Air vent in bedroom - what to do?

nomnomnom

We moved into our house earlier this year and there is one air vent in the main bedroom of the house, nowhere else that I can see. It's very cold, draughty and noisy (there's a school right next door) and I wondered if I could block it off completely? Is there any real need to it as we have 2 windows in the bedroom so adequate ventilation?

Thanks

ormus

in the past ive regulary blocked them off during winter. use a sliding grill vent.
ive also blocked them up completely. with no problems.

ps
beware.
make sure there are no gas appliances in the room. and you could have a problem with condensation.

27col

Why would you want an air vent unless there is a gas appliance in the room. All an air vent does is to let out warm air that you have just spent good money on heating up.

nomnomnom

There aren't any gas appliances in the room...

Thanks for your replies! I think I will be blocking it up as I can't seem to heat my bedroom up very well at all.

Ill look into the sliding grill vents.

macman

Are you sure it isn't providing ventilation into a redundant chimney? Is it on a chimney breast?

Ebe_Scrooge

If you do decide to block it off completely and permanently, you can try doing what I did many years ago in an old house of mine.

1. Remove the air vent that's protruding from the wall ( may need a bit of gentle persuasion with a chisel ).
2. Cut a piece of hardboard so that it'll just fit inside the hole that's left.
3. Secure the hardboard with a couple of nails ( hidden inside the wall, if you see what I mean ).
4. Fill the board over with poly-filla. You'll need to do this in several goes, letting the previous bit harden then adding a bit more each time and gradually filling the entire thing.
5. Leave the poly-filla just slightly proud of the wall.
6. When it's all completely dry, sand it back so it's flush with the wall.
7. Hey presto, no hole and a perfectly smooth bit of wall, ready to paint or decorate.

OK, maybe I'm a bit anal, but I was quite chuffed with how mine looked. Mind you, I was planning on decorating the room anyway, and did this before I decorated :-)

nomnomnom

macman wrote: »

Are you sure it isn't providing ventilation into a redundant chimney? Is it on a chimney breast?

No chimney breast. We don't have a fireplace, but there is a gas point in the livingroom with a flu (i think it's called) directly backwards but sealed up. Don't have a chimney going up though.

Ebe Scrooge - thanks for the tip!

Jackinbox99

Ive noticed these in a few houses and always wondered why they were built in the walls.

blue_monkey_2

We have a house with no cavity and we get a horrendous amount of condensation on the wall of ours and my DD bedrooms, of what is the external wall. Why not block it up first and ensure you do not get a damp problem by doing so. We have vents above the windows and they are nowhere near where the damp problem is, the room is also freezing because of the walls always being cold.

Just be careful you are not swapping one problem for another.

nomnomnom

Well the walls are cavity insulated, so I'd say damp shouldn't be an issue? Not that I know about these things, just had damp problems in our old rented house and had to clean the mould off the walls Horrible.

Arfa__

The back of our house has a couple of air vents in the walls. One room does have chimney and evidence of having a gas fire once upon a time. The previous owner had just wallpapers over them, found them on redecorating. I just screws a brass sliding vent on top.

Its funny as the front of the house doesn't have any vents, but its the front exterior wall that suffers condensation and mould patch problems. The rear of the house has never had this issue. Related? Maybe...