Sealing Air vent in the bedroom.

[573310]

Hello all,

new to this forum, and hoping i can get some good advice. I am about to redocorate the small ( box room) at home, but one of the things I'd like to do, is to remove or seal the air vent brick in the bedroom, as it allows lots of cold air into the room and also lots of dirt and dust as well. The house is a 1930's semi and there seems to be one of these in each of the bedrooms, at about 2.5mtrs off the floor. My question is, is it okay to seal these air vents up? I don't have any gas appliances ( boilers etc ) in any of the bedrooms, and the only heating is gas fired central heating with the boiler in the bathroom. Is there a danger of sealing up these vents?

Thanks for your help with this.

573310

[Nige F]

The only danger is a 4 page argument on the pro`s and cons block it up

[masona]

Or fit a open/shut air vent cover, handy when ventilation is needed & specially in the summer without leaving any windows open.

[wizbongre]

masona wrote:

Or fit a open/shut air vent cover, handy when ventilation is needed & specially in the summer without leaving any windows open.

Totally agree - I had a double airbrick in a bedroom I rennovated last year (!) and instead of sealing it completely I fitted a very discreet looking vent that opens and closes. Has stopped all drafts so far (even the really high winds we are currently experiencing) but kept the room bearable in the heat of summer.

Later this year I too will be doing my box room and taking the same approach - mine also introduces a shed load of dust and dirt into the room

[573310]

Great - thanks guys - just wanted to make sure this wouldnt cause any problems. I'll take a look at the sliding vents you mention.

Many thanks

[^woody^]

Constant ventilaion is always to be prefered. With closable vents, then the user will mostly keep these closed to avoid draughts, and then only open them after the air becomes stale and humid - by which time it is too late.

There are draught-free vents available

[573310]

Hey Woody,
But isn't the ventilation issue more a personal preference thing? I mean there are no problems from a structural point of view, that sealing these vents would lead to some structural problem, or safety concerns from perhaps say carbon monoxide etc. Surely if these vents are sealed, and the individual is able to air / vent the room by other means, eg opening and closing windows, then this is a non issue?

Just trying to understand better.
thanks

[Nige F]

Is it ex loacal authority They used to put in air vents `cuz the plebs didn`t wash much block the f`ing thing up

[serge33]

great timing chaps, was just about to post the same thing.

I have a huge vent in our smallest bedroom, about 10 inches square, and its a metal vented plate, one on the inside, one on the outside of the house, it seems that these were fitted to all houses in the 20s and 30s that had gas as a means of trying to prevent a build up of pressure should there be a leak.

anyway i will be sealing mine up in some way, or fitting a cover, so to seal it should i rip out the side in the bedroom, and fill the cavity with something, if so what, it will be on the outside open to the elements behind the exterior vent plate, brick?? or fit some sort of vent that can be closed, problem is that the old vent is full of dust and dirt and i am worried that it may become a bees nest some day.

ideas please

[573310]

Nige F wrote:

Is it ex loacal authority They used to put in air vents `cuz the plebs didn`t wash much block the f`ing thing up

serge33 wrote:

anyway i will be sealing mine up in some way, or fitting a cover, so to seal it should i rip out the side in the bedroom, and fill the cavity with something, if so what, it will be on the outside open to the elements behind the exterior vent plate, brick?? or fit some sort of vent that can be closed, problem is that the old vent is full of dust and dirt and i am worried that it may become a bees nest some day. ideas please

Initially I was going to use some of that expanding foam stuff, though i will check out the sliding vent idea first. As long as the vent closes with a good seal, i'll probably stick with that on the inside, leaving the outside vent open, failing which out comes the expanding foam stuff
HTH

[serge33]

i am worried about the expanding foam coming out the vent on the exterior wall, making it look like my house has a cold.

will see what the Hit and Miss vents can do and maybe try and attach something to the exterior vent to just take the flow down a bit.

[^woody^]

573310 wrote:

But isn't the ventilation issue more a personal preference thing? I mean there are no problems from a structural point of view, that sealing these vents would lead to some structural problem, or safety concerns from perhaps say carbon monoxide etc. Surely if these vents are sealed, and the individual is able to air / vent the room by other means, eg opening and closing windows, then this is a non issue? Just trying to understand better. thanks

The thing to remember is that these vents are currently working constantly to give ventilation and 'x' number of air changes per hour/day. They are moving air around the room, from corners, from the cold floor, from the window area etc. Also, they may well be working with the design of the house as a whole, so removing a vent from one room, causes stale air to remain in another.

Once you block them up, then the air is no longer moving around as above, so it has chance to stop and let condensation form. Also odours linger, airbourne viruses float around longer, the air stagnates.

The air will then only start moving again for the brief time you choose to open a vent or a window. and most of the time this will be for a short time and the air does not have time to move again, or it has already condensed on cold surfaces. This cold surface may well be behind the wardrobes etc, so you don't even notice the build up of mould, and start to wonder why you are getting more and longer throat infections.

Ventilation is good. There are solutions to draughts and noise from vents, so there is no need to reduce ventilation.

[Nige F]

9x9 air vents in bedrooms ........fireplaces in downstairs rooms .......no central heating ...no roof /wall insulation ..ice on the inside of single glazed metal framed windows ........draughts thru` the front + back doors...been there lived it got the T shirt........then years later 7 years working for Housing Association in `80s.........BSc .in condensation @ the University of Social Housing .............Block the thing up

[tonydee13]

What alot of people tend to forget with these vents (especially the older ones) is that although it's ventilating the room it's ventilating it with filthy air that has travelled through your cavity.

Unless you have damp issues I would seriously consider blocking them up and ventilating an alternative healthier way.