Can You Put Furniture Over a Vent? (3 Things to Consider)

Sometimes placing your furniture over a vent may seem like your best option especially since that placement fits the design of your home so perfectly! But, is this really your best option? Is it safe to place furniture over a vent?

Placing furniture over a vent is not recommended, as this blocks proper airflow and makes your HVAC system have to work harder to properly cool or heat your house. This will also damage your furniture over time. You should always leave enough space between the furniture and your air vents.

However, there are other solutions to put furniture over your vents if your room is small or you have no other option. In this article, we discuss alternatives to solve your problem.

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Never Place Furniture Over a Vent

You should never place your furniture over or in front of an air vent. This can lead to lasting damage to your HVAC system and your furniture. Let’s discuss why.

Is It Okay to Have Furniture Over a Vent?

It is best not to have any furniture over your vent in your home because the air requires a free-flowing passage. Also, if you place furniture over your vents you might see mold growing after a while.

You should be careful not to place any furniture over the floor or wall-mounted vents.

It could cause molding on the furniture, but it could also cause your heating system to go into overdrive, and this could cause major damage.

Is It Safe to Cover Air Vents?

It is not safe to cover air vents. The air will build up against the cover and cause your heat exchanger to break or crack. It could also leak deadly carbon monoxide into the air from these cracks.

Carbon monoxide has no smell or taste, so it’s not really possible to identify a leak before it’s too late.

Because breathing in this gas can make you ill and eventually kill you, it’s never safe to try and cover your air vents.

Is Covering an Air Vent Bad?

Covering an air vent can be very bad for your house. It disrupts the airflow and causes a pressure build-up of air which can lead to your HVAC unit being damaged. This damage can cause carbon monoxide to leak into your house.

If your HVAC system is damaged or cracked, it also causes your heating/cooling system to work a lot harder to heat or cool your home, which is a waste of energy. It also increases your utility bills.

Can a Wall Vent Be Blocked by Furniture?

A wall vent can easily be blocked by furniture. Even just curtains covering the air vents can cause a blockage. Therefore, you need to leave at least 6-12 inches free between your wall vents and your furniture.

This distance ensures that none of your furniture will be blocking the air vents and damaging the HVAC system.

Make sure that your curtains are also not covering any wall vents, as this can also cause your vent to be blocked.

You might also enjoy our post on If You Can Put Furniture on Wet Carpet

Can I Put Furniture in Front of a Vent?

You should not put furniture over your vent, as this can cause a blockage in your air vents or cause molding on your furniture. However, you can purchase a vent deflector from Amazon, which could solve your problems.

Vent deflectors work perfectly to deflect the air flowing out of the vent towards the center of the room. You will still be able to place furniture over the wall and simply use a vent deflector or vent extender. 

Furniture Over an Air Vent

In this section, we will discuss the consequences of putting different furniture pieces over an air vent, and other options to avoid covering a vent.

Is It Okay to Put a Dresser Over a Vent?

Placing a wood dresser over the vent is a bad idea. The air coming out of the vent is very dry, and it could cause the bolts to loosen on the dresser. The moisture in the air could also cause the wood furniture to warp.

You need to be extra careful with wood furniture blocking air vents as it will almost certainly get damaged over time.

Even wood furniture that is in the same room as a blocked vent could get damaged.

Can You Put a TV in Front of a Vent?

You should not put a TV or a TV stand directly in front of a vent, but you should be okay if you place it a few inches in front of the vent. This is because the air needs to be able to travel freely out of the vent.

The added heat from the vents could cause extra stress on the TV, so this is not an ideal situation and should be avoided if possible.

If not, be sure to clean your vent regularly to ensure dust doesn’t get blown into your TV.

Is Putting a Bed Over a Vent Safe?

If your bed frame has a couple of inches of free space before the mattress base, then there would be no problem with placing a bed over your floor vent, as air can still escape and circulate in the room.

If your bed is extremely low, but you have no other spot for your bed, you should purchase a vent extender.

These are perfect for placing under a bed or couch to redirect the airflow and not hinder your interior design.

Can I Put a Crib Over a Vent?

You can put a crib over a vent since most cribs have a lot of extra space underneath, although you need to take into consideration that air will be blowing directly onto your baby.

Babies cannot regulate their own temperature, so this is quite unhealthy for your baby. Instead, you should place the crib close to the vent but out of direct airflow.

This will ensure that your baby is still nice and warm but not in danger.

The Dangers of Covering a Vent

In this section, let’s discuss what can actually happen if you block your air vent and how to know if one of your vents is blocked.

Can Covering a Vent Cause a Fire?

Covering a vent can lead to a fire. You are forcing your furnace to work a lot harder, and that sets a higher chance for your furnace to catch fire. This is not a very common occurrence, though.

Rather than covering your vents and having this possibility, you should strategically place your furniture not to cover the vents. 

You may also invest in vent deflectors or extenders to make sure that the airflow is not disrupted.

You might also enjoy our post on If You Can Put Furniture In Front of a Radiator

What Happens if You Block a Return Air Vent?

Blocking your return air vents causes your heating system to work a lot harder. There is less air traveling back into your furnace. This could lead to a decreased HVAC performance.

Blocking the return vent can also freeze your air conditioning coils, which decreases the function of your HVAC system.

All of these malfunctions could lead to a premature failure of your HVAC system.

Will My HVAC System Have to Work Harder if I Cover a Vent With Furniture?

Your HVAC system will definitely work harder if you cover your vent with furniture because it will have restricted airflow. As a result, the airflow pressure will build up, which causes your system to work harder.

You might not even notice an issue in the beginning. The first signs could be irregular cooling and heating or underperformance of your system.

These are signs that you should check all your vents because a vent is blocked somewhere.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BhSNhyPZfxM

Does Having Furniture Over a Vent Affect My Heating/Cooling?

Having furniture over a vent can cause irregular heating/cooling in your house. If you notice this, then you should check your vents. You should purchase a vent deflector or extender.

A vent deflector or extender is perfect to use in rooms where you can’t really move the furniture, and it has to be placed over a vent.

This will also dispel any worries about your furnace overworking and causing heating/cooling problems.

Will My Furniture Be Damaged if It Is Over a Vent?

Any furniture placed directly over a vent will suffer damage, like molding. Wood furniture would suffer the most damage as the dry air from the vents could loosen or crack the wooden boards.

Molding occurs when hot air is blown directly onto the furniture. This weakens your furniture considerably, and it might even be necessary to replace the piece of furniture.

You should use a vent extender when placing furniture over vents.

You might also enjoy our post on If You Can Put Furniture on New Carpet

Furniture Guidelines

Now that you understand all the dangers related to blocking your vents with furniture let’s look at some guidelines for you to remember when moving furniture.

How Far Should Furniture Be From an Air Vent?

To be safe, it is recommended to leave  6-12 inches of space available between a piece of furniture and an air vent. This distance is to ensure that your furniture and the HVAC system don’t get damaged.

If you cannot leave the recommended 6-12 inches of open space between your furniture and an air vent, you should install a magnetic air deflector, such as this one.

This deflects the airflow away from your furniture and towards the center of the room.

What Are Some Guidelines for Placing Furniture?

Placing furniture can be extremely overwhelming, but we have made a list of guidelines to help you place your furniture safely but also stylishly:

Guidelines for furniture placement:

1. Function over form – What are you going to use the room for? Does your furniture placement make sense for that function?
2. Airflow  – Does your furniture allow air to flow throughout your room from the vents (or windows)?
3. Traffic flow – Is it easy to walk from one side to the other side of the room? Is there enough space to walk?

Products That Can Help With Furniture Placement Over Vents

We can recommend these products that will help with your air vent struggles. You can “hide” them with these products.

What Is an Air Deflector?

Air deflectors help to deflect air from your vents. These are ideal in situations where you might have furniture or curtains directly in the airflow of the air vent. In addition, these deflectors help to open a new airflow.

You can purchase a magnetic air deflector from Amazon that sticks onto any floor or wall vents and helps redirect the airflow.

These can also be placed over small windows to redirect the airflow in your preferred direction.

What Is a Vent Extender?

Vent extenders are similar to vent deflectors, although extenders are usually only used on floor vents. They can expand well over 30 inches to redirect airflow from under a piece of furniture.

If you have a small room and there is no other choice but to put your bed/couch over an air vent, you can purchase a vent extender or even make your own DIY vent extender with materials that you have at home.

How Do You DIY a Vent Extender?

To DIY a vent extender, you should first start by measuring the distance from your vent to the edge of your furniture. Then, measure the width of your vent. Now, you can purchase an aluminum baking pan with at least the same width and length.

Here is a complete list of how to DIY a vent extender:

1. Measure the distance from your vent to the edge of your furniture and the width of your vent.
2. Purchase an aluminum baking pan with at least the same width and length.
3. Measure the distance from your vent to the edge of the furniture on your baking pan and cut with scissors.
4. Then use duct tape to secure the baking pan over your vent.

Related Questions

How Can You Decorate Around a Wall Vent?

You can decorate around a wall vent by putting up different artworks around the vent to draw attention away from the vent itself. However, be careful not to place anything over the vent, as that could lead to some damage.

On Amazon, you can purchase air vent grills that are better looking than the builders’ vents that might be installed in your house.

These grills have sufficient openings not to restrict airflow and still look a lot better.

When Is It Okay to Cover an Air Vent?

There are no situations where it is acceptable or okay to cover your air vents. This could always lead to damage to your furniture and your HVAC system. So never cover them with anything.

Covering your air vents causes pressure build-up, leading to the HCAV system overworking. When the HVAC system is overworking, it can cause a carbon monoxide leak or even a fire.

Can Vents Damage House Plants?

Generally, houseplants enjoy the hot air from the HCAV system, but they do not like to be placed in the direct airflow of your vents. So be sure to know how the air flows in your room out of the vents, and avoid putting your houseplants in those paths.

The air that comes out of your vents is extremely dry. This air is not good for your plants and especially for your leaves.

If your air is hot and dry, you should provide extra water to your houseplants and mist their leaves with water.

Final Thoughts

It’s important to understand the dangers related to blocking your air vents with furniture. Now that you understand, you can make informed decisions next time you want to move your furniture around.