Vents under stairs

[cmawendy]

Our stairs that lead up to the bedroom have vents on them where cold air comes through. We are going to be in cold weather for the winter and are thinking about covering these vents......has anyone covered theirs?

[turley]

do not those are normally return air for the heating system......they are for most keystone units,i.e., big sky , montana ......

[8e3k0]

The vents on the stair risers are there for air circulation to the basement of the Monty as the basement area is heated similarily to the balance of the living space upstairs. I would think this is return air and at least a balance of the air and heat that is displaced in the Monty in total. I am not able to verify if some of this air returns to be combusted which would be combined with outside air. I would not block this area off with a first priority of having heated air balance between the basement and the living space.

[Glenn and Lorraine]

Just today I had to remove the covers I made for my stair vents. Besides being the cold air return for the furnace they also provide air flow for the converter. This AM my converter was replaced as it had overheated and part of the cause may very well have been from blocking that air flow.

Just a month or so ago we ahd a discussion on these very vents. My reasoning for covering was the warm air coming thru while the AC was running.