Sounds like you don't have a need to heat the basement but you are asking if heating the basement will be more efficient and lower your bill by heating the lowest part of the home instead of leaving it unheated. The answer is no. Sorry if that's not what you were asking.
Heat a basement?
- Thread starter gstrom99
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There is no maybe, maybe not. The amount of heat used for those warm floors will always be more that the little heat saved upstairs from them.
Doughknob
Veteran Member
No maybe about it. That is why I said, "physics says....." With an air duct open in the basement, one is heating all that air space and not just the floor itself. It is the "thermodynamics" branch of physics that tells us this. But, hey, I do appreciate the skeptical thing. I can be that way too. Some if that is healthy.........
jyoutz
Super Member
I just know that I fire up my basement pellet stove, open the doorway, and I almost don’t need the heater upstairs.
CADplans
Elite Member
We have EXACTLY the same basement situation,, with some updates.
My daughter wanted a bedroom down there, so I insulated, and finished the bedroom.
For heat, I simply added baseboard electric.
The change to the upstairs was dramatic, we were able to keep the upstairs thermostat at a lower temp.
The warm floors of the upstairs made us MUCH more comfortable.
I am convinced that keeping our basement warm lowers our total utility cost.
I am POSITIVE my wife is happier.
My daughter moved to her own place over 20 years ago,, we still baseboard heat the basement..
the only difference, is the temp in the basement can be slightly lower, since no one lives there, now.
The heat stays at the same temp down there 12 months a year,,
My daughter wanted a bedroom down there, so I insulated, and finished the bedroom.
For heat, I simply added baseboard electric.
The change to the upstairs was dramatic, we were able to keep the upstairs thermostat at a lower temp.
The warm floors of the upstairs made us MUCH more comfortable.
I am convinced that keeping our basement warm lowers our total utility cost.
I am POSITIVE my wife is happier.
My daughter moved to her own place over 20 years ago,, we still baseboard heat the basement..
the only difference, is the temp in the basement can be slightly lower, since no one lives there, now.
The heat stays at the same temp down there 12 months a year,,
ponytug
Super Member
Warm floors in the wintertime are certainly a pleasure!
MossRoad
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Yeah! When I worked at the airport back in the 80's we had a hangar with a heated floor! Pipes embedded in the floor every 6" to a manifold on the wall, to a boiler fueled with jet fuel. (sounds awesome, but jet fuel is just expensive kerosene). Park a snow-covered car in there in the morning and by lunchtime the snow was gone, the floor was evaporated dry, and you could lay on your back on the warm concrete to work on it. Loved it.
Doughknob
Veteran Member
If one compares apples to apples, that is not the case.
For example If u had the stove on the 1st flr you'd need no other heat there and above but the basement
would be colder and utility cost lower.
Peace
CADplans
Elite Member
By keeping the basement somewhat warm, the upstairs can be set at a lower temp, because the humans "feel" comfortable.
Human comfort does not follow the laws of physics,,
If you have to keep the home at 76 with cold floors, and only 70 with warm floors, there is a difference in energy use.
If the floors are cold in our home, my wife would not be happy at 76,,
But we are not talking radiant floors here, we are talking about heating a basement with forced air. Would take a pretty extreme temp in the basement to give the floors enough heat for that perceived comfort.