We’ve all seen the movie and TV scenes where the characters hide their valuables in their home or a building’s ductwork. You know what I’m talking about—the action star reaches for a stack of cash and his gun by loosening the vent covers and grabbing the items he left there, helping him get away from the bad guys! As with most of the things we see in Hollywood, realistically, this scene is not as viable as it may seen. Ducts and vents may appear to be the perfect secret hiding spot, but the truth is, tampering with your HVAC system in this particular manner can cause damage and put your family in danger.

Damage To Ducts And Vents

Your home’s air duct system is meant to perform two functions: circulate conditioned air throughout your living areas and circulate warm air from the furnace throughout your home. Your ducts were not designed to be used as super secret hiding spots.

Restricted airflow. The most obvious issue with hiding items in your HVAC system is that your airflow will immediately be restricted. Your actual vent covers may suffer damage from constant removal and replacement, which could tamper with the fins of the cover and the mechanisms within the cover which may limit airflow into interior spaces. This airflow blockage will force your heating and cooling systems to use excess energy in order to move your warm or conditioned air into your living spaces. This extra energy will put more stress on your HVAC system causing it to breakdown or require early furnace repair or replacement or central air conditioner replacement.
Fallen duct runs. You may think that if the actor in your favorite film can crawl through a duct system, your Grandma’s jewelry collection should be no stress on your ducts. Unfortunately, your ducts were not built to support this type of weight let alone the weight of a person. Adding extra weight to your air ducts by storing items within the ducts can cause duct straps to break, duct connections to separate, and eventually the entire run to fall apart. When a duct run collapses, not only will you have to call an HVAC contractor to come and replace it, you’re your items could be lost or damaged.
Lost items. If a duct system is doing its job, air circulates through the ducts throughout the day. If you’ve got lightweight items like cash or important documents, the air from your HVAC system might pick it up and carry it through the system. This situation proves to be very problematic not only due to losing your items, but where the items end up could result in expensive damages. Papers can clog the air filter and restrict airflow causing damage to your HVAC system which causes it to work too hard to do its job and eventually leave you with a broken heating system or damaged A/C.
Dangers of Foreign Items being stored. Especially when using your furnace, you are putting your home at risk of experiencing a house fire if you store flammable items in your ducts, which could easily ignite. Another popular item commonly stored in vents are guns. We don’t really need to go into detail why storing a gun, especially in a family home, is dangerous; you can figure that out on your own.

Better Hiding Spots Similar to HVAC areas

The moral of the story here is this: if you’ve been storing your emergency cash and family heirlooms in your vents, find a new hiding spot for them. You don’t want to be the person who pays an arm and a leg for HVAC repairs as a result of something you could have avoided. If you’re still convinced that your vent is the best place to hide your things, try an alternative solution such as a false vent. It is designed to give the illusion of being a regular return air grille, but it has the ability to store your valuables safely and without doing damage to your HVAC or duct system. For more information on proper care of your HVAC system call the expert contractors of United Heating and Air. From duct cleaning to furnace repair to central air conditioner installation, our experienced HVAC technicians come fully equipped to take care of all your heating and cooling system needs.