Can You Put Furniture In Front Of Air Return Vent

There would be a gap of at least 3 inches between the vent and the back of the furniture.

Can you put furniture in front of air return vent.

The vent is close to the floor. Normally we place furniture very near the wall. This extra work takes a toll. Block that flow and your home will run sub optimally and you could even cause damage to your hvac system.

This reduction in return air can starve your system and cause the furnace air handler to overheat. The answer i generally give is no but without knowing how much return air you have in your house or how much you ll be blocking the return its impossible to tell from here. You will not feel air being blown out of these vents as they are used to force out the cool air in the room to be reheated by the furnace. But sometimes the vent is in an extremely inconvenient place the only wall big enough for your sofa or your library media wall system the best section of the room for the bed or the dresser or the dining room sideboard.

When you block a vent with a textile the entire ac has to work harder to pull air into the system and to push it out again. Return vents are usually larger than heat registers and can generally be found close to the ground or in the floor in older homes or on a wall close to a ceiling in newer homes. Disrupted air flow may also cause humidity issues and refrigerant issues both of which are harmful to your iaq and your hvac system. This is one of the main reasons why some homeowners believe they can block air return vents with furniture.

1 don t block the airflow. As long as you are not on top the vent and the bookshelf is not closed in in other words there is open space on each end you should be fine. Should be okay as long as you are not putting the furniture directly up against the return blocking its cfms just make sure that your return is not blocked from intake airflow. It inhales quite a large volume of air.

Your ac will wear out faster and will consume more energy. Furniture especially upholstered furniture rugs and curtains are typically what block vents in the home. Move the item further away. If you own the house and can put an intake in the basement that will help but you should be ok.

Renay you can place all the furniture you want in tront of a return air vent just be sure you leave a little room for air to go under around or over the top and don t place a piece that the vent.