Bedroom wall vent

Hi -

Anyone know what these ubiquitous vents are in aid of ? I have a 3-bed semi-d with standard gas c/h and at least one such vent near the ceiling in every room. From what I can tell, their purpose is to shortcircuit the double glazing by letting in cold air and noise from overflying planes, barking dogs and partying neighbours.

I'm tempted to board up the opening in the master bedroom at least but wondered if there was any risk involved. Can't see it being a carbon monoxide issue since the boiler is downstairs, well separated from the bedroom and appropriately flued anyway.

Regards,

Victor

It's to stop condensation. Most are sliding hit and miss types. In extreme conditions you should be able to close them.

Never block any vents where you have an open flame / gas fire / cooker. You risk carbon monoxide poisoning and / or gas explosion.

Elfish

To help radon gas to escape? They are a planning requirement, and I often wonder is it to counter cases where the builder doesn't bother with putting in the radon barrier because of the 'if they can't see it - it won't bother them - I won't put it in" attitude. Also having an engineer specify radon protection has almost no bearing on whether or not it gets put in. I've worked for builders and the attitude really is get the floored poured before anyone sees what we haven't put in...sure I can just tell the engineer that yes the radon barrier was put in and he'll sign it off...sad but true! :mad:

I'll go with the condensation explanation. The bedroom in question is upstairs so being significantly heavier than air, radon shouldn't be an issue. Although since moving in, I've discovered I'm allergic to 3-foot long house dust mites.

Another observation is that if the vent is blocked off, the bedroom door can no longer be slammed shut owing to an air pressure mismatch (unless a window is open, obviously). This can adversely affect one's dramatic exits during domestic disputes.

I took the plastic mesh off the bedroom vent for a look-see (unfortunately it isn't one of the types that slides shut) and the hole goes through to the outside world with only a sheet of cellophane between interior and exterior aperture... which has been punctured. Hence, presumably, the cold breeze and the noise.

Dr. Loon

I was also wondering if it's safe to block my bedroom vent up for the same reasons. We have double glazing but it's pointless with these vents. Also, there are closable vents in the windows, so I assume I could safely block up this stupid hole?

Alun

Dr. Loon wrote:

I was also wondering if it's safe to block my bedroom vent up for the same reasons. We have double glazing but it's pointless with these vents. Also, there are closable vents in the windows, so I assume I could safely block up this stupid hole?

Ironically it's partly because everybody has well fitting double glazed windows and draught proofed doors these days that these air vents are necessary.

Getting rid of condensation is one reason that has already been mentioned, but what about open coal or wood fires? They need to have a supply of oxygen as do your lungs!

Dr. Loon

Alun wrote:

Ironically it's partly because everybody has well fitting double glazed windows and draught proofed doors these days that these air vents are necessary.

Getting rid of condensation is one reason that has already been mentioned, but what about open coal or wood fires? They need to have a supply of oxygen as do your lungs!

Why would I have an open coal or wood fire in my bedroom? Yeah the living room/kitchen etc. I have no problem with, but in my bedroom it basically sounds like I have no windows. I can hear full blown conversations from passers by

Macy

Dr. Loon wrote:

Why would I have an open coal or wood fire in my bedroom? Yeah the living room/kitchen etc. I have no problem with, but in my bedroom it basically sounds like I have no windows. I can hear full blown conversations from passers by

Fit one that you can close on cold nights. If it's your bedroom, close it off for a few months, watch the mould grow, then realise why you need it....

Basically modern houses are too well sealed....

qazxsw

Ever wonder why there's such a high occurence of asthma in Ireland,

would it be anything to do with lack of fresh air ??

B.T.W. If you're fitting / refitting one of those permanently open vents you can help "diffuse" any draughts by facing the outlets towards the ceiling not the floor.

Lex Luthor

I replaced all mine with the sliding type.

I wouldn't block them up completely, but at least you can close them almost off with teh sliding type.

Alun

Dr. Loon wrote:

Why would I have an open coal or wood fire in my bedroom? Yeah the living room/kitchen etc. I have no problem with, but in my bedroom it basically sounds like I have no windows. I can hear full blown conversations from passers by

You wouldn't, of course, but if your bedroom is in the same building as your living room (duh!) then it shares the same air supply. The thing is that houses of old used to have all kinds of draughts, around windows, under doors etc. which modern houses don't. Try living inside a hermetically sealed box for a period of time and see if you survive

Scruff

yer all wrong, wrong, wrong.

Those vents are actually required by law under the preservation of the enviornment law of 1992, chapter 4, sub paragraph 2: Protection of Creepy Crawlies act.

Without those vents, creepy crawlies find it damn hard to get into modern houses and seeing as houses have been one of their natuaral hapitats for thousands of years, they've got squatter's rights.

Dr. Loon

Alun wrote:

You wouldn't, of course, but if your bedroom is in the same building as your living room (duh!) then it shares the same air supply. The thing is that houses of old used to have all kinds of draughts, around windows, under doors etc. which modern houses don't. Try living inside a hermetically sealed box for a period of time and see if you survive

But there's already vents in the damn double glazed windows. This other vent isn't so much a vent as a big hole in the wall through which all sound can penetrate. If I blocked it up, I still have the window vents, which can be closed/opened whenever. I think I'm gonna block the fúcker up.

Victor

Hmmm. New windows? Is it causing a chimney effect with hot air leaving through the vent and entering through the window vents?

Dr. Loon

It's a new house, so the windows are quite modern. As for chimney effect, can't say I've notice any no.

RicardoSmith

Since you only find them in houses with gas c/h I think its a planning requirement to prevent the build up of gas in a room. They do seem to be a major source of draughts and heat loss IMO. Also in storms with driving rain we have had rain come in through them. Which just can't be good. I though they had to be offet between the inner and outer walls to prevent these, but they aren't in our house.

Wobs

I only have the vents at the top of the double glazing windows ( these apparently are the minimum ventilation requirment for building regulations). They are crap the bedroom is full of mould and condensation is really bad. If you didn't have your wall vents you would be wishing you had!!

All rooms need ventilation regardless of fires, boilers etc.

RicardoSmith

You have a bigger problem than vents dude...

rooferPete

Hi,

The average person gives off something like a litre of moisture in their sleep because humans insist on breating even when asleep

As to the creepy crwlies I Resemble that remark if the vents are blocked you will find mould starting to build up usually starting at the joint between the ceiling and the wall.

It is also common in wardrobes and cupboards, as pointed out by Macy the modern house is too well sealed, or supposed to be anyway.

By all means control the through flow of air but don't block them or you could find yourself like many others paying me or someone like me to tell you exactly what is posted above.

There are a lot more side effects to no ventilation but this will do for now, I could ruin my livelyhood

RicardoSmith

..or you could just leave the heating off at night. You'll sleep better. Leave window open a tiny bit aswell.....

bbbaldy

In the 60s and 70s a lot of houses were built without vents in each room, people realised that this was a bad idea for the following reasons.

1. Condensation build up which over a long period will cause damage to timbers in the house.

2. Stale air, which is bad for your health.

3. Germs and Viruses would love if you closed your vents as they love a stale air environment.

A lot of houses from this era are mistakenly diagnosed as a 'Damp House' due to condensation which causes damp spots which people think is comeing in from outside but is actually due to a lack of air circulation. A telltale sign is water droplets on walls.

joanieh

Hi - to follow on from this thread 5 years later, I moved into a new house on Nov 1st. Love the house but the one drawback is the the vent in the main bedroom. The room is freezing. The vent is at the top of the wall to the left of the window. It's a slide open close one, but although we have it closed all the time, the room never seems to get warm. It's at the stage now that we're dreading bedtime. It was interesting to read about putting in fillers in the vent. I did suggest to the agent who we rented the house from that we might do that as a possible solution, but I got an emphatic email back saying do that at your peril. Anyone got any suggestions?