Vents open or vents closed?

[Lynne S]

Our brick skirting was built with a generous amount of vents. Noww that it is getting cold, do I leave them open or closed or something in between?

[rmurray]

Open...the vents are there to vent moisture build up..which can be very damaging..There is insulation in the floor to keep the cold out..

[JoAnne]

We were always told to open the vents in the summer and close in the winter.
Murray says to leave open.... which is "correct" ??? I'm not worried about critters, just the cold and moisture. If we leave the vents open in the winter, won't snow blow in and make it damp under the house?

[rmurray]

Good point...here in our area the snow gets all of 2 inches...once every 3 years or so..
I would like to see what others say....

[JoAnne]

I'm coming to where you live Murray, here in northern Michigan, we measure the snow in feet usually. Luckily.... none so far.

[Breezy]

Well my neighbor who is Mr Fix it, had his vents cold and we are in a snowy section of NY. Well with the vents closed, under the house one of his sewer pipes were directly across from the closed vent. We have bitter cold weather now for a few weeks plus some wind in there too. His SEWER pipes froze up, backing up the whole house and was a nightmare to unfreeze. So he is moving the vent, had to insulate and wrap the sewer vent with heat tape, use a heater and then once the water began to subside, he took the toilets off the base in the house and dumped hot water with calcium chloride to defrost the rest which worked. So, I say from experience here...keep em closed in the winter!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!