Yes it needs to be cleaned
Cold air return on bottom of wall
by
Cbr29572130
+6
When it is cold, and the furnace is not running, cold air comes in this air return on the bottom of a wall in the living room. I am thinking of gluing a piece of material thick enough to keep the air out when the furnace is off, but light enough to be moved via the air flow. Any suggestions?
Would a piece of cardboard work...it's hard to see exactly what you are talking about.
Cold air should not be coming out of your intake vent. I would have an HVAC tech come out and Look at it. One of your ducts may be loose or possibly have a hole in it. Really should clean those vents and replace your filters often. Dirty filters can really reak havoc on your HVAC system.
Don't put anything over it as you would restrict the airflow to your furnace. Where is the furnace in relationship to this vent? You might check all your ducts to make sure they are correctly connected and wrapped. An inspection when we bought our house found one heat duct that needed to be taped. Hope that makes sense and helps.
Chubby58 and Kalueke are correct. Do not block the cold air return. There should be no air coming out of it with the furnace off. Covering it up with anything will make your furnace run harder, strain the blower motor, and even burn the motor up prematurely. Check if there are any openings, gaps, open seams, in your ductwork. You can use foils duct tape to seal any gaps. Look if any duct connections have separated. Clean the grill and replace the filter at least once a month. Use pleated filters rather than the cheap blue filters. Trap more dirt and dust.
Curtain fabrics may help using a Velcro strip to hold to top of vent. Hope this helps. Dreadful drafts!!
First thing you should do is VACUUM that vent cover and the surrounding area!
Irene Cousineau. If the vent is a supply vent, air comes out, do not block it. If it is a return vent, air goes in, you can block it. A supply vent has a small handle to to adjust air flow. A return vent has no handle.
Get a piece of middleweight cardboard, you can cover it with room matching fabric, a picture, vinyl letters or whatever, just paint it or use white cardboard unless you are lucky enough to get one of the vinyl boxes, but you get the idea. Go to Wal-Mart , michaels or whatever is in your area. They sell magnet on a roll, put that on the back of the prepped cardboard to stick to metal on return. Just don't forget to take off when you use heat. Also I put nice smelling few essential oil drops on the back of the heat return cover, not the cover you made, the return grate u are covering.when you remove the cardboard cover and use the heat, a nice, not musty from being closed up, lol, scent will come into the room.