Heat a basement?

[jyoutz]

I heat mine cuz i use it. Physics says if u dont use it, dont heat it. It will cost more to heat the extra space.

Heating the basement warms the floors, making the whole house more comfortable.

 

[Doughknob]

Heating the basement warms the floors, making the whole house more comfortable.

Sure, and it costs more

 

[Citydude]

I finished my basement three years ago and put sound deadening insulation in the ceiling over the new family room to reduce the noise going through the floor to the upstairs living room. I didn't insulate any other areas down there.

The floors upstairs are warmer with the exception of the living room. My dogs can attest to that .

 

[repete]

If you have a furnace that takes in air at basement floor level and then distributes the "conditioned" air through the top of the furnace, add an air intake to the low pint on the floor that you can open and close. Then in the winter you can draw the cold air that has pooled at the basement floor level and circulate that and in the summer you can use that same cool air in the basement to send upstairs.

 

[MossRoad]

I've been here 40 years. Only time I ever heated the basement - we had -20F weather for three straight days. Put a small electric heater in the basement to protect the water pipes.

Basement is just used for storage. Usually will stay right around 55F - except in the very coldest weather. Without any heat - coldest I've ever seen in my basement - 38F.

I would not heat your basement - unless you have planned activities down there.

Hang a big dial thermometer down there. Gives you an idea what temps you are actually dealing with.

A big dial thermometer is a great idea.

 

[bdhsfz6]

If your cold air returns are just grates in the floor and not ducted, heating the basement can interfere with air flow and could make the house feel colder.

 

[Deere Dude]

I've owned 3 houses with basements and a furnace downstairs in finished basements. It was always to cold to stay in the basement for any length of time without supplemental heat ducts added or otherwise.

My current house has a crawl space but if I would ever have a basement again I would install a 40k gas heater to make it more bearable.

 

[MossRoad]

Heating a basement is no different than heating any other part of the house. As long as there's proper setup, with inflow and return, it's just another room.

Of course, insulation is an issue. But insulation is an issue in rooms above ground level as well.

We have an unfinished basement. It's divided into two halves. The furnace is in one half. The laundry room/craft room/workout room is in the other half. There are heat ducts and cold air returns in both halves. It's just as warm as any other room in the house if I open the heat ducts.

 

[jyoutz]

Sure, and it costs more

Maybe, maybe not. With warm floors it takes less to heat the upstairs.

 

[jyoutz]

If your cold air returns are just grates in the floor and not ducted, heating the basement can interfere with air flow and could make the house feel colder.

I just leave the basement door open and we can feel the warm air rising upstairs.