How to Properly Vent your Kitchen During Thanksgiving Preparation

Hosting Thanksgiving dinner at your house fills it with the aromas of the turkey, dressing, and pies baking, along with all the heat the stove and oven generate. Taking a few minutes to assess your kitchen ventilation before the holiday arrives might help you stay more comfortable while you put this celebratory meal on the table.The combination of heat plus the steam that the cooking creates is a recipe for discomfort in the kitchen. It’s the same thing that happens in the summer when the humidity combines with warm temperatures that has you reaching for the air conditioner’s thermostat. Add it all the body heat your guests will generate, and things could get uncomfortable.Fortunately, by Thanksgiving, there’s plenty of cool air outside to use instead of the A/C. Getting inside is all a part of ventilation methods for getting rid of the humidity and the heat. To start, determine if:

• Your kitchen fan exhausts outside or just recirculates the air. Look above the fan to see if there a vent pipe that leads up through the ceiling or goes out of a wall. If you see either, your fan exhausts air outdoors.

• Does the kitchen have a window that opens? Sometimes builders put in fixed windows or windows can stick over time if they’re not opened periodically.

• Is there a door leading outdoors or into the garage? A door that leads outdoors will give you ample kitchen ventilation.

• Do you have a portable fan?

This list of ventilation options will provide the basis for your approach to Thanksgiving dinner. If your kitchen fan vents outside, increase its speed from low to high as the heat in the kitchen increases. Opening a nearby window or door will pull in cooler, fresher air. If your kitchen fan recirculates only, place your portable fan inside the doorway or window and exhaust the air outdoors.Home and kitchen ventilation matter even when it’s cold outside. If you find that it’s hard to ventilate your home, contact Air Assurance for expert advice. We provide HVAC services for Broken Arrow homeowners.

Garbage Disposal Do's and Don't's

Garbage disposals offer a convenient way to dispose of some kitchen waste. If you treat your disposal poorly, you could be in for some plumbing headaches, however. Follow these tips to keep your disposal running smoothly and your kitchen drains healthy:

Approved Items for a Garbage Disposal

• Ice cubes – When ground in the disposal, these scour away sticky substances from the disposal walls.

• Meat and vegetable scraps – Just keep in mind, you should allow only a little into the disposal at a time. Too much all at once can cause clogs

• Fruits – Small pieces of fruit and small pits or peels are usually fine. Exceptions include banana peels and large fruit pits which can jam the disposal or clog pipes. A little leftover lemon rind or orange peel, however, won’t hurt the disposal and can remove odors

Items to Keep Out of the Disposal

• Non-biodegradable products – This includes plastic wrap, aluminum foil, and similar items. These might be chopped up but they will never disintegrate and can cause pipe clogs later.

• Stringy, fibrous vegetable and fruit matter – These can wrap around moving mechanical parts and hurt the motor. In addition, these products don’t break down quickly and can contribute to drains clogging. This list includes celery stalks, vegetable husks and potato peels.

• Thick rinds – Watermelon and cantaloupe rinds, for example, have no place in your garbage disposal.

• Large bones, such as steak bones, pork chop bones and ham bones.

• Grease – Animal fats become liquid at high heat but quickly congeal when cooled. This spells bad news for your garbage disposal and your plumbing if you pour grease down the drain. It probably won’t cause a clog right away, but you can be assured it can lead to problems later.

• Caustic products – This includes chemical drain cleaners. These can harm the disposal and plumbing pipes.

• Uncooked rice, potato flakes or pasta – These expand on contact with water and clog drains.

For more tips about caring for your garbage disposal and your home’s plumbing, please contact us at Air Assurance.

Our goal is to help educate our customers in the Tulsa and Broken Arrow, Oklahoma area about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). For more information about garbage disposals and other HVAC topics, call us at 918-217-8273. Credit/Copyright Attribution: “Name”