How can I redirect heat from a floor heating vent?

Question : How can I redirect heat from a floor heating vent?
I’m building a window seat directly over a floor heating vent. I need to redirect the heat from the floor vent to the front of the window seat but I don’t know what I will need to do it?
floor heating

Best answer:

Answer by KirksWorld
Hardware stores and mail order catalogs have clear plastic vent attachments that can channel the air to the front of furniture. They’re less than $ 15.

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Comments (6)
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#1 written by Bman 1 year ago

You can buy these little plastic pieces that sit right on top of the vent. Check Home Depot or your local hardware store. The one I have has these little magnets on the bottom so it sticks to the vent. All it is, is a curved piece of plastic that diverts the air from going straight up to a 90 angle. It is adjustable to that it fits different size vents.

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#2 written by bugs280 1 year ago

The previous 2 answers have the right idea. Just about any local hardware or building supply store will have diverters for under $ 10 that will redirect the air flow. You will also need a vent opening in the front of the window seat to allow the air to escape. You could use a standard vent available form the same supplier or get creative with some decorative metal that will allow air flow.

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#3 written by Iwhatt 1 year ago

If you window seat does have closed front wall then you can get away with cheap plastic heat deflector. If it is completely closed box, then you have a bit more challenging task. Heating and cooling designed for the house the way it is, and every re-modeling project may affect it greatly, since it relies on the certain level of air movement (convection). If your window seat enclosing your vent fully you can do it two ways. If possible, use some air gap between edges of your seat and side or back walls or incorporate some decorative mesh or louvers type inserts. Then leave the similar gaps or inserts between the front edge of the seat and floor. The trick is to have overall open to the air area being equal to you current vent area. If you vent is 6 by 3 inches and has louvers, then it area is 50% of 18 square inches or 9 square inches. If you made a gape of 1 by 9 inches on the top and 2 gaps 1 by 4.5 at the bottom or vise versa your heat will be fine.

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#4 written by OutGoingGuy 1 year ago

you will have to do some work from the basement. take off the 90 degree register box that looks like this http://www.homedepot.com/prel80/HDUS/EN_US/diy_main/pg_diy.jsp?prod_id=100037865&cm_mmc=YahooPI-_-YPI-_-Product-_-2498+100037865 then put on a 90 degree elbow that looks like this http://www.homedepot.com/prel80/HDUS/EN_US/diy_main/pg_diy.jsp?prod_id=100037865&cm_mmc=YahooPI-_-YPI-_-Product-_-2498+100037865 then put on some striaght vent pipe to bring it above the floor a bit. if it comes up close enough to the front of the window seat, put the 90 degree register box back on and it will be at the front of you window seat. if its to far back u will probably have to put another 90 degree elbow on and come out a bit then put a straight register box on the end. if u need more help because i might of lost you, just email me. i might be able to email u a picture of the plan if that would help. Good luck

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#5 written by thewrangler_sw 1 year ago

Well, youve got some pretty intricately described methods here.. .and some that are inadequate…

As a woodworker myself, and yes, Ive built furniture to go over existing vents like this… I would simply build a channel under the bottom of the unit, to redirect the vented air to the front of the seat, with a decorative vent covering the opening. I make my ‘vent channel’ slightly wider than the vent itself. I like to put a set back at the bottom, like you see on kitchen cabinets (called a kickplate), and put the new vent there, so it isnt quite so obvious. Naturally, the ‘kickplate’ would have to be high enough to accomodate the vent cover… so plan ahead, hehehe.

A couple of other things I like to do… I like to line the vent channel under the piece of furniture with some scrap laminate (prevents mold build up from condensation during the air conditioner season), and I like to provide a small space, say, a half inch or so, around the vent itself. This acts as a ‘breathing space’, and you’ll not have to worry about the inside bottom of the window seat getting too hot for storage. (you can even go so far as to add just a bit of foam insulation). At the back of the furniture piece, where the floor vent is actually located, I like to add a ‘deflector’… usually I just make it out of whatever I am making the rest of the ‘vent channel’ out of… this helps direct the air flow to the front of the unit, more efficiently.

My guess is that you can make a vent channel to run under your window seat, right out of the scraps of plywood, or other material, you are using to make the unit.

Have Fun

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#6 written by Obsean 1 year ago

Just take the register off of the floor. Build the window seat right over the hole in the floor.
Cut a 10″ x 2″ or 12″ x 2″ slot in the toe kick of the window seat. Purchase and install a toe kick register – a stamped flat faced grill to cover the hole.
Voila, you have a toe kick register, using the cavity under the seat as an air plenum. Done it tons of times, mostly under kitchen cabinets, but a few under window seats.
That’s all you need to do.

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