Heat a basement?

[MossRoad]

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.

Not really. If you heat the basement for several days, and keep it at a constant temp, the ceiling will eventually get up to that temp, and that will eventually seep up to the floor on the 1st level. Once you heat up the interior mass of the house, it gets easier to hold it at that temp.

We have a woodburner in our basement. It takes a good half day to get the ceiling heated enough to transfer through to the floor above. It takes about 3 days to get the cement floor of the basement to get warm to the toes. But once it hits that point, it doesn't take much to keep it there.

 

[jk96]

Not really. If you heat the basement for several days, and keep it at a constant temp, the ceiling will eventually get up to that temp, and that will eventually seep up to the floor on the 1st level. Once you heat up the interior mass of the house, it gets easier to hold it at that temp.

We have a woodburner in our basement. It takes a good half day to get the ceiling heated enough to transfer through to the floor above. It takes about 3 days to get the cement floor of the basement to get warm to the toes. But once it hits that point, it doesn't take much to keep it there.

I understand. We have wood floors and a heated basement. Our floors are not cold to the touch as we keep our finished basement at 72 same as the 1st floor however there is no radiant effect at that temp. No comparison to true radiant floors.

 

[MossRoad]

I understand. We have wood floors and a heated basement. Our floors are not cold to the touch as we keep our finished basement at 72 same as the 1st floor however there is no radiant effect at that temp. No comparison to true radiant floors.

Oh I agree completely. Nothing like radiant heat.

 

[Doughknob]

Human comfort does not follow the laws of physics,,

Very good. Couldn't agree more. But you pay more for it too. That is all i have been saying.

 

[quicksandfarmer]

The heat required to maintain an interior temperature is exactly equal to the heat lost through the exterior, and that is determined by four things:
1. The surface area of the exterior
2. The insulation level of the exterior
3. The temperature difference between the interior and exterior
4. The rate of air infiltration from the exterior.

The temperature in the basement doesn't change the surface area of the house, or the insulation level. All other things being equal, having part of the house at a lower temperature reduces the temperature difference and reduces the heat loss. But are all other things equal? If having the basement cold makes the first floor less comfortable, then they aren't. I'd say there are too many variables to make a hard rule about what is the most cost-effective way to achieve a certain comfort level.

Oh, and insulate your basement. People in building science talk about how there should be a continuous insulation layer around your house, you should be able to draw the insulation layer on a plan of the house without ever taking your pencil off the paper. A lot of older houses don't have a firm boundary between the interior and exterior, places like basements, attics and crawl spaces are kinda-sorta interior and kinda-sorta not. They're connected to insulated space but not insulated themselves. Which basically defeats all of the insulation in the rest of the house.

 

[gstrom99]

Thanks all. Happy New Year!