any non-flushable items from the bathroom. Guests might be tempted to flush feminine products, tissues, or other items down the toilet, especially if they can’t find the trash can. Preparing your home for guests should include removing these items from the bathroom for the duration of their stay.
There’s a reason one holiday in particular is the busiest plumbing day of the year. Occurring the day after Thanksgiving, “Brown Friday” sees a spike in plumbing problems, mostly associated with lots of house guests, heavy food intake, and families spending more time at staying home.
4. Deodorize Your Home
Even immaculately clean and tidy homes have a unique scent. While you may not notice it, some guests may find your home’s natural aroma distracting, or possibly even smelly. Instead of covering up your home’s odors, tackle subtle smells at the source.
How To Deodorize Your Home Quickly
- Air it out: Start by opening windows and doors to let in fresh air. You can also run your HVAC system’s fan to increase air flow in the house.
- Remove the stink: Take out the trash, clean out drains, throw out old food from the fridge, and clean soft materials like upholstery, rugs, and carpeting.
There are also natural ways to deodorize your home, such as shaking baking soda onto carpet or rugs and letting it sit for 20-30 minutes before vacuuming it up. Skip expensive and overpowering air fresheners and make your own: you can mix baking soda and your favorite essential oil in a small jar and place it near the trash or sink.
Read More: Top Tips To Improve Energy Efficiency
Preparing Your Home for Holiday Guests Is Simple
Prepare for the holidays by focusing on the basics: make guests feel welcome, be accommodating, and be ready for any situation with C.M. Mose & Son. Kansas City residents trust our local home service technicians for quick and professional help when they need it. From all of us, we wish you a wonderful holiday season. Schedule an appointment to tackle common home issues early this year!
Call 816-339-5190 or contact us online to schedule HVAC, electrical, or plumbing services in Pleasant Valley and the surrounding areas.