How to Get Your Home Ready for the Holidays

Fall is in full swing and that means the holiday season is underway. With modern families spread from coast to coast, it’s more important than ever to create a warm and hospitable environment for traveling guests. That’s why we’ve made this checklist to help you get your home ready for the holidays!

Holidays should be spent having fun and making memories with the people closest to you. However, if you find yourself underprepared to entertain holiday guests, it can quickly turn the holidays from special to stressful.

Whether it’s just for day-of festivities or you’re housing aunts, uncles, siblings, cousins, and surprise plus ones. Run through this pre-holiday visitor checklist to get your home ready for the holidays!

1. Prep Your Plumbing System

Anyone who’s ever hosted Thanksgiving dinner at their house knows the toll that it can place on the home’s plumbing system. From the mountain of dishes left in the kitchen sink to the increased use of the home’s bathrooms. Calling out a plumber to inspect and, if needed, fortify your pipes can save you from any disastrous holiday plumbing problems. 

2. CO Monitor Check

There’s a good likelihood that holiday cooking is going to lead to increased use of your stovetop. If you have a gas range, this enhances the probability of an accidental CO leak from one of your stove’s burners. With even more loved ones under your roof, checking your carbon monoxide monitor is an especially wise task to address before your guests arrive.

3. Have Essentials Available for Guests

You don’t have to fold your tissues into origami swans for your closest friends and family. But, you will want to make guests aware of where to find certain essentials. Help your guests feel at home by placing things like extra towels, pillows, blankets, Tylenol, allergy medications, hand lotion and band-aids in your guests’ quarters.

4. Examine Your Exterior

As homes are filled to the brim with friends and relatives, it’s not uncommon for a holiday party to spill over into the yard. While you don’t have guests to accommodate, it can be easy to adopt an out of sight, out of mind mentality for your outdoor maintenance. 

Keep your friends and family safe while they play yard games, football or enjoy a fall fire by clearing up your yard and securing railings and steps.

5. Light the Way for Guests

Traveling can be unpredictable, so guests can arrive at all hours of the day – or night! This makes something as simple as changing a light bulb a vital task to help guests acclimate to your home. 

From pavers and porch lights to hall and attic lights. Wherever guests are staying should be well lit to help them comfortably navigate your home during their stay.

6. Heater Tuneup

We know Southern California falls are fairly temperate. Still, it’s important to call in an HVAC technician to ensure your heat system is ready for the winter ahead. If your furnace has any issues, you’ll want to find out before your house is set to entertain ALL of your relatives. A heater tuneup should be a mandatory task to get your home ready for the holdays!

7. Pad Up Insulation

Insulation is one of the smartest investments homeowners can make to improve home comfort AND energy efficiency (source). Once you’ve shored up your heat system with seasonal maintenance, the next best step is to more efficiently retain the heat your system produces. Avoiding heat (and therefore energy) leaks will prevent cold spots. Plus, it will keep your utility bills down as you heat up your home.

8. Consider Ways to Improve Indoor Air Quality

Ensuring your home is comfortable for your family and guests may require some attention to your indoor air quality. With the weather getting colder outside, there may be an increase in time spent inside. This, along with a higher number of visitors, can cause a spike in air pollutants. Guests traveling from other regions may also be more sensitive to local allergens. 

One way to address the air quality of your home is an air purifier. Air purifiers can be integrated within your central air system or a stand-alone as an individual unit. Running an air purifier throughout colder months can help counteract the buildup of indoor air pollution.

You can check off a number of items on this list with a quick call to the LA HVAC experts at Brody Pennell. Schedule your furnace maintenance appointment today! Ask your technicians about other ways to improve your home comfort ahead of the herd of holiday guests your home is set to support this year.