Changing air vent concerns

[freestylecorsa]

Hi Everyone,

We currently have an air brick that internally has a louvered air vent on the wall. As this lets in the cold I am looking to replace the louvered vent with an aluminium air vent that can be manually opened or closed.

At some point in the buildings history a small central heating radiator has been installed that sits in front of half of the current vent.

My query is:- if I install the aluminium open/close vent and leave it closed for most of the time, with the radiator heating up the vent and no air flow, would condensation build up on the side exposed to the external air?

 

[KenGMac]

freestylecorsa, good evening.

It is highly improbable that condensation would build up on the external wall.

Go ahead and fit a movable hit and miss vent, but make sure that you can easily reach the device that moves the vent from open to closed?

As an aside, whilst changing over the internal vent try to see if there is a liner fitted within the thickness of the external wall?

Why?

Because if your external wall is a Cavity and there is no internal liner for the air brick then external air can / will circulate into the Cavity, if there is a cavity?

Ken.

 

[John D v2.0]

if I install the aluminium open/close vent and leave it closed for most of the time, with the radiator heating up the vent and no air flow, would condensation build up on the side exposed to the external air

No.

Just make sure the ventilation isn't needed for any gas open fire or back boiler.

 

[^woody^]

Your query seems to relate to condensation on the back of the vent.

However, if the property is susceptible to condensation then removal of the means of keeping air moving will create or increase the risk of condensation in the room or property generally. Randomly opening and closing a vent won't help.

Fit a passive vent if you are worried about draughts