Vents and furniture placement

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Forum -> Household Management

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L K

Fri, Sep 23 2016, 9:17 am

All of my living room/dining room walls have a vent or return near floor smack in the middle of the room, meaning there is not a single wall that has a long enough uninterrupted stretch to place a wide (9'-9 1/2')bookcase along. They are about 6' stretch plus 6' for ex.

I understand I cannot have a bookcase against a vent. What are some possible solutions? Moving a vent to the side or to the ceiling? Should I get the ac guy's ok for that?
Any other options? Thanks

OOTBubby

Fri, Sep 23 2016, 9:51 am

You can cut an opening for the vent through the bookcase and put a grate over it and leave it unblocked by books. I have entire walls in my home covered with custom bookcases and the vents come through them.

L K

Fri, Sep 23 2016, 10:30 am

That's what one bookcase seller suggested to me.
Aside from aesthetics (the bookcases I looked into look really beautiful as a 3-section stretch with doors on the bottom of all 3), will heat coming through not damage the wood that's all around it?

OOTBubby

Fri, Sep 23 2016, 10:37 am

L K wrote:

Right, this won't work with doors on the bottoms of all sections. Could you consider leaving the section by the vent without doors?

L K

Fri, Sep 23 2016, 2:29 pm

OOTBubby wrote:

Right, this won't work with doors on the bottoms of all sections. Could you consider leaving the section by the vent without doors?

I would have to see if it looks normal; my concern though is whether heat would be damaging to the surrounding wood even with the door off.

OOTBubby

Fri, Sep 23 2016, 2:31 pm

L K wrote:

I would have to see if it looks normal; my concern though is whether heat would be damaging to the surrounding wood even with the door off.

First of all, are the "vents" in question supplies or returns? A supply blows heat or cold, and return sucks in used air.

Secondly, I have hardwood floors that have the vents/supplies built into them with wood grates surrounding them, so I doubt that's a problem.

amother

Yellow

Fri, Sep 23 2016, 2:55 pm

You may want to get an HVAC professional in to review the placement. Sometimes a duct can be rerouted for a new placement, sometimes it can't because of the limitations of the system or existing building codes.

L K

Fri, Sep 23 2016, 3:40 pm

OOTBubby wrote:

That's a very good point.
one wall has a heat/Ac vent approximately dividing the wall into two euqual parts.
another one has a return, I'll check the distance from the corner to the return to see if one section fits there.

PAMOM

Fri, Sep 23 2016, 6:59 pm

I moved a return from the original spot to the edge of a door to place a bookcase in my last house. A contractor did it. I wanted to move heating vents and my heating system installer/repair service said they could do if. My vents were on the wall but I have vents now for heat and a/c in my hardwood floors.

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