The weeks between Thanksgiving and New Year’s ask more of a home than any other stretch of the year. The plumbing carries a full house and a kitchen that runs all day. The electrical system carries the lights, the extra appliances, the space heater in the guest room, and everything plugged into the outdoor outlets.
Kitchen sink and drain issues
The day after Thanksgiving is the busiest day of the year for plumbers, and the calls are almost always about kitchen drains and garbage disposals. Grease is usually behind them, because fat from a roasting pan goes down the drain as a liquid and sets into a plug as it cools inside the pipe. A few small habits prevent nearly all of it.
- Pour grease into a can for the trash, and wipe out pans with a paper towel before they go in the sink.
- Potato peels, celery, onion skins, pasta, rice, coffee grounds, and bones do better in the trash than in the disposal, where they either wrap the blades or swell and pack the line.
- Run cold water for fifteen seconds before and after using the disposal, so the waste reaches the main line instead of settling in the trap.
- If the kitchen drain is already a little slow, it is worth having it cleared before the holiday rather than on it. Professional drain clearing opens the whole line, where a plunger only punches a hole through the clog.
Bathrooms and hot water
Before company arrives, give each guest bathroom’s toilet a look. One that needs a second flush, runs on its own, or rocks on the floor is much easier to fix now than in the middle of the visit, and our toilet repair appointments are short. A covered trash can and a plunger in every bathroom help too, since guests will flush wipes and cotton pads rather than ask where the trash goes. For the water heater, flushing the sediment from the tank, staggering showers, and running the dishwasher and laundry after dinner all help it keep up with a full house. If the heater is past ten years, that added load is when it is most likely to give out, so having it looked at before the season is a kindness to your future self.
The lights and the outlets
Holiday lighting is the electrical load that changes most in November, and it goes onto circuits that were never designed with it in mind. A few habits keep it safe and keep the breakers quiet.
- Plug outdoor lights and inflatables into GFCI-protected outlets only. If your outdoor outlets are not GFCI, or they trip constantly in the damp coastal weather, our outlet and switch service can replace them.
- Use outdoor-rated extension cords outside, keep them out of standing water, and avoid running any cord under a rug or through a doorway where it can be pinched.
- Stay within the number of light strings the packaging allows, and resist the temptation to plug one power strip into another.
- If a breaker trips when the lights come on, that circuit has reached its limit, and moving some of the load to another circuit usually solves it. A breaker that keeps tripping after that is protecting a fault, and it should stay off until one of our electricians has had a look.
- Put the lights on a timer, or turn them off when you go to bed or leave the house.
Guests, space heaters, and the kitchen
A full house draws more from the electrical system than an ordinary week does. Space heaters in guest rooms are the largest single draw and a leading cause of home heating fires, so give each its own outlet, keep it three feet from bedding and curtains, and never run one on an extension cord or power strip. In the kitchen, a slow cooker, a second oven, a warming tray, and a coffee maker sharing one countertop circuit will trip a breaker on Thanksgiving morning, so spread them across circuits. If the lights dim when the oven or a heater starts, an outlet feels warm to the touch, or a breaker trips repeatedly, those are signs the panel is near its limit. Many older homes across Norfolk, Portsmouth, and Chesapeake still have 100-amp panels or fuse boxes that were never meant for today’s loads, and when that is the case, a panel upgrade is the fix that lasts, rather than one more power strip.
If the power goes out
Winter storms and nor’easters cut power along the coast in many winters, and an ice storm can keep it off for days. When the power drops, the heat, an electric water heater, a well pump, and a sump pump all stop, while the same storm pushes water into the crawl space. A whole-home standby generator starts on its own within seconds and carries the heating system, the water heater, the pumps, and the refrigerator until the utility comes back. If you already have one, confirm it has been running its weekly self-test and schedule its yearly service before the holidays. If you rely on a portable generator, please run it only outdoors and well away from windows, and never plug it into a wall outlet.
Let us take the rest off your list
Russell’s American Mechanical has served Hampton Roads since 1977, and the weeks before Thanksgiving are the last open window on our schedule. If you need a drain cleared, a water heater checked, outdoor outlets replaced, or a panel evaluated before the holidays, you can schedule online, use the website chat, or call, and same-day appointments are available by phone when the day allows. Our technicians are trained to diagnose, explain, and lay out the options, and the choice always stays with you.