How far away should the heat vent be from the Parrot.

[Dopey]

I want to rearrange my bird cages and unfortunately where I want to put them is the only vent for AC and heat in my family room. (Really large room and stupid placement.) I know that the air will just fan out when it hits the cage but how far from the air source is safe for the bird? For instance, the bottom of the cage is probably 7-8 inches from the vent/floor. The grate that the macaw is likely to be on is another 6 inches above that. So a total of 13-14 inches from the vent (I'm at work so I can't measure exactly). Is that far enough away from the mini macaw or will that cause problems for him?

 

[Christinenc2000]

I have a vent near my cage but went to lowes and bought one of those air covers It redirects the air in what ever direction I choose. This case away from the cage. Its just a plastic hood that attaches to the vent. My vents are in the ceiling. Pretty easy to put on

something like these
Vent Covers - Register, Magnetic and Air Vent Covers at Ace Hardware

 

[Dopey]

That would take care of it. Thanks! I knew they were out there but didn't find them the last time I looked. Of course there was no one around to ask either and sometimes my fibromyalgia gets the better of me and I just have to leave.

 

[Itsjaijames]

I do wish there were more answers for this. For example if I get a vent deflector, should I be worried about the plastic heating up from the heat and emitting any fumes or smells?

 

[SailBoat]

Likely a low number of answers as a result of the individuals interacting had more information regarding the questions you asked in your Post.

The operations of a forced air home heating system is not going to rise to a temperature that will cause any breakdown of the plastics used for such a product. In addition, this group of products do not use a release agent as part of the injection molding resulting from the part's simply 90 degree turn, which likely falls-out of the tooling. The plastic used is stable and does does not emit any off-gassing.

The only concern is that a mid to large Parrot could cause damage to the deflector by cracking it. In addition, plastic deflectors can easily crack if stepped-on.

Deflectors work best during the heating cycle as they force the warmed air along the floor.

 

[noodles123]

A number of feet (2-3 at least) unless it is temporary-- because it is very drying and they need humidity, but also because it is a draft- they can get too hot, they can get too much in the way of fluctuating temperatures (because a room is colder than the vent ). Similarly, in the summer, the same vents blow cold air in most homes.


No plastic should be on the vent or around it, in my opinion

 

[Tman]

I have a vent deflecter. I have had it on the vent for the past 5yrs. It works great summer or winter. I have it where it hits the wall and bounces back to circulate the air. I live in vegas where it gets hot and the room still gets cooled off.

 

[SailBoat]

Deflectors work best as part of the heating cycle as the goal is to keep the heat low as long as possible prior to it naturally rising to the ceiling. Basic physics of warm air rises while cool air falls. There are clear advantages of keeping the heating cycle air as low as possible to keep the mid too low zones warmer. During the cool air cycle it is best to allow the vent to push the cool air as high as possible to bring cool air to the mid to upper zones. If a deflector is used during the cooling cycle, it takes longer to cool the mid too upper zones as cool air, in and of itself does not naturally rise.

 

[Itsjaijames]

Thank you everyone for the replies!!

 

[FrancisMom]

Same thing here - I've been using vent deflectors since Francis came to live with us over two years ago. Never had a problem. They don't get really hot. They do a VERY good job of deflecting.