What is the purpose of these vents? Can I just block them off?

Shovel_Knight · 06-02-2024 2:27pm #1

Hi all,

we recently bought an old house and are slowly renovating it. We have small vents close to the floor in the upstairs rooms, however these vents go down instead of up:

My best guess is that since the house was not originally plumbed for central heating, these vents were providing hot air from the downstairs fireplaces to upstairs bedrooms. However, the previous owner plumbed the house for CH and the fireplaces were removed and boarded up.

Obviously I could just place new vent covers there, but if my guess is correct, then these vents now serve no purpose whatsoever. Would it be safe to just block them off?

standardg60 · 06-02-2024 4:34pm

Yes we had similar vents growing up in a seventies house that were connected back to i think an oil burning heater that blew hot air through ducting, all blocked up when we got central heating.

Yours looks older so likely were directed from the fireplace somehow, haven't seen that before.

10-10-20 · 06-02-2024 4:59pm

What year was the house built? Can you see where this vent originates at all and are they installed alongside chimneys or other original sources of heat?