Pre-Holiday HVAC Checklist: Don't Let a Breakdown Ruin Your Gatherings

Posted on December 22, 2025

Nothing kills holiday spirit faster than your heater dying on Christmas Eve or your house turning into a sauna while you're hosting 15 people for dinner. Your HVAC system is about to work harder than it has all year, and if there's a weak point waiting to fail, the holidays will find it.

Here's your pre-holiday HVAC checklist to make sure your system keeps running through packed houses, overnight guests, and marathon cooking sessions. Take 30 minutes now to avoid a very expensive emergency service call later.

Why Your System Is About to Get Hammered

Think about what's coming. You'll have more people in your house than usual, all generating body heat. Your oven will run for hours making holiday meals, pumping heat into your kitchen. Guest rooms that normally sit empty will need heating. Your thermostat will work overtime trying to maintain comfortable temperatures while conditions constantly change.

In Orange County, we also get those weird December cold snaps where it's 45 degrees at night and 75 during the day. Your system switches between heating and cooling, sometimes multiple times in 24 hours. That constant cycling stresses components that might already be on their last legs.

Don't let a breakdown ruin your holiday gathering. Call J Martin for pre-holiday HVAC service: (714) 462-4686.

Add in the fact that HVAC companies get slammed with emergency calls during the holidays, and you're looking at longer wait times and premium pricing if something goes wrong. Better to catch problems now.

Your Pre-Holiday HVAC Checklist

1. Change Your Air Filter (Or Schedule a Reminder)

This is the easiest thing on the list and the one most people skip. A clogged filter restricts airflow, makes your system work harder, and can cause overheating. During the holidays when your system runs constantly, a dirty filter becomes a much bigger problem.

Check your filter now. If it's gray or brown or you can't see light through it, replace it. If you're hosting guests for an extended period, set a reminder to check it again mid-visit. High activity means faster filter clogging.

2. Test Your Heater Before You Need It

Turn your heater on for 15 to 20 minutes and listen. Does it sound normal? Any grinding, squealing, or banging noises? Strange smells beyond the usual burning dust? If something sounds or smells off, you want to know now, not on December 23rd.

While it's running, check that heat is coming out of all your vents. Walk through your house and put your hand near each register. Weak airflow or cold spots can indicate duct problems or a failing blower motor.

3. Clear the Area Around Your HVAC Equipment

Holiday decorations, storage boxes, wrapping paper, extra chairs for guests—all of this tends to migrate near your furnace or air handler, especially if your equipment is in a garage or closet. Your system needs clearance for proper airflow and safety.

Clear at least three feet around your indoor unit. Make sure nothing is blocking return air vents. If you have an outdoor heat pump, clear any leaves, debris, or holiday decorations that have drifted nearby. Restricted airflow makes your system work harder and can trip safety switches.

4. Check Your Thermostat Batteries and Settings

If your thermostat uses batteries, replace them now. A dying battery can cause erratic behavior or complete system shutdown. Even if your display looks fine, swap in fresh batteries before the holidays.

Review your programmed schedule. If you normally drop the temperature at night or when you're away, you might want to adjust those settings while you have guests. Nothing worse than your house getting ice cold at 2 AM while you have people staying over.

If you're still using an old manual thermostat and constantly adjusting it by hand, consider upgrading to a smart model. The convenience during hosting season alone makes it worth it. Check out our article on smart thermostats and whether they're worth it to learn more about the benefits.

Dead thermostat batteries can shut down your heating system on Christmas Eve. Replace them now or call J Martin for a pre-holiday check: (714) 462-4686.

5. Inspect Visible Ductwork for Obvious Problems

You don't need to crawl through your attic, but if you have exposed ductwork in your garage, basement, or crawl space, give it a visual once-over. Look for:

• Disconnected sections

• Obvious gaps or holes

• Duct tape that's peeling off (yes, duct tape on ducts actually fails)

• Crushed or damaged flexible duct

Any of these problems means you're losing conditioned air before it reaches your living space. During the holidays when you need maximum efficiency, duct leaks become expensive problems. We wrote a complete guide to air duct cleaning that covers when ductwork needs attention and what to expect from professional service.

6. Make Sure All Vents Are Open

Walk through your house and verify every supply and return vent is fully open. People close vents thinking it saves energy, but it actually causes problems with airflow and pressure. This is especially important before the holidays when your system needs to operate at full capacity.

7. Test Your Carbon Monoxide Detectors

Your furnace produces carbon monoxide as a normal part of combustion. Under normal conditions, it vents safely outside. But if something goes wrong with your heat exchanger or venting system, CO can leak into your home. Carbon monoxide is odorless and deadly.

Press the test button on each CO detector. If any alarm is more than 7 years old, replace it. If you don't have CO detectors, install them now. You need at least one on each floor and one near sleeping areas. This is non-negotiable when you're hosting people.

Carbon monoxide is odorless and deadly. Test your CO detectors now before hosting holiday guests. J Martin includes safety checks in every tune-up: (714) 462-4686.

8. Schedule Professional Maintenance (If You Haven't Already)

Everything above is DIY. But there are checks you can't do yourself. A professional tune-up catches problems before they become breakdowns. Here's what a proper pre-season maintenance visit includes:

• Inspect heat exchanger for cracks or corrosion

• Test ignition system and safety controls

• Check electrical connections for loose or corroded wires

• Measure airflow and static pressure

• Test thermostat calibration

• Lubricate motors and check belts

• Clean burners and adjust flame if needed

• Check refrigerant levels (for heat pumps)

These aren't things you can see or hear. But they're the things that fail during peak usage. Annual maintenance typically costs $100 to $200. An emergency service call during the holidays costs $300 to $500 just to show up, plus parts and labor.

Want to learn more about what professional maintenance involves? Read our post on 5 HVAC maintenance tasks you can do yourself and what you should leave to the pros. If you need to schedule maintenance before the holidays, visit our maintenance services page to learn about our TMP True Maintenance Plan.

Serving Orange County families since 2007. J Martin's certified technicians catch HVAC problems before they become holiday emergencies. Professional maintenance starts at $150.

What to Do If Something Goes Wrong During the Holidays

Even with perfect maintenance, things can fail. Here's your emergency game plan:

System won't turn on: Check your circuit breaker. Check thermostat batteries. Make sure your thermostat is set to heat mode and the temperature is set higher than current room temperature. Check the furnace power switch (it looks like a light switch near your unit). For a complete troubleshooting guide, read our post on furnace not working: common causes and quick fixes.

System runs but no heat: Check your filter. If it's completely clogged, your system might be in safety mode. Replace the filter and reset your system by turning it off for 5 minutes, then back on.

Strange noises or smells: Shut it down. Don't try to troubleshoot a system that sounds like it's grinding itself apart or smells like burning plastic. Call for service.

Keep our number handy: J Martin Indoor Air Quality offers emergency service for Orange County residents. We know the holidays are the worst possible time for HVAC problems, and we do everything we can to get you back up and running quickly.

Nobody wants to spend Christmas Eve waiting for an HVAC technician while guests shiver in the living room. If you have a heating emergency, call J Martin at (714) 462-4686.

Plan Ahead, Enjoy the Holidays

You have enough to worry about during the holidays without adding HVAC breakdowns to the list. Spending 30 minutes now on this checklist beats spending Christmas morning on the phone with emergency repair services while your guests shiver in the living room.

Your system is about to work harder than it has all year. Make sure it's ready. And if you find anything on this checklist that needs professional attention, don't wait until the week before Christmas. Every HVAC company in Orange County gets slammed in late December.

Need help preparing your system for the holidays? Visit our services page to learn about our heating and cooling solutions, or contact us directly to schedule your pre-holiday tune-up. We'll make sure everything is ready before your first guest arrives.

Keep your home comfortable during holiday gatherings. Pre-season HVAC maintenance: J Martin (714) 462-4686.