When arranging beds in a room, you may have to keenly consider the position of doors and windows to ensure you are arranging the bed in the best way possible.
Undoubtedly, you want to arrange your bed in a way that won’t inconvenience you or other appliances in the room.
Other than doors and windows, the vents will also help you determine how to position your bed in a room.
So, Is It Bad To Place A Bed Over A Floor Vent?
The direct answer to this question is YES. It is strongly discouraged to place a bed over a floor vent as it will impede the HVAC system’s functionality and interfere with air circulation in the bedroom.
In most home designs, floor vents are usually placed in the right place to allow cold air from the HVAC system to circulate in the room. Placing a bed just above the vents would block the airflow, hindering the system from warming or cooling your rooms.
However, there are a few circumstances where the floor vents are positioned at the side of the room where you may prefer to place a bed.
Luckily, there are remedies for such situations.
This article will cover the problems associated with placing a bed over a floor vent and more.
What Is A Floor Vent, And How Does It Work?
As the name suggests, a floor vent is a component of the HVAC system, usually positioned on the floor of a room.
A floor vent can be positioned on the floor near the walls or at the center of the floor space.
Even when your HVAC system is functioning appropriately, it’s nearly impossible to feel air blowing out of the floor vent, despite the unit serving to blow air.
A floor vent works by receiving cold airstreams from the HVAC system and spreading the streams in a room.
For the most part, this means placing anything on the vent will interrupt how the system functions.
When you place a bed on top of the floor vent, cold and fresh air won’t circulate in the bedroom to adequate limits.
If you must put your bed on the floor vent, it is better to turn off the entire HVAC system in such circumstances than to leave it to run, yet you will not benefit from its operation.
However, your room will keep getting warmer, and you will experience poor circulation of fresh air; therefore, staying inside such a room will likely be uncomfortable.
How To Appropriately Put A Bed On Top Of A Floor Vent
If your room is small, or the floor vents are placed at a more appropriate point to keep a bed, considering other factors, you can go ahead and place a bed on top of the vent.
Here are some viable options to assist you in positioning the bed over the the floor vent appropriately.
- Place the bed several inches above the floor
- Use air diverters to channel air from under the bed
- Use deflectors to adjust the furniture
Why Is It Bad To Place Your Bed Oven A Floor Vent?
Putting a bed on top of a floor vent is a risky and bad idea. Here are some of the dangers of putting a bed on the floor ventilation.
1. Unutilized power and Malfunction of the HVAC system.
When you block a single vent in the room, the cooling system is forced to work extra hard to get hot air in the system and release the cold air into your room.
You will pay higher power bills in the long run, and the HVAC system can easily break down.
The system. will wear out quickly, thus requiring continued repair and maintenance practices or, worse, full replacement of the system.
2. Damage To The Bed
If your bed is made of wood, placing it above a vent will expose the bed to cold and musty conditions, which are among the greatest wood destroyers.
Air from the cooling system is usually cold and can easily form a layer of moisture on anything that blocks it from flowing.
As a result of being exposed to moisture for long periods of time, mildew and mold will form on the underside.
Your bed will also get unpleasant discolorations and stains and may not stand a chance to be resold ever again.
Depending on the time your bed is exposed to the moisture generated by cold air through vents, there are times when you will have to replace the entire bed and even beddings.
3. Imbalanced Air Circulating In Your Room
While setting up the HVAC system in your home, the technicians carefully did their calculations and determined the exact size of heat, power, and AC that is adequate to keep the room at moderate temperature.
One of the considerations when determining the right temperature for a room is airflow.
Technicians usually determine the airflow that should pass through a system before setting it up.
The system will function optimally only when the delicate heat and airflow balances are achieved; otherwise, it will malfunction.
This is why all vents need to remain open, unblocked, and functional.
When you place a bed on top of the vents, it interferes with airflow and alters the set equilibrium.
In the end, your room will have limited fresh cold air.
At such a point, it is better to turn off the home cooling system and avoid the high power bills of running the system since you are no longer benefiting from it.
4. Mildew And Mold Growth On Your Bed
If you place a bed over a vent, the bed, mattress, and other bedding materials tend to trap the cold air getting out through the vents.
Normally, when cold air meets linen, cotton, or synthetic fiber, there will be a musty environment on the lower surface of the fabric.
After some time, mildew and mold will develop underneath the bed and thrive in such conditions.
5. Fire Hazard
Your HVAC system contains a furnace with a metallic coil referred to as a heat exchanger.
This metallic coil receives air, heats it, and then supplies the heated air to the system.
The system will then stream the warmed air to the room through ventilation. The furnace coil must be fed with enough air to operate optimally.
When you block the vents using a bed or any other equipment, there will be a limited air supply to the metal coil.
If the issue persists, the coil will overheat, expand beyond ability and crack. This poses a high fire hazard risk and increases energy bills.
6. Increases Electric Bills
When you block air vents, the HVAC system will be forced to strain harder to function optimally.
After a long time, the cooling system will consume a lot of energy, yet its impact on functionality will not be felt. As a homeowner, you will end up paying high power bills.
Conclusion
When planning to arrange your bedroom, there are several things to consider, and the position of floor vents is among them.
Placing a bed on top of a floor vent is not a good room organization decision because it will bring more long-term effects.
Hopefully, the information in this article will help you understand why it is bad to place a bed on top of a floor vent.
