Basement Heating Options

[SkunkedAgain]

I'm in the middle of a basement renovation. I moved an interior wall to gain more space, am insulating the exterior concrete walls, and will eventually carpet the entire floor. The floor is currently concrete with the old vinyl floor tiles covering most areas. During the winter the basement temp gets down into the low 60s or upper 50s. We'll see what adding insulation to the perimeter walls will do. My thought was to run 220 power to a floor heater that can be used as needed. Are there better options, such as a pellet heater or in-floor heat?

[BoxMN]

Maybe you already fixed or thought of this, but if you have forced air heat going to basement, and it is still cold, it is probably your cold air returns, or lack thereof. Did you put them in the renovation?

Also, make sure you insulate properly, not just slap insulation up. You need proper vapor barrier or you will get mold. Maybe already took care of this, but just wanted to remind you - there are tons of ways to do it wrong, and only a few to do it right. I am no pro myself, but learned a lot during my construction. Good luck.

[solbes]

Good point on cold air returns. I added some and managed to get my heat vents near the floor on interior walls. That alone keeps it in the low to mid 60's (upstairs controlled @ 68)

Add a nice thick carpet pad, that helps keep it warmer.

We added a "heater rated" gas fireplace to the basement. It's direct vented outside the wall (we have about half the basement below grade). I also added a thermostat on an interior wall about 15 feet away. So the fireplace runs until it gets up to temp and then shuts off. The fan continues to run until it almost completely cools off.

Basement bedrooms have 120V heaters with thermostats. Certainly a lot cheaper up front than the fireplace, but it's my favorite thing in the family room. Also cheaper to heat the room than electricity over the long run.

[BobT]

Never dealt with a finished basement but a couple things come to mind. If you're not going to put a rug or carpet on the floor, the floor will probably be cooled by the earth, which will be at roughly 55 degrees or colder.

With this in mind I would think in-floor heating would be a nice touch. Perhaps forced air could work if you blow it across the floor.

[SkunkedAgain]

There is one heat duct coming fifteen feet from the furnace and dropping air from the ceiling. I am planning to add a return. The perimeter concrete walls will have pink foam board, taped and sealed, then the 2x4 frame and insulation followed by drywall.

The entire basement floor will be carpet, and I was thinking that a thicker pad was the way to go.

The fireplace sounds like a decent idea, although I'd have to drill through concrete block in order to direct vent.

[BoxMN]

SA, your insulation plan is much like my new construction was. Only difference, and it might not be much, is my foam was the thermax foil stuff, with foil tape sealing it, right next to the block walls. My contractor said the foil backed foam is all we need on perimeter walls, don't insulate inside that as the foam/foil combo IS the vapor barrier. Where we had framed walls (walkout) it was just insulation in studwall, with poly inside that, and taped. Again, I am no pro, just going by what he told me, and it has worked great for two winters, with no moisture and keeping it tight and warm down there (though we have wirsbo in slab for dual-fuel heat, along with forced air).

Good luck with the reno!

[JohnMickish]

If it where me, I'd go with electric baseboard heat. You can probably do the entire basement for under $300. While it's not the best looking or cheapest to run, it is by far the cheapest to install.

[CaptainBly]

It is the most efficient too, put 1000kw in and you get 1000kw out. But, it can cost more to operate like you said.

[jerkbait]

I would look at addingn in floor radiant heat. I have seen where the water lines are layed down then a thin layer of concrete added. A smaal boiler is put in to run the heat and you will have a warm floor also.

[311Hemi]

SA, your insulation plan is much like my new construction was. Only difference, and it might not be much, is my foam was the thermax foil stuff, with foil tape sealing it, right next to the block walls. My contractor said the foil backed foam is all we need on perimeter walls, don't insulate inside that as the foam/foil combo IS the vapor barrier.

[BoxMN]

Thanks 311, I learn something every day So I could fill the stud void when I finish, if I want to. Good info.

[Tom7227]

Consider putting insulation on the floor and then covering it with plywood before you carpet. I did this in a room about 15 years ago and it worked well. I made a mistake in choice of insulation and I have some concern about mold growth with the way that I did it. My brother used a system from the M store that was about 3 foot square panels that had a plstic material on the bottom that had bumps on it to creat an airspace. I liked the idea but it seemed pricey to me. Sorry but I don't recall the specifics on it but I'm sure you could find info on it at the Save Big Money store.

[311Hemi]

Consider putting insulation on the floor and then covering it with plywood before you carpet. I did this in a room about 15 years ago and it worked well. I made a mistake in choice of insulation and I have some concern about mold growth with the way that I did it. My brother used a system from the M store that was about 3 foot square panels that had a plstic material on the bottom that had bumps on it to creat an airspace. I liked the idea but it seemed pricey to me. Sorry but I don't recall the specifics on it but I'm sure you could find info on it at the Save Big Money store.

I agree with this option if you have the head room for it in the basement. My father is doing this in a garage conversion (making it a part of the house), and my sister did it as well for a new addition they put on. I know in my parents house the one floor they have carpet on is cooler than what they would like, thus why my sister added it to their addition which was on a poured slab.

I just put carpet/pad in my basement and I don't think it's bad directly on cement, but my basement does not get as cold as your reporting and I do not have any extra head room to allow for it (too short as it is)....otherwise I would have. This would also make things a little more forgiving than the hard concrete.

My dad and sister put down the pink XPS and sealed it, then firing strips, then the plywood/OSB.

[SkunkedAgain]

Lots of great advice. Unfortunately I've only got 7ft ceilings so raising the floor is going to be problematic.

I think one of the bigger issues that I haven't solved for yet is heat loss to the main floor. There is no door in the basement so heat just free flows upstairs. I probably will never be able to keep it warm in toasty unless I'm able to trap the heat down there!

[CaptainBly]

Roughly how big of an area are we talking. That may help in giving us an idea of what you're working with.

[Tom7227]

Lots of great advice. Unfortunately I've only got 7ft ceilings so raising the floor is going to be problematic.

The stuff I wrote about is only 3/4 inch thick. Who cares if the guy that's 6'11" has to stoop a bit?

[Surface Tension]

One heat run in the ceiling is not going to heat the basement to well as you already know.

You could add a return in each room and registers on the floor in each room. Ideally the heat should be under windows which is impossible to do in a basement but get the register close. That is if your furnace can handle it. On the coldest night/day is your furnace running continuously? If not you won't have a problem. One thing to note there is you'll still have cold spells in the basement when the furnace isn't running.

If adding the heat runs isn't an option then as mnfishinguy suggested adding electric base board is another cheap alternative. I'd still add a couple heat runs on the floor if you can but the electric will be there to supplement the lack of heat and or in-between times when the furnace isn't running. Now your basement will stay a constant temp. You can also turn that t-stat down when your not using the room. I like this idea because the basement should be considered different then the rest of the house when heating on account of its nature to be the room that cools soonest. You can also get the baseboards located where they belong, under windows.

That leads into where most of your cold air is coming from, the windows.

If they are leakers replace them. You'll be surprised how much warmer the floor will be without cold air flooding the floor from bad windows.

Heated slab in either electric or boiler would be nice. Its expensive and you'll need a to add a boiler. BUT your already close to the minimum ceiling height. Check the codes for your area.

[SkunkedAgain]

New windows are going in this fall. I suppose that I should consider running a new line out from my furnace. That would be relatively easy to do, and I can put dampers on the end so they only provide heat when needed.

The basement is about 27' long by 15' wide..

[deerminator]

We just finished our basement which is comparable in size to your space. Put in a nice heatnglo fireplace with a blower that gets a little too warm sometimes during the winter months. I would highly recommend that route. With a nice river rock set-up surrounding it installed by a very talented mason, it ran just over $4,000. It' not only functional but really nice to look at. And this was going top of the line in terms of the logs and glass, front, etc. It will also add value to the house should you ever sell.

[jeffreyd]

check out the danfoss heating system that goes on the floor. I thought about doing it when we put our tile down to help with the heating bill in the winter but since we only need our heat for a couple months a year, decided against it. i would consider it for any floor in an area that has more than 3 months below 50 degrees.

[Esox_Magnum]

I always close the upstairs vents so more air gets dumped in the basement, warm air rises so it will heat the upstairs also. I do it in reverse in the summer, open the upstairs and close off the basement. Little experimenting and you'll learn the prover vent opening/closures.

[DTro]

I always close the upstairs vents so more air gets dumped in the basement, warm air rises so it will heat the upstairs also. I do it in reverse in the summer, open the upstairs and close off the basement. Little experimenting and you'll learn the prover vent opening/closures.

I do exactly the same thing. Works pretty well.

The fireplace is a great option too. You'd be amazed how quickly you can "toast" up a room with the flick of a switch. You can even put it in a t-stat to keep it constant.