Stair vent openings

[justlkn]

I have a 2012 Avalanche that has vent opening on the stair risers that allow air movement between the basement and the living area. When I run the air and I open one of the basement doors you can feel a lot of cold air in there. This applies to heating also. My question is are the vents actually necessary as I am pretty sure there are enough spaces in the basement that allow air flow such as gaps in the coraplast and other openings. I wanted to close these off to make the air more efficient. Does anyone know if this will cause a problem later down the road?

Thanks,
Glenn

[JRTJH]

You can block them during the summer without any significant problems, but the vents facilitate .heating the basement. Since ventilation for basement heat comes from that area, you'd need to unblock them during cold weather camping to help prevent freezing in the basement and also to help circulate air to keep the basement dry and help control condensation.

[EricLynnAllison]

On my fifth wheel, the stair vent openings are also the cold air return for the furnace.

[therink]

Originally Posted by EricLynnAllison

On my fifth wheel, the stair vent openings are also the cold air return for the furnace.

X2- Same here

[tileman]

We block ours in the summer time and leave it open when the heat runs.

[justlkn]

Thanks everyone for the replies. I do have several other dedicated heat vents for the basement and may try blocking these off. It is very drafty from those vents.

[Bluewater]

I have our basement vents blocked off all year with no problems even living in the cold NW. Enough heat escapes to keep it from any freeze damage.

[WaltBennett]

They don't directly open into the basement as there's a wall between them and the basement itself. They do provide air to cool your converter, water pump and whatever else Keystone stuck under there. One thing I did was to put some fiberglass screening cut to fit behind them. That way you won't get any unwanted critters going either way.

[MrsShmthaus]

Looking for how people block these vents. I'd like to find a way to block the vent without it looking terrible!!

ok - never mind. We just figured out the vents have screws in them!! I"m still pretty new to RVing!!