Heat Basement and put up a room divider?

15 years ago

I recently built a log home with a basement. The basement is 900 sq ft and my son has made an entertainment "room" down there using about 250 sq ft of it. Now that it's winter it's chilly, probably about 58-60 and a little cold to hang out in for long periods. There is pink insulation attached to the cinder block walls and we put carpet down. 2 questions: we need to have a separate heat system because upstairs in the living room when the wood stove is on, it works so well that the forced air system goes off completely and the basement gets even colder (we have one vent in the basement which does help a little when the wood stove isn't running, we also have a cold air vent). He tried plugging in an electric radiator 1500 watt and it did nothing. We only have curtains separating this "room" from the rest of the basement. Question 1: what would be a good, inexpensive heater that would work (I won't be able to install a wood stove down there without alot of effort since I'd have to make a chimney of sorts) and #2 what would be a good way to divide the room to help keep the heat in a little more until I can save enough money to build a real wall (I did just build this house so I'm a little broke at the moment). Thanks.

Comments (5)

fnmroberts
15 years ago
Sounds like you want to hold-off any construction so try this:

How are the basement windows? Most are single pane. Install some of the plastic window shield over them (the stuff you shrink with a hair dryer).

Run the circulating fan from the furnace continually. This will keep the basement near the house temperature while refreshing the air there.

Possibly add another heat vent - duct it over a window or to an outside wall.

Our basement is finished with 2" XPS insulation against the concrete. It too drops to the low 60's but doing the above raises the temperature. We installed an electric fireplace as auxulary heat to make the space more comfortable in the spring/fall when the furnace is not running to heat the house. I don't believe there is a "good, inexpensive" solution. Water heaters are not efficient or intended for use as a boiler. Good luck.
andrelaplume2
15 years ago
Is anything over your XPS, ie drywall? Also, I am curious, how big is your space and what increase did you see to your electric bill (how many percent did it go up)? Also, do you leave the elctric fp on all the time or just when you go down there? If only when you go down, how long does it take to heat up?

I have a similar situation in my home. Nothing is finished and the temp drops as low as 55 in the extreme cold. I have no heat down there and always wondered if I finished off the walls/ceiling, if adding a duct or two would make a difference or would I really need a baseboard or something.
Related Discussions
Setting up grow room for Mango/Lychee in basement
Q
Comments (4)
I know this is a fairly old post, but I'd like to add a bit of my knowledge. I would suggest buying a Mylar enclosed grow room. IT helps trap heat, and keep bugs out. It also allows you to monitor the exact temperature and humidity within your own container. I also live in the snow and grow tropical plants that need approx 70Ã¯Â¿Â½ with 60-70% humidity. Without ruining the wood or walls in my house, or making my room smell like a butterfly house. Also I went one step further and I use 2x quad band 90watt UFO lights, and 1 tri-band UFO in a tri-force configuration all piled into a 5'x5'x5' grow space. I got a pretty substantial harvest, and my power bill increased approx $30 a month. You can pay the extra for the HID bulbs and my buddies swear by the increased watts that your harvest also increases. So it really depends on the $ ur willing to throw down and to what extent. To me. Let's say 6 months to fruit.. If you have that setup you're probably looking at around 500-600 for a hydro, HID, and depending on your light, you're probably looking at a couple hundred more in power. Is what you're planting worth the investment? Or if you went LED's, it dramatically drops the amount of power consumption and makes that level even more affordable. Also with Led's since they use such a low power. @ some point in the future I want to set up a parallel 12v system tied to a Gear bike generator. So I go and workout in the morning and it powers my grow box. In which you could easily set up for another $200. Enjoy, and any questions or schematics you may want just hit me up.
...See More
source of heat for basement rooms
Q
Comments (4)
Heaters placed high on the wall or in ceilings are good ceiling heaters as you have discovered. If you are forced to stay with electric in the bathroom, an electric heater low in the wall will work a lot better. If you have the wall space, a radiant panel might work well. Explain what are "large door vents". I do not understand. What is your climate? Do you cool the house with the same forced-air system? Is there a return in the basement? Where are the return air registers? Are there dampers on the ducts? How is the duct that supplies the basement related to the rest of the ducts in the house? Is there a home run to the attic for that? I'd advise you to move this discussion over to the heating and air conditioning forum with the additional information and clarification that I asked for. I am no HVAC guy, but it seems like adding a small heating system just for the 2 rooms plus bath in the basement might be your best bet for an economical plan for the long term. I would be tempted to go with hydronic heat unless you have excess capacity in the furnace and a good way to get the air all the way to the basement. An answer to the latter question will require a description or examination of the duct system.
...See More
Where to put heat vent in new room?
Q
Comments (0)
I have an old bungalow, and one of the rooms upstairs was unfinished. I framed it out for a few closets, and we are putting a washer and dryer in there. Now I need to put in a vent. There is a run coming from the basement that goes to a small bathroom that I put a T on, and ran some 6" insulated ductwork behind the wall to the room. Now, the only place I can put the vent is in the ceiling (close to the middle of the room), or about 6 feet up near the corner of a room. I'm not sure which is best. To do it in the ceiling, the run from the basement has to be about 6 feet longer, and will be traversing an attic that leaves a bit to be desired with regard to proper venting (I'm addressing this next summer). On the other hand, putting the vent near the corner means a shorter run through uninsulated area, but now the heat is originating from a corner, and not the center of the room. Does it matter which way I go here? I'd prefer to go to the corner, cause I'm afraid the ceiling vent might detract from the cans up there.
...See More
We want to put a room in the basement-ideas?
Q
Comments (4)
Despise is a pretty strong word. I didn't say anything about painting being a problem. I just did not want the dust floating around the house from drywall finishing. Allergies can be a problem here. As is the fact that this is our 7th house and we've worked on all seven. We're tired! I'm almost 60 and my DH is 60. The room we will be finishing is over half the size of the basement, so it's a large area. I was hoping that someone had come up with an easy, quick way to finish a basement room that we haven't already thought of. As I said, I had looked into the Corning basement wall system and saw that people had posted that it was very PRICEY - $30,000, on one post. I really liked the idea of it but we cannot find anything else out there that is similar for DIYers. This really surprises me. Anyone else have ideas for covering block walls and dividing the basement area from the rest of the basement? Linda
...See More
fnmroberts
15 years ago
andrelaplume2

Yes, studded and drywalled. Ceiling drywall too. No idea about increase in electric bill - as mentioned when responding to OP - mainly use the auxulary heat seasonally and then when we're using the basement. I'd say it warms in 10-15 minutes. Our electric FP is 220 volt and 10,000 BTU.

Linked below is our basement with a schematic. About 700 sq. ft. finished and 950 total.

Here is a link that might be useful: Our Basement
ekling211
Original Author
15 years ago
Thanks for the info. I'm going to try running that fan and see what happens. I've been told that I can try to put a damper on the ducts coming out of the furnace/boiler (not sure what u call it for forced air LP) and run another duct with it's own thermostat for not too much money.

A 10,000 BTU FP does sound like it would increase the electric bill considerably.
fnmroberts
15 years ago
If you could zone like you describe that would be a great solution. Have not heard about that for forced air but there are so many new products.

The breaker for the FP is 30 amp - same as the cooktop. Used so intermintently that it's not an issue.

Hope the zoned damper solves your need.

Heat Basement and put up a room divider?

Comments (5)

fnmroberts

andrelaplume2

Related Discussions

fnmroberts

ekling211
Original Author

fnmroberts

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

Heat Basement and put up a room divider?

Comments (5)

fnmroberts

andrelaplume2

Related Discussions

fnmroberts

ekling211Original Author

fnmroberts

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

ekling211
Original Author