Besides delivering a delicious meal on Thanksgiving Day, most people hosting this holiday want their guests to be comfortable. Depending on the crowd size, you may have to rely on good kitchen ventilation to prevent your home from overheating.
Assessing the Ventilation Options
- Inspect the filter for the kitchen fan. If it’s coated with oil or grease, scrub it with a mild detergent and hot water.
- Learn whether the fan vents indoors or out. Some kitchen fans pull the air through a filter and instead of sending it outdoors, merely recirculate it. If the fan doesn’t exhaust to the outdoors, it won’t work as a way to get rid of heat, steam, or smoke.
- Check the windows in the kitchen to make sure that they open.
- Do you have a portable fan that will fit in a window opening?
- Is there a door that leads to the outdoors or the garage?
On Thanksgiving Day
As you cook, the house will warm up and if you use a gas stove, VOCs (volatile organic compounds) will start to build that can be irritating to sensitive individuals. When the guests arrive, they’ll start to radiate a lot of body heat that will also contribute to a warm house. The longer you have to cook and your guests are in your home, the more heat you’ll have.
As your house starts to heat up, it’s time to turn on the kitchen ventilation fan over the stove and open a door or window to pull in fresh, cooler air. If your fan doesn’t exhaust outdoors, put a portable fan inside an open window in or near the kitchen to either pull air in or out. You’ll have to open a window in an adjoining room or an exterior door to create a cross-breeze.
Being able to tap into kitchen ventilation to cool your home down on Thanksgiving Day helps you avoid turning on the air conditioner. If you’d like to learn more about the value of ventilation, contact Mowery Heating, Cooling and Plumbing, providing HVAC services for Indianapolis homeowners.
Our goal is to help educate our customers in Brownsburg, Indiana and surrounding areas about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems).
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