What Are These Vents For Above The Doors
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- Опубліковано 29 сер 2024
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Back in the day most homes that were built with a central heating and air conditioning system had a ductwork design with a supply and cold air return duct in every room. Nowadays to keep building costs down many homes are built with a central cold air return on each floor that brings air back to the furnace.
When interior doors are closed it inhibits proper air circulation, so transfer grills are installed above the doors to allow a path of least resistance. In this design usually every room except for the Bathrooms 💩 and the Master Bedroom 🤔😮😆 will have these grills above the door.
When I’m performing a home inspection for you this is one of the many items that I look for; making sure every room has at least a supply duct to provide hot or cold air to the area.
If you’re looking for inspection services in Chicago or the surrounding suburbs visit our website at inspect-n-check.com or reach out to me directly!
BJ Poznecki
Cell: 773-403-3298
Email: BJ@Inspect-N-Check.com
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BJ is super knowledgeable and can't thank him enough for sharing his knowledge with others!!!
Thank you Kip Pants!!
I get the point of them but it’s terrible for acoustics. It’s like your door is still open
Yeah, I agree with you 100%! They do it to lower the cost of construction. The old-school way and the right way of doing it is to have a return for each room so that when the door is closed, you don’t need the transfer grill.
These are like the olden days where they had windows that tilted above a door way.
I got two vents one on the bottom of the wall and one on top of the wall. I think you said you keep the door closed until the air flows from the top one.
Actually, that’s for your heating and ventilation system. Your home is equipped with high and low return air vents. The theory is that in the Summer cooling season, you want to be circulating warmer air back through the HVAC system to be cooled. Since that warmer air is at the top of your room, you will want to make sure the highest air return is open and the lowest is closed.
Conversely, in the Winter heating season, you will want to pull the coldest air back to the furnace to be warmed and create circulation. In these months, you'll want the lower air return open and the upper air return closed.
Can you put a cushion or memory foam in it? The noise that comes in and out of the room is basically like a window you can’t close.
If you’re looking for privacy you can completely close it off if you want. That room just might be a little cold in the winter and hot in the summer because the air won’t flow through the room properly unless you keep the door open.
What do you recommend when it comes to covering that part?
@@dropndeal by the time you responded I no longer have this issue. Originally I lived in a household with kids. I work from home and sound goes through there with the kids yelling. I was on call. I figured covering that vent would prevent noise from entering.
Thank you, perfect.
Do they help the airflow when the door is open too? The temperature in my bedroom is much different than the rest of the house and I generally know why, it's on the opposite side of the house and two floors up from the blower so the airflow is quite low. There's a return just outside the bedroom in the wall, close to the floor. I can imagine having a vent above the door would help some, particularly in the summer.
No, it just for when the door is closed. What you might want to do is seasonally balance your system to push more airflow to that room if it’s a little bit warm in the summer. Follow my instructions in this video.
ua-cam.com/video/VwZpOzOBDqA/v-deo.htmlsi=WeG21YLKDxYleVqm
Bedrooms doors stay shut because of pets. Which makes the rooms uncomfortably warm. Our home doesn't have these vents. Could they be added over the door. Not sure if there's a header over the passage. Plan B would be to vent the door. But was hoping to upgrade our ugly doors in the future. And a wall vent would be a permanent solution.
To answer the question yes use a stud finder to be sure you aren’t cutting into a stud (if you do find there’s a stud it’s not the worst thing just cut the drywall and leave the stud. you would trace the part of the vent cover that inserts into the wall(be sure to use a level and tape measure no one wants a crooked or uncentered vent also be sure to mark the screw holes of the vent whether it be a paper clip to make a pinhole or marker to mark it. Then repeat the process on the other side. With a hole on both side drill the marked screw holes and insert an appropriate drywall anchor. Fix the vent covers to the wall and viola you’ve diy’d it! -Hope this helps
How do these vents impact fire safety? I was told to sleep with bedroom doors closed in case of fire. Won't the fire and smoke just come on inside the room through the vents above the doors?
@@JenLit-gx7vo It’s not gonna make that much of a difference. What’s more important is you should always have a smoke and carbon monoxide detector within 15 feet of every bedroom, and a smoke detector inside the bedroom by the door.
This seems pretty counterintuitive if you have rooms that aren't usually being used. I would actually want to close all ventilation to those rooms so they aren't being heated or cooled for no reason. I'm buying a 3 bedroom house for myself and may or may not rent a room out. I just learned there are buffers you can add inside the gap at least to deaden sound more. I'll have to install some of those in my new house if they don't come installed already.
central heating and cooling systems are not designed to be closed off despite popular belief and even having vents in the floor that indeed are able to be closed. It creates backpressure and makes the system work harder to do its job. And if the air is flowing into the room it needs a clear path out, again, to ensure the heating and cooling system are working efficiently.
@@livingaboard ok. But I don’t want to heat or cool a room I’m never in. I should have an option for this
@@ianhop Your furnace is still going to be making that heat anyway unless you have a system that can adjust the capacity, most don't. So you're just wasting already spent energy
@@ianhopsounds like you want what my parents have, which is a system that controls each room? Instead of a central HVAC.
I think they’re called Ductless mini splits.
The room vent can be closed off, but that has nothing to do with the transfer vent he’s talking about. That’s just for allowing the hot air that rises to escape and to stay in circulation.
They have dampers that open and close the ducts that lead into the vents in the room. Power of a button opens and close them as needed
But for any activities behind those doors.... you'd hear EVERYTHING through that vent
🤣🤣🤣 well…yeah 🫵🏼 💯
Great Explanation Video. Can you do this with Interior Doors as well & if so, should the Grill be installed at the Bottom or Top of the Door? Thank you for sharing
Thank you Ricky!
Yes, you can do it with interior doors, and doesn’t matter if the grill is at the top or the bottom, it just allows air to pass through. If you’re looking for a cleaner look, you could always replace the door slab with one that has louvers.
Thank you for sharing! Does this transfer grille help with reducing the temperature in the room in the summer? Thanks!
My pleasure! Yes, that transfer grill allows air to circulate so if you close it off, for example I’ve seen people put a magnet cover over it to block the light if they have babies taking naps during the day, that room can become cold in the winter and hot in the summer.
Hello, thank you for this video. My house was built in 1992, and believe me, the contractors cut corners. I have one return vent in the entire 1456 Sqft, two-story house. I'd like to add these vents above the doors to remove/circulate the excessive heat from the second floor. Do you believe these vents will do so when the HVAC system is running? Thank you.
It will definitely help with air circulation, however, seasonal, balancing, I think will help you more. Follow my instructions in this video how to seasonally balance your home.
ua-cam.com/video/VwZpOzOBDqA/v-deo.html
@@BJPoznecki Thank you for your prompt response. Unfortunately, I forgot to mention that my house is built on a slab. There's no basement. The main trunk is the soffit/bulkhead in the kitchen. I was told I could have a return vent installed on the second floor, however, it would cost me. I believed this option would save me a lot of money..
I have a grey mesh looking material in my grates. Should that be there?
Yeah, that’s OK. It sounds like they may have used grills that are actually for outside that have a screen so bugs don’t get in. It won’t hurt anything that’s fine.
Which direction do the louvers go on the exterior and the interior? I ask because I want to be sure the air flows properly. I took them off to paint and am not sure which direction to face them.
Hi Cathy! The louver direction doesn’t matter you just want to put the louvers facing where you can’t see into the wall. So if they’re up high on the wall, do you want the louvers facing up so when you’re standing on the ground you can’t see in and vice versa if the grill is low on the wall you want the louvers facing down so you can’t see in.
@@BJPoznecki Perfect! Thank you for helping me.
@@cathyperry6729 My pleasure!
Is this a stick/site built home? I never see these vents on site built homes, at least in my area. But most manufactured or modular homes have them.
Oddly, where I shot this video, this subdivision was stick built by the Carpenter. Most of the other videos I have on my channel they were pre-fabricated and built in a warehouse.
If I have no back window in my room then this vent will be useful for ventilation or not? Is this enough or I should kept front window along with the door?
I transfer grill in the wall like this, or in an interior door would be very useful!
If there's a good amount of gap on the bottom door is it still necessary to have that circulation vent?
No, if you have a big gap that would work too.
When I close any door in my home you can feel the air coming out from underneath the door. What is the best approach to be able to leave the door closed when hvac is on?
Well, with your house, they may have intentionally short cut the bottom of the door to leave a bigger gap to act as a transfer vent instead of the grill above the door. It sounds like you are good like you are, and don’t have to do anything. However, if you want to install transfer grills up above the door, that is always an option as well.
@@BJPoznecki Is there a consumer air pressure indicator device you know of to test like you did?
@@arielrodriguez6980 I’m sorry I don’t know that would be a question for a heating and air conditioning technician.
I have one of these that isn't above a door but to the right of it in my families media room. There's nothing inbetween the returns either. There are two supply vents that are along the same wall of the room. I feel the room has difficult to keep cool and it stay's approximately 2 degrees warmer at least than the rest of the house. What could possibly be done to improve things in that room? Any advice will help, BJ.
not understanding your scenario. But if you have two supply vents then the return air vent plus whatever the door undercut is allowing to pass through should not be a restriction to the air getting back to the air handler. I can't tell if you have a return air problem or if you need to measure the air flow and velocity and temp coming out of the supply and see if there is a problem there. The short term solution and maybe the only one is to ensure you run the air handler fan more so you get more air circulation in the entire house
Thanks for the info. Should these vents have filters?
My pleasure! No, they are just to allow air to pass through the wall when the doors are closed.
Thanks for the video. What size transfer grill do you recommend?
I would go with 6“ x 10“ return grills. That’s all a transfer grill is, is return grill. And, when you install them, install them where the louvers face up, so you can’t see into the wall.
@@BJPozneckithnak you good sir for the info and the quick reply!
@@isamuqattash4975 My pleasure!
Does the cold air return have a filter? My apartment has one of those next to the door in the dinning and noticed there is no filter.
Hi ChicagoGirl! Well, this video is about transfer grills to allow fresh air to come into a bedroom, however, for your cold air return for your furnace, yes, that should have a furnace filter, that you’ll want to check monthly and replace when it gets dirty.
Is it bad to take them off?
@@christinagarcia8166 Yeah you wanna leave them on because they’re there to allow airflow when the door is closed.
I have these however there’s wood blocks showing, is that okay?
Yeah, that’s OK. That’s just the framing that you’re seeing inside the wall.
Hey, my kids bathroom wall sweats a lot, because they take hot showers, I was thinking about installing a return grill to just let some of that steam out above the bathroom door, do you recommend that?
I don’t see any problem with that. Typically they don’t do a transfer grill at the bathroom to give people privacy when they’re in there. Otherwise, what would probably help even more is putting in a larger exhaust fan.
uh no. Smells in the bathroom are not designed to come outside of the bathroom either. So the exhaust fan with cracking a window if you have one are your solutions. If that means getting a better exhaust fan then so be it.
Do the return suck air or is it just silent no suction?
Well, the return vents for your heating and air-conditioning system suck air back to the furnace. However, the vents above the doors in this video they just allow air to pass through, no suction.
Please tell me name of this wind please
I don’t understand your question?
Hi BJ, do these vents have to be above the door or below? Or can they be moved to a different location, but still allowing air transfer into the same room?
Hi Ana! These vents can be wherever you want. Nowadays to lower the construction costs, builders will typically put one central cold air return on each floor of the home. The purpose of these vents is just to allow air to pass through the wall and travel back to the cold air return vent that takes the air back to your HVAC unit to heat or cool it.
Folks used to cut the bottom of the door short, or with about 1” clearance at the bottom, which looks terrible! The vents over the doors are barely noticeable. One can always build a nice designer vent rather than using these builder-grade registers.
Hi I have these vents in my office and in my master bedroom they are both the coldest rooms in the house can I just cover them? Will you I be ok? I can it's pulling air from my office making it constantly cold during this winter and last summer very hot.
Hi Dee- Yeah, you can try covering them and see if it makes a difference, however, typically these are installed to help the air circulate more so covering them, may actually make the rooms colder.
@@BJPoznecki I think I will try to cover them since I have been having issues trying to keep these two rooms warm. The rest of the house is at 70 degrees while these 2 rooms sit at 63 degrees and they are the two room that is on the opposite side of the furnace
@@bukhadavid Another thing that you’re going to want to check is to make sure that the damper levers are open to those two rooms. You can follow my instructions in this video if you’re not sure what to look for, but it’s possible that those two rooms don’t have enough airflow to heat them.
ua-cam.com/video/VwZpOzOBDqA/v-deo.html
@@BJPoznecki thank you I have thought about that going Into my crawl space and look for them. Thank you for the link I will look into it
If the material is all black on the inside is that bad?
I’m not sure what you mean by the material is all black on the inside? What’s important is when you take those grills off as long as you can see through the wall to the other room that’s all that matters. We just want to make sure that space is open to allow the air to pass through.
Can I these vents keep opened in closedAC room
Hi Rashida, I’m sorry I don’t understand your question?
What’s the point of having 20 min fire rated doors when you have vents that let in heat and smoke. Saving money isn’t worth the danger it puts families in during a possible structure fire.
Here in Chicago, with residential home building. The only door that’s required to be fire rated is your garage entry door.