While most people would like to place furniture anywhere they see fit, the reality is that there are some restrictions.
When deciding where to place your furniture, you ideally want to work around doors, windows, and other fixtures that are absolutely essential to an air conditioner’s wellbeing.
(In this regard) Should You Put Furniture In Front Of A Wall Vent?
No. While you can literally place furniture anywhere, it is best practice not to put furniture immediately in front of wall vents. If you place wooden furniture too close to wall ventilation slots, the wood will almost certainly be damaged. The forced air can dry out the wood, ultimately causing the joint to loosen, which damages your expensive sofa or armoire.
As if that is not enough, covering wall vents with furniture interrupts the flow of air, forcing your HVAC system to work harder. This can result in a higher utility bill or, worse, damage your system.
In this post, you will learn more about furniture placement in your house and the potential effects of blocking vents with furniture.
Why Should You Avoid Putting Furniture In Front Of Wall Vents?
Having at least one functioning air conditioning unit can make all the difference for your health, comfort, and productivity.
While wall ventilation slots aren’t the most elegant features in your home, they exist for a good reason.
They are critical fixtures that ensure your heating and cooling system works properly by helping the system pull the indoor air back and release it outside.
When you put furniture immediately in front of a wall vent, whether intentionally or inadvertently, you cause the HVAC system not to operate efficiently. At the end of the day, this can result in premature damage to the HVAC system’s components.
In other words, placing furniture in front of vents potentially blocks these vents, shutting off airflow into the HVAC system.
Five Effects Of Placing Furniture In Front Of Wall Vents
If you can’t block your doorway or window, you shouldn’t block wall vents either.
Placing furniture such that it covers your ventilation slots can be disastrous in a number of ways.
Here is what could happen if you put furniture in front of a vent:
1. Damage to your furniture
Appearing along the only wall big enough for your sofa, sometimes wall vents are placed in an extremely inconvenient place.
So, before putting furniture in front of a vent simply because it is along the only wall suited for that expensive sofa, keep in mind that you’re risking damage to your furniture.
The air coming from your ventilation slots can often be very drying, which will almost certainly cause the wooden parts of your furniture to dry out and shrink.
Consequently, this will cause the joints to break and fail. At extreme, shrinking can damage the wood itself.
You could also have problems with condensation forming on furniture that is too close to a wall vent.
Exposure on an ongoing basis can lead to mold forming on your furniture, which can potentially damage its finish.
2. Uneven heating and cooling
Vents are an integral part of any complete HVAC system.
While these systems are typically set up such that the home in which they are installed heats or cools evenly, this will not be the case when you block the vents.
Blocking vents causes your heating and cooling system to work less efficiently, meaning the room with a blocked vent won’t heat or cool as quickly.
3. Premature wear of your HVAC system
Placing furniture in front of a wall vent can cause the HVAC system to work much harder to heat the room in winter or cool it during the hot summer months.
Definitely, this means that the system will work quite longer.
Due to overworking, your heat exchanger can overheat, or the A/C system can freeze up.
The cumulative stress and strain associated with prolonged operation can cause the components to wear out relatively faster or lead to frequent breakdowns.
Continued breakdowns can potentially send your air conditioning system to an early grave.
4. Higher Utility bills
Another potential issue you need to be aware of before blocking vents is the higher utility bills.
Because you will have reduced the number of vents that facilitate efficient cooling and heating of your home, the remaining vents will work harder to ensure comfort in your home.
As such, your system might work longer and strenuously to accomplish the same task, which means consuming more energy to compensate for the effect of blockages.
Until the blockage is dealt with, your utility bills may continue to increase steadily.
Whether you block a vent blowing into the room or a return vent, you will most likely experience any or all of these issues.
How Far From A Wall Vent Should You Put The Furniture?
When it comes to placing furniture in front of a wall vent, many people would tell you that you cannot put a piece of furniture in front of a vent.
However, it is good to note that this statement holds only when talking about placing furniture immediately in front of a wall vent.
As such, you can have your furniture placed at a safe distance from the wall vent.
To promote free flow of air in your rooms, it is advisable that you leave at least 10 inches between your furniture and wall vents if you must place the furniture along the walls where vents are installed.
This allows for enough space for the wall vents to operate optimally and serve their purpose without causing many of the problems explained above.
It is important to note that the minimum acceptable clearance is usually 6 inches.
Of significance, it should be fine to put furniture pieces that are open on all sides in front of a wall vent.
Mainly, this is because the furniture will not obstruct the operation of the heating and cooling system in any considerable way.
Creative Ways To Hide Wall Vents Without Blocking Them
Despite having a critical role, wall vents are not among the most impressive features in your home.
If you have a vent along the wall where you feel is the right spot for your expensive couch or wardrobe, you have to figure out a solution.
Here are tricks that will help you conceal your ugly wall vents without blocking them:
- Placing a narrow sofa table in front of the wall vent
- Using ladder shelving – ladder shelving is open at the bottom, has no backing, and is open on the sides.
- Use louvered shutters to hide the vent without obstructing airflow.
- Custom-built furniture pieces that do not obstruct the flow of air. You can get any imaginable furniture that will look great and qualifies to be put in the immediate front of a wall vent.
- Disguise the vent by painting it the same color as your walls
Conclusion
Placing furniture in front of a wall vent is not one of the best ideas unless you are putting a piece of furniture that doesn’t obstruct the flow of air.
While there are custom pieces of furniture that excellently fit in front of vents without causing issues, most ordinary furniture pieces are likely to block your vents.
Hopefully, this post helps you gain insight into placing your furniture without blocking your vents.
Related
Can A HVAC Vent Be Moved from The Floor to The Wall or Ceiling?
References
https://homedecorbliss.com/can-you-cover-a-vent-with-furniture/
https://www.houzz.com/discussions/5527991/help-vents-are-killing-my-furniture-placement-plans
https://howtodiscuss.com/t/furniture-in-front-of-wall-heat-vent/53724
https://forums.redflagdeals.com/furniture-front-vent-distance-1376911/