Upgraded the vents with a set from Trimmed Out Woodworking. Pleased with the result. While I was at it, I added foam insulation wrapped in foil tape between all the stair supports. HD matched color of the original so all blends in nicely. No longer dumping heat from the basement into the hall.
This project led me to a couple of other rabbit holes.
1) Vacuum hose was 10' long with a couple of loops in the basement. It is likely over time that this would be the source of it being stopped up. Only needed 5' for a direct path from stairs to vacuum in the basement so I cut it shorter.
2) The wires to the vacuum was supporting two LARGE wires going to solar cabinet. You've got to love the lack of effort to run wires with some thought in the basement. Had to cut the vacuum wires and reconnect to resolve that issue. Zip tied the large wires and everything else on that end of the storage area. Nothing is now laying on the solar cabinet.
