Thanksgiving Hosting Tips for a House Full of Guests

Keep guests comfy and your home running smoothly: balanced humidity, clean air, steady temps, no overloaded outlets, and enough hot water to go around.

🌬️ HVAC & Air Quality

Filter check: Replace a dirty filter. It helps air stay cleaner with more people moving around.
Fan assist: Run your system fan On for a few hours to keep air circulating when guests arrive.
Humidity sweet spot: Aim for ~35–45% RH to reduce dry-air sniffles without fogging windows.
Steady temps: Use a Hold to avoid big setbacks; large swings make rooms feel drafty.

🚿 Hot Water Strategy

Stagger showers: Give the water heater time to recover between guests. Pro tip: avoid running out of hot water by installing a tankless, on-demand, water heater.
Quick audit: Make sure the tank is set appropriately (120°F is the usual safe target)
Kitchen triage: Run the dishwasher when the shower queue is short to reduce demand spikes.

🍽️ Kitchen & Garbage Disposal

Pre-check: Run the disposal with cold water and a little dish soap before cooking to clear buildup.
Don’t grind: grease/oil/fats; starchy foods; fibrous veggies; bones; fruit pits.
Do this instead: Scrape scraps into the trash or compost. Keep cold water running before, during, and after if you do use the disposal.

🛁 Bathrooms

“Watch the wipes”: Even “flushable” wipes can clog lines—put a small trash can in plain sight. Better yet, when guests are over, put the ‘flushable’ wipes away to avoid the plumbing issue altogether.
Vent fans: Ask guests to run them; it helps humidity and odors, and cuts mirror fog.

🔌 Electrical: Avoid Outlet Overload

The kitchen is already busy—don’t stack extra risk with holiday décor and countertop appliances.

Spread the load: Don’t run the slow cooker, coffee maker, and electric carving knife from one strip.
No daisy chains: Avoid chaining power strips or using damaged cords.
Use GFCI outlets near sinks and prep areas.

🪠 “Brown Friday”: Why Plumbers Are Swamped the Day After Thanksgiving

The Friday after Thanksgiving is nicknamed “Brown Friday” in the plumbing world. It’s consistently one of the busiest days of the year for drain and sewer calls. Why?

Grease and gravy cool and solidify in pipes, trapping other debris.
Starches and fibrous scraps (potato peels, rice, celery, onion skins) bind together and jam disposals and drains.
Guest traffic means more showers, toilets, and laundry—all at once.

Prevention beats cleanup: Trash or compost food scraps, wipe greasy pans with a paper towel before washing, keep cold water running when using the disposal, and space out high-water-use activities.

If a sink backs up or a toilet gurgles when other fixtures drain, stop running water and call—those are early warnings of a main line issue.