Building a new house and trying to decide what to do in closets. Are AC vents a good or bad idea in closets? At first thought, leaning on "no" for small closets and "yes" for larger closet like the master.

What about a small media closet? I would think no for a AC/Heat vent because why hear it in the winter? What about a small return air vent, or an exhaust fan?

Thoughts?
TIA!

In all of the houses I've owned I've only seen them in master closets and it's never been an issue. A media / server closet though, you'll want one in there. The receiver can put out a lot of heat.

the only closet in our house that has one is our master closet (about a 10x12 space). We had some ductwork re-done a few years ago because our master bedroom was always hot, and so was our closet (off our master bath). We added a return in the master bedroom and reworked the ductwork and all is good now. I don't think I would put a return in our master closet since it is just a couple of feet from the shower...I would think moisture might be pulled in there?

You are exactly correct about the media closet. You do not want a register directly running into it due to winter time heat blowing into the room. The best option is to circulate conditioned air already in the house into and out of the closet.

For example, I recently installed a system similar to this one in our media closet: https://www.amazon.com/AC-Infinity-AIRPLATE-Thermostat-Cabinets/dp/B00QFWWZQO/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1506693020&sr=8-7&keywords=airplate

I put one dual fan plate in the bottom of the door that is pulling the air in. I put a second dual fan plate above the door that exhausts the hot air from the closet right below the air return on our second story. In addition, I installed filters on the fans on the door that pull in the air to help reduce dust in the closet and on the equipment (as this leads to heat as well).

It is all performing very well. Does not get over 80 degrees (85 degrees is the max ambient temp you want equipment at before most equipment will degrade over time).

My closet includes:
* Network gateway
* Network router
* Ethernet switch
* HDMI switch
* Multiple infrared, serial, and light network controllers
* Rack mounted battery back-up for network
* Floor standing battery back-up for media equipment
* Two blu-ray players
* Roku
* Three audio/video receivers

Great info, thanks! So the item linked only comes with 1 dual fan plate? So I would want to buy another dual fan plate, so one can pull in conditioned air, and the other can pull out old air?

Do you mind posting some pics of your system or door with the plate installed and then the one going into the 2nd story?

Question: So you can basically accomplish the same thing by having a larger crack at the bottom of the closet door, and have a small return air duct on closet ceiling that pulls out old air in the closet? The downside to that is that it will only bring in conditioned air when your main house HVAC system is on and blowing/sucking air...?

Another possible option: You could install one of these in your ceiling to exhaust air out of closet, then just have a larger crack in the bottom of the door to draw in conditioned air... seems that should work also?

jpb1999 said:

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Great info, thanks! So the item linked only comes with 1 dual fan plate? So I would want to buy another dual fan plate, so one can pull in conditioned air, and the other can pull out old air?

Do you mind posting some pics of your system or door with the plate installed and then the one going into the 2nd story?

Question: So you can basically accomplish the same thing by having a larger crack at the bottom of the closet door, and have a small return air duct on closet ceiling that pulls out old air in the closet? The downside to that is that it will only bring in conditioned air when your main house HVAC system is on and blowing/sucking air...?

Another possible option: You could install one of these in your ceiling to exhaust air out of closet, then just have a larger crack in the bottom of the door to draw in conditioned air... seems that should work also?

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You are correct here as well. It will move practically the same volume. The only reason I did a push/pull setup is because I wanted to be able to filter the air coming in to reduce dust on the equipment.

I'll try to get some pics posted for you later tonight.

They have different models with single, dual, or triple fans with or without thermostats. You only need one thermostat as both push and pull fans can be linked together.

Here are those pictures I owe you. Sorry for the delay!

Installing supports and fans in the door (this picture is only a test fit; I line the support frame with foil tape and spray paint it black before installation):



Fans installed, vent covers off:


Vents covers installed:


Inside closet (a few receivers removed):

Nifty solution!

Great thanks! So the wires are just running free behind/above the door to the thermostat? For Power, I guess it is just plugged into the wall outlet in the pic?

Since ours is a new build, would there be any benefit to exhausting through the ceiling, through a duct, into the attic? Or is that just more work for no reason? Question along the same line, any benefit to hardwiring thermostat into the wall? I can see if doing that, it may be harder to replace one day with a new fan unit when old one goes out...

jpb1999 said:

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Great thanks! So the wires are just running free behind/above the door to the thermostat? For Power, I guess it is just plugged into the wall outlet in the pic?

Since ours is a new build, would there be any benefit to exhausting through the ceiling, through a duct, into the attic? Or is that just more work for no reason? Question along the same line, any benefit to hardwiring thermostat into the wall? I can see if doing that, it may be harder to replace one day with a new fan unit when old one goes out...

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Yes, the thermostat is plugged into the wall receptacle and the wires to the fans are hanging freely at the moment. On my to-do list is to wire manage the fan wires behind the door trim and build a little box frame around the fan controller/thermostat.

In my research, I was discouraged from venting air into the attic. The explanation was that any air leaving the controlled space of your house puts a draw/vacuum to pull in air from somewhere (likely from outside or the attic). I was actually encouraged to vent it directly into my return air box on the attic side as it would be more concealed, but that was a bit out of my skill level and I'm pretty happy with my results. My closet is fairly hidden, so most people won't even notice the vents.

I have a clothing closet where I stuck some network gear, which gets a little warm. I'm planning on getting a new A/C at some point, so was planning on having the A/C folks run an additional return air into the closet, which should definitely help in the summer, and probably winter too.

I think the main issue with the return air strategy arises in the milder months though, where neither the heat or A/C is running, but the closet still gets warm.

I wonder how just two un-powered vents would do, one near the ceiling, one near the floor, just relying upon convection to pull the air out.

stridulent said:

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I was actually encouraged to vent it directly into my return air box on the attic side as it would be more concealed, but that was a bit out of my skill level and I'm pretty happy with my results. My closet is fairly hidden, so most people won't even notice the vents.

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It looks like you've effectively done that since your RA intake is less than a foot from your closet 'exhaust'. Looks like a good setup to me

bco2003 said:

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I have a clothing closet where I stuck some network gear, which gets a little warm. I'm planning on getting a new A/C at some point, so was planning on having the A/C folks run an additional return air into the closet, which should definitely help in the summer, and probably winter too.

I think the main issue with the return air strategy arises in the milder months though, where neither the heat or A/C is running, but the closet still gets warm.

I wonder how just two un-powered vents would do, one near the ceiling, one near the floor, just relying upon convection to pull the air out.

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There are a lot of discussions and trials for this concept that you can find online. It works for most that are generating only mild levels of heat. See if you can find someone with a similar setup. Heck, if it doesn't work you can always add fans to the vents later. Just plan ahead and make sure they are sized properly!

Fans still working well? Is the 2 fan system big enough for 3'x4'x10' tall closet? The product page doesn't say it can be installed on Sheetrock, is that ok? What is size of hole you had to cut?

https://www.acinfinity.com/closet-room-fan-systems/

So the same company has this series that is made more for closets. Is it worth the extra money?

Can you give more details how you mounted yours into the Sheetrock?

Edit: never mind.