Can the air from a vent be harmful to wood?

[xboxist]

I moved into a new apartment. I have an antique grandfather clock (appraised at several thousand dollars). The place is smaller than where I came from, so things aren't fitting as well as I'd hoped. I want to set the clock in the living/main room. The only logical placement for this is against a 2-foot wide section of the wall that is in between a closet and the doorway to the kitchen. Well, of course there has to be an air vent at the base of this chunk-o-wall. The clock would straddle it, so to speak... because it's on legs. So there would be about 2 inches of clearance between the bottom of the clock and the vent.

Will either the heat or the A/C from this vent damage the wood in any way, short or long term? Thanks much.

Also - with the clock over it, it deflects the air from the vent right into the middle of the room. I hope I can keep the clock there.

 

[Eli]

It will probably be OK..... but it will have some effects.

The heat will be bad, as will the drying effects. Best to move it away from the vent, and use some sort of high quality wood wax, polish or treatment to help protect it from the elements.

On second thought, just duct tape the vent if it isn't closable. 🙂

 

[xboxist]

Hmmmm... it's closeable, but that's what I wanted to avoid. Don't want to freeze all winter. Maybe I can get ambitious and install another vent in the room somehow. I'm on the first floor, so the basement is below me. Thanks, Eli.

 

[Eli]

Since it's just hitting the bottom of it, it may not be a big deal..

Probably your call. Using a wood treatment product would help regardless, though.

 

[thedarkwolf]

You could use one of those vent do hickys and redirect the air so its atleast not directly hitting the base of the clock. Well with only 2 inches you would have to make one but it would still work 🙂.

 

[Eli]

Originally posted by: thedarkwolf
You could use one of those vent do hickys and redirect the air so its atleast not directly hitting the base of the clock. Well with only 2 inches you would have to make one but it would still work 🙂.

I thought about that too, but then ran into the 2" space thing.. heh.

Is it like the only vent in the room or something?

If you're that worried about the clock, you could just close the vent and keep the door open or something.

 

[thedarkwolf]

Originally posted by: Eli

Originally posted by: thedarkwolf
You could use one of those vent do hickys and redirect the air so its atleast not directly hitting the base of the clock. Well with only 2 inches you would have to make one but it would still work 🙂.

I thought about that too, but then ran into the 2" space thing.. heh.

Wouldn't be to hard. Just inclose most of the bottem of the clock except the front in cardboard. That way air still comes out but its not hitting the clock and it would look classy too 🙂.

 

[Kelemvor]

Just make a small wooden (or some other material) upside down U shaped piece that is the same size as the vent and as deep as the clock. Slide it in there so the air from the vent is forced out and under the clock without actually coming into contact with the clock's wood itself.

 

[SagaLore]

If you have central air... the heat will dry and possibly distort the stain and wood on the bottom, and then the cold will build up moisture and then cause mildew and rot to happen to the wood. Over a few years the bottom is going to be pretty nasty. Not to mention the dirt from the air that will get encrusted on it.

 

[SagaLore]

Originally posted by: xboxist
Hmmmm... it's closeable, but that's what I wanted to avoid. Don't want to freeze all winter. Maybe I can get ambitious and install another vent in the room somehow. I'm on the first floor, so the basement is below me. Thanks, Eli.

What you could do is get some kind of metal lid to put over the vent that will redirect air across the floor rather than letting it hit the clock dead-on. You might be able to fashion something out of a piece of tin - maybe even aluminum foil.