In both Windows 11 and Ubuntu (Sleep or Suspend) with an SD card reader extension and a 256GB drive 4W of power is used and if that was in a backpack it would not be healthy.
I’ve definitely seen this issue mentioned before, though I don’t have the energy to go searching for that post (it was quite a while ago)
I can’t speak for the design team, but my guess is that they engineered the laptop to be used open, and may not have designed it for people who run the laptop closed. Now that this topic has been created, maybe they will consider redesigns to the bezel piece in the future, or a community member may try to make a better design!
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Ouch. I use my laptop closed 80% of the time. You’d think they would’ve designed it to be used both ways. Waiting for the shipment of the laptop but this is a little saddening. I store my current one under my desk on brackets I printed, no room up top for an open one.
Definitely watch your temps. Like I said, I haven’t ruled out attempting a field modification on mine to open up the exhaust pathway, but I’d prefer if I could purchase a replacement part (which I don’t currently see offered on the marketplace).
I don’t have a laptop to look at yet (got charged but no ship date) but that would be fantastic if they could release a different part that directs it outwards instead. Does it look like it would be a simple swap?
You can remove the bezel which allows maximum air flow. And of course you can modify the bottom of the bezel 
About to add some images . . . .
This is the bottom from the back with bezel removed. The narrow slots at the edge of the case at the bottom are the vents.
I see no problem using closed with the bezel removed or modified
Interesting. Seems like that be an easy-ish fix for them to offer a different bezel that allows for max cooling. I’d hate to just hack up mine. This is kinda frustrating because many people use their laptops closed in docking type configurations.
I’ve used laptops exclusibely since 1996, at £2500 then, and yet have never seen anyone use a laptop closed ??
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I haven’t used computers for as long as you but I’ve used my laptop closed for almost 2 years now (wait actually 3) working from home and utilizing a monitor, keyboard, mouse. I’ve seen this set up multiple times in different forums and enthusiast YouTubers.
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Seems very odd though I can see some people may do so, so weird > to buy a laptop with a screen and then hardly or not use it. 
Some people now and then, but that’s more like a few on occasion and not many >
I think I’d buy a 2 in 1 and just remove the screen, OH I did that once but then only used the screen as a tablet
I imagine the desire for using a laptop closed is the ability to basically have a desktop PC that you can also take with you.
At least before m.2 SSDs become common, a fun thing I’ve been doing is simply swapping a SATA SSD between a desktop and a laptop quite easily since I ran the SATA & power cables on my desktop through an empty PCIe expansion (though there are hot-swap 5.25" drive bay adapters that can work as well) and put it into a laptop that normally only holds the bottom cover in with two screws but cnaps snaps into place so I just keep the screws removed (alternatively, on laptops with an optical drive and a built-in lever to eject like the Thinkpad T420, you could just use an optical to 2.5" SATA drive adapter).
I’ll be honest that this is one of my main annoyances with m.2 and the modern DIY enthusiast’s desire to eliminate all cables - it makes swapping drives between multiple computers much more troublesome unless there became a way to more quickly access an m.2 slot on a laptop (a desktop could theoretically use a riser cable or maybe even a Thunderbolt adapter that properly uses PCIe).
That being said, this only tends to work well if you use Linux only with AMD or Intel graphics (no Nvidia!), or get really lucky and Windows actually “plays ball” with the two very different PCs (which I’ve actually gotten lucky with before, but on other PCs it also can just straight-up fail).
I’m not so sure that 4W of power is enough to be concerned about - that’s the same as a mere 800mA 5v USB charger which is squarely in the slow charging category, many of which mobile devices tend to only have heat concerns if being actively used and charged at the same time (and a framework laptop has much more surface area to dissipate such heat as well).
When I am at home I have it docked so I can game on my G-Sync 165Hz display using a docked 12GB 3060 (there is more bandwidth if I don’t use the laptop display).
There is no noticeable difference in temps for me with the lid open or closed but maybe that’s because of the noisy cooler I have under it somehow manages to push the air through that little crack 
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I imagine there aren’t many with such a fine set up and removing the bezel would suit such a situation fine.
It only requires some holes to be drilled in the back edge of the bezel, or maybe a few slots, which is about all Framework could do.
I use my laptops closed, plugged into docking stations unless I am at a client site. Even there if the gig is longer than a day I’ll have an external keyboard/mouse/monitor. My work laptops are lenovos and running them closed works fine. My framework is attached to an egpu box that has additional I/O ports so I have all my peripherals plugged into external box.
I noticed the heat with it closed so I’ve been running with it open, but it would be nice to be able to run with it closed.
So how about removing the bezel so the air will is pushed straight out the back ? Is that a problem?
Bezel removal / replacement guide:
I meant is it a problem for the aforementioned user to use it without a bezel, not is there a problem in the actual removal > It just pulls off when the lid is open 180°
But thanks for your concern
Just looked over my wife’s new $1800 X1 Carbon. Slots in the back similar to the Framework. Looks like they’re all going this way? Not sure why, the old way of exhausting out the side was better from a usability standpoint, but it took away space for I/O’s.
Anyway, interesting to see that.
It’s just a bummer that the manufacturers are optimizing exhaust flow for the lid being open. Clamshell is a common use case amongst professionals who already have multiple large format monitors but frequently travel between offices or home and office.