I have a 4X10 air conditioning vent in my dining room ceiling. It's adjacent to an outside wall, about a foot from a corner.

I want to replace it with one that has a lever to allow me to close it.

There are several types of registers- the one currently there has the slats all in one direction and it's directing the air flow towards the wall.

Was this installed incorrectly?

And- am I better off getting one that vents to the side along the wall, or out into the room? (I assume it would make no sense to get one that vents along the wall to both sides)

On 1/18/2013 2:23 PM, wrote:
I have a 4X10 air conditioning vent in my dining room ceiling. It's adjacent to an outside wall, about a foot from a corner.

I want to replace it with one that has a lever to allow me to close it.

There are several types of registers- the one currently there has the slats all in one direction and it's directing the air flow towards the wall.

Was this installed incorrectly?

And- am I better off getting one that vents to the side along the wall, or out into the room? (I assume it would make no sense to get one that vents along the wall to both sides)

Consider that when you close the vent, you force more cold air out the
leaks. Lots of variables, but watch for condensation/mold.

No leaks and there are plenty of other vents that can handle it. But I plan to close it in the winter. Since the duct runs through an uninsulated attic and down an outside wall, in the winter some cold air drops through the duct into the room. That's the reason I want to be able to close the vent.

On 1/18/2013 9:32 PM, wrote:
No leaks and there are plenty of other vents that can handle it. But I plan to close it in the winter.

Since the duct runs through an uninsulated attic and down an outside
wall, in the winter some cold air

drops through the duct into the room. That's the reason I want to be
able to close the vent.

My bad...I was confused by
I have a 4X10 air conditioning vent in my dining room ceiling. It's
adjacent to an outside wall, about a foot from a corner.

I have some "vent cover" stuff that looks like a huge sheet of
refrigerator magnet.
Works great on the floor vents. Not sure if the magnetic material is
strong enough
to hang on the ceiling vent.

Tried it, didn't stay.

On Jan 19, 7:31*am, wrote:
Tried it, didn't stay.

I would get a register that directs the air out, into the
room. Putting cold or heated air onto an outside wall is a
losing proposition.

wrote:
I have a 4X10 air conditioning vent in my dining room ceiling. It's
adjacent to an outside wall, about a foot from a corner.

I want to replace it with one that has a lever to allow me to close
it.

There are several types of registers- the one currently there has the
slats all in one direction and it's directing the air flow towards
the wall.

Was this installed incorrectly?

And- am I better off getting one that vents to the side along the
wall, or out into the room? (I assume it would make no sense to get
one that vents along the wall to both sides)

Remove the vent.

Take vent to big-box store. Say: "Gimme one this size with adjustble
louvers."

Install new vent.

HD didn't have one just like it that's adjustable, they have ones that blow in different directions and I don't see the point of blowing the air to the sides.

As far as why to blow it at the wall, it'd be less drafty than having a vent blow right at the dining room table.

On Jan 19, 10:03*am, wrote:
HD didn't have one just like it that's adjustable, they have ones that blow in different directions and I don't see the point of blowing the air to the sides.

As far as why to blow it at the wall, it'd be less drafty than having a vent blow right at the dining room table.

You blow the air toward the outside wall because that is where the
outside wall is either heating or cooling the rest of the room. If
the room is a corner room, then you have to decide which wall has the
most heat loss/heat gain and direct air toward that wall. No sense
blowing air toward the walls that are inside walls because they are
already at the desired temperature, assuming heating/cooling of the
adjacent rooms.

Right, the equivalent of putting the radiators on outside walls.

Then the remaining question is- do I blow it back AT the wall (the register is on the ceiling, against the wall) or sideways along the wall?

On Jan 19, 11:42*pm, "hr(bob) "
wrote:
On Jan 19, 10:03*am, wrote:

HD didn't have one just like it that's adjustable, they have ones that blow in different directions and I don't see the point of blowing the air to the sides.

As far as why to blow it at the wall, it'd be less drafty than having a vent blow right at the dining room table.

You blow the air toward the outside wall because that is where the
outside wall is either heating or cooling the rest of the room.

I thought the cold or hot air coming from the register is
what's cooling or heating the room, not the wall. It's not
very smart to be putting the hottest air onto the outside
wall. You're just going to heat that wall area that it's
blowing on HIGHER than room temperature so that more
of the heat will be lost through the wall to the outside.
What's going to lose less heat? Having the wall at 70
or having it at 80?






*If
the room is a corner room, then you have to decide which wall has the
most heat loss/heat gain and direct air toward that wall. *No sense
blowing air toward the walls that are inside walls because they are
already at the desired temperature, assuming heating/cooling of the
adjacent rooms.

On Jan 20, 12:06*am, wrote:
Right, the equivalent of putting the radiators on outside walls.

Then the remaining question is- do I blow it back AT the wall (the register is on the ceiling, against the wall) or sideways along the wall?

It's not the equivalent. Radiators or registers are put along
outside walls because those AREAS, near outside walls, need
the most heat. The intent however is not to heat the wall
itself, rather the air near the wall. With a radiator you don't
have choice in where the air is directed. With a register, you
do. And heating the wall above room temperature just means
you're going to lose more heat out that wall. I've seen a lot
of registers and I've never seen one where the air was
directed at a wall and not into the room.

I thought radiators were on outside walls, because it was easier to install.
Maybe you're right, and I never realized?

Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
..

wrote in message
...

It's not the equivalent. Radiators or registers are put along
outside walls because those AREAS, near outside walls, need
the most heat. The intent however is not to heat the wall
itself, rather the air near the wall. With a radiator you don't
have choice in where the air is directed. With a register, you
do. And heating the wall above room temperature just means
you're going to lose more heat out that wall. I've seen a lot
of registers and I've never seen one where the air was
directed at a wall and not into the room.

If you put radiators on inside walls it'd be cold near the window/outside wall. The only exception is kitchens where it's often impossible, due to cabinets, etc., to put a radiator on the outside wall. And in my kitchen it's a couple of degrees colder near the window for that reason.

But with a forced-air A/C system... there's more air circulation as it's supposed to blow into the room and then (eventually) out the doorway, up the stairs and into the return.

So now we have three different answers- blow at the wall, blow sideways along the wall, or blow into the room. And this is the only room with a 4X10 register on an outside wall, the others are square registers, not on outside walls, that blow in all directions...

On Sun, 20 Jan 2013 09:54:43 -0500, "Stormin Mormon"
wrote:

I thought radiators were on outside walls, because it was easier to install.
Maybe you're right, and I never realized?

Heat loss is only at the outside walls (and ceiling and less so the
floor, of course). In a multi-story building the only loss is at the
periphery so it's the only place that needs heat. Large buildings
with forced air heat will use the core for returns and heat the
outside so the air is circulated and the heat goes where it's lost.

Many large buildings run AC year around because the heat generated in
the core, though normal activity exceeds that lost through the
periphery.

On 1/20/2013 6:36 AM, wrote:
On Jan 19, 11:42 pm, "hr(bob)
wrote:
On Jan 19, 10:03 am, wrote:

HD didn't have one just like it that's adjustable, they have ones that blow in different directions and I don't see the point of blowing the air to the sides.

As far as why to blow it at the wall, it'd be less drafty than having a vent blow right at the dining room table.

You blow the air toward the outside wall because that is where the
outside wall is either heating or cooling the rest of the room.

I thought the cold or hot air coming from the register is
what's cooling or heating the room, not the wall. It's not
very smart to be putting the hottest air onto the outside
wall. You're just going to heat that wall area that it's
blowing on HIGHER than room temperature so that more
of the heat will be lost through the wall to the outside.
What's going to lose less heat? Having the wall at 70
or having it at 80?

Life is a tradeoff.
If you want the most efficient heat, put on a coat.
If you want the most uniform room temperature, put the heating
vents under the windows.





If
the room is a corner room, then you have to decide which wall has the
most heat loss/heat gain and direct air toward that wall. No sense
blowing air toward the walls that are inside walls because they are
already at the desired temperature, assuming heating/cooling of the
adjacent rooms.

On Jan 20, 3:38*pm, mike wrote:
On 1/20/2013 6:36 AM, wrote:



On Jan 19, 11:42 pm, "hr(bob)
wrote:
On Jan 19, 10:03 am, wrote:

HD didn't have one just like it that's adjustable, they have ones that blow in different directions and I don't see the point of blowing the air to the sides.

As far as why to blow it at the wall, it'd be less drafty than having a vent blow right at the dining room table.

You blow the air toward the outside wall because that is where the
outside wall is either heating or cooling the rest of the room.

I thought the cold or hot air coming from the register is
what's cooling or heating the room, not the wall. *It's not
very smart to be putting the hottest air onto the outside
wall. *You're just going to heat that wall area that it's
blowing on HIGHER than room temperature so that more
of the heat will be lost through the wall to the outside.
What's going to lose less heat? *Having the wall at 70
or having it at 80?

Life is a tradeoff.
If you want the most efficient heat, put on a coat.
If you want the most uniform room temperature, put the heating
vents under the windows.


The point I was making was not about where to put
the heating vents. I agree that putting the vents along
outside walls, windows, etc gives the most uniform
temperature.

The point was that if you have a vent
near an exterior wall, there will be better heating of the room
and less heat loss from the wall to the outside, if you
direct the air coming out of it away from the exterior wall.
You want hot air near the outside wall, because that's
going to be the coldest area of the room. But directing
the air at the wall so that the wall temp is higher than the
room is a losing proposition.

Okay, in my case we're talking about A/C, so the best alternative would be to just drop the cold air along the wall, but not at the wall. If we direct the air away from the wall into the room then the people at the window will have the cold air pass over them (especially since it's a dining room, where people are sitting down and thus only up to 4 feet off the floor).