The ventilator grille is part of the house's heating/cooling system. But in the context of the story, the association is mostly with cooling. The vent becomes a literal and symbolic image of a safe haven for forbidden books. The association with books and cooling is significant as well. There is an opposition here; heat is associated with destruction, and cooling with preservation. Fire destroys the books, but they are saved in a cool space. In his conversation with Beatty, Montag underscores this association of coolness and books (as opposed to fire and destruction):
But in his mind a cool wind started up and blew out of the ventilator grille at home softly, softly chilling his face. And again he saw himself in a green park talking to an old man, a very old man, and the wind from the park was cold too.
For Montag, he even associates his encounters with Faber (the old man) with cold and life (the "green" park), again opposing the destructive force of fire. It is in this conversation with Beatty (and other firemen) that Montag asks if firemen used to put out fires rather than start them. This shows more symbolic associations of saving books by opposing fire: the cooling vent, the cold air, life (the green plants in the park), and water to put out fires.
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