Air vents

Canaboid

Probably a dumb question but wanted some clarification.
50 ish year old house, all bedrooms have air vents in the walls. It's cold I want to block them, wife is convinced that we'll suffocate in our sleep if we do. Is it safe to block these for the winter ?

Builderwoman!

Ventaxia.co.uk sell great vents that open and close. Check them out. I am sure they are pricey though!

Canaboid

Thanks for the reply but I don't want to buy vents, I want to stuff pillowcases in the existing ones

Gordon Gekko

Simple answer is no!

The vents are important for air exchange i.e. letting out stale, carbon dioxide and moisture laden air, and replacing it with fresh, oxygen rich air.

Vents will help prevent condensation problems. Also, they are crucial if you have a gas boiler/open fire heating system, due to the possible build up of carbon monoxide gas.

delly

Yes, you may die alright. I'll tell you what i know as a layman.

Any open flued item i.e. gas fire, needs an air supply to function, otherwise the room would fill up with carbon dixode, i think. This obviously is a bad thing. Duncan Stewart has ad on at the moment dealing with it afaik.

Also an air supply is needed to stop your house from suffering from damp and condensation, but i'm sure some of the other experts will clarify these points.

Canaboid

Thanks for the replies. The house has oil fired central heating with only rads upstairs so I didn't think CO2 build up would be an issue.

oneillk

Dont be silly!!!
Dont block up the vents.
It was on the news Only the other week did two foregin nationalists die because of this!
its also better for you to be breathing fresh(er) air rather than recycled (which it would be if no air can get iin)

charlesanto

Place a canary in the spare room then block up the vents and close the door. If the canary lives you probably will too !;)

I am joking !

Canaboid

Let me rephrase the question, which is better, to block the vent in the Babys room or have a blue baby in the morning ?

This vent catches the wind so there is literally a freezing draft blowing straight into the room.

Cuauhtemoc

You could always go for a heat recovery ventilation system.
The outgoing heated air warms the incoming cold air(to some degree, i don't know how much offhand). I think they also have a heating element to boost if required. They're fairly pricey though.

sirlinux

the vents may be too large on an old house, you could look at sizing them down to the width of a wavin waste pipe (put some wavin waste pipe in the hole and fill around it) also you could get new vent covers that will direct the draft up so it isnt blowing down on you. Perhaps you should look at insulating the rooms/roof? or leaving the heat running in the babies room with a thermostatic rad valve? dont block up the vent especially if there is double glazing.

prospect

Canaboid wrote:

which is better, to block the vent in the Babys room or have a blue baby in the morning ?

If you block the vent, the baby may still be blue in the morning, just not in the way you mean.

I don't meant to sound crude or heartless, but that is a very possible outcome.

delly

Building regulations state that any new house must have permanent vents that cannot be disabled or closed. The rule is there for a reason, namely your health, and secondly the well being of your home.

TempestSabre

I think its quite wasteful of energy. You go to all that trouble insulating a house then leave a hole in the wall.

patrido

TempestSabre wrote:

I think its quite wasteful of energy. You go to all that trouble insulating a house then leave a hole in the wall.

a very good point

there is always a tradeoff between ventilation and heating/energy efficiency. having no ventilation is the most energy efficient you have to give up a little of that energy to have a healthy and pleasant environment within the house.

an older house with single glazing, and badly insulated by modern standards, is very leaky and the air inside may change 5 times an hour or even more. very wasteful of energy.

a modern house with double glazing, well insulated and well sealed apart from an air vent in each room, will only have 0.5 to 1 air change per hour. much less wasteful.

capiche?

patrido

apologies for going a bit ot here, but i was reading up on the new draft building regs in the uk for insulation and ventilation.

people will have a choice between getting their house pressure tested (to see how leaky it is), or it will be assumed that it's more leaky than average, meaning they'll have to put in more insulation to compensate.

GreeBo

if you are finding a draught and that the rooms are v cold pull off the vent and see how it was installed
Mine is a simple hole from inside to outside, so basically the air gets behind the blockwork and freezes all the walls (plasterboard etc)

As I ssaid in another thread
Im going to box them in or maybe get some wavin and seal around it
I dont mind a bit of air in the vent, but not a gale blowing behind all my walls!
:eek: