Blocking up air vents - ok or not?

[YellowDahlias]

We live in a 1960s house with gas central heating which has air vents in most rooms. Some air vents have been blocked up, some have not. The house was originally built with forced air heating but that was ripped out decades ago.

I'm sitting at my desk today underneath an air vent and the cold air is blowing in. Is it safe to block them up because I am absolutely freezing?

We don't seem to be getting any problems with the other rooms where they have been blocked up. A piece of wood has been glued over them.

We are pretty good at airing the house on a regular basis, use a dehumidifier when drying laundry, bathroom has a fan, etc. There's no fireplace. We have loft insulation but not enough to meet current standards. We don't have cavity wall insulation as we've been told it's not worth due to the design of our house.

Any advice from more knowledgable people?

I don't know, are they meant to be ventilating any hidden spaces like voids under floors that might get damp if you don't let air through them?

In any case I doubt you'd do much harm if you taped some paper over them for a day or so to block out the worst of the draughts, if you take it off again when the wind dies down.

It's risking. That's how floor joists end up rotting. You'd need to speak to a builder or damp specialist before doing anything permanent. While it might be fine for years, it just stores up problems for the future.

It might be worth getting advice from a builder or similar. We moved an air vent because it was causing draughts and the area where the original vent was gets damp now.

Thanks all. Guess its another thing to add to the list when we next have builders in.