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Does insulation need to be installed in basement ceiling?

13 years ago

I'm going to stud out the exterior basement walls and install R13 fiberglass batts. Does the basement ceiling need the R19 batts too? The basement isn't really going to be climate controlled, but I was figuring on the exposed ductwork in the floor trusess might add something. I just didn't want to have to worry about the finished first floor above suffering. This house is being built in central Va.

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Comments (2)

david_cary
13 years ago
I'm going to respond to something you weren't looking for - fiberglass batts on basement walls are not ideal. Yes - it is done all the time but foam is better. I'm not up on all the arguments but the basics are that moisture comes out of the concrete and will cause mold/mildew in the fiberglass.

Far better to use rigid foamboard and I am pretty sure that you would be fine with R-8 - which would be 2 sheets thick. You can then put fiberglass on that if you want.

Code here would be insulate the floor. Anytime you have unconditioned space next to conditioned, you need to insulate. Even if the basement is always going to be mild temp.

I see what you are thinking - get some climate control from the ducting but that isn't allowed. And then maybe some more from the floor above.

Fiberglass is cheap. Insulating the floor is the right answer. My builder always insulates the basement floor even on a conditioned walkout basement. The reasons are sound (minimal) and if you don't want to heat the basement at different times then your 1st floor won't suffer.
brickeyee
13 years ago
The issue will be how you want to use the space.

The ducts are likely heating it now, from both leakage and radiation.

If you insulate them and isolate the space it will be even colder.

If you are wiling to use space heaters in the area it could still be worth insulating the ceiling if the space is only used a limited time each day.

If the area will be used daily for any length of time it would likely be better to get it inside the HVAC envelope.

The basement floor and exterior walls would then be insulated.
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You are good!!! Never considered installing radiant heat . I did googled R factor for my zone and nothing appeared in my web searches. I did find a website saying that crawl spaces and basement ceilings should have R19 when I googled is it dangerous to install fiberglass. A DIY website explained the R factors for each time zone . Code for this ceiling is now R19 . I agree that R 25 is a better choice. I am not heating this side of the basement. The basement is already divided in three sections with the other two having sheet rock. The side I am having issues with is cold in the above room I have a cold room and was trying to figure out if this space needed the ducts turned off or maybe the duct was blocked. I pulled back the insulation and there is no kraft paper/there is no vapor barrier. This is a simple DIY with googles, mask and long sleeves but I weigh under a buck and for my size am getting so tired of handling all the repairs. I am a handywoman deadly with my vice grips. Not planning on using this side of the basement , just want to contain the heat and block the cold. I will rip out the old insulation since there is no vapor barrier, install R25 and reuse the R11 over it. Appreciate your opinions.TY Please chime in if reusing the R11 is a bad idea. I would apply a vapor barrier R25 and leave the R11 over this.
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Since you are installing a cooling system, it suggests that the temperature without the cooling system is warmer than desired. If this is correct, then the best thing you can do is insulate all the surfaces with the highest R-Value insulation that you can afford. The good news is that the floor will have the coolest temperatures of the six surfaces in your cellar, so if you don't insulate the floor, it will have the least thermal impact on your cellar. By way of example, I used our thermal load worksheet to calculate the thermal load of a 10x10x10 cellar assuming R25 in the walls, R30 in the ceiling. 85F peak temp outside the cellar. and 55F desired temp inside the cellar. If I assume uninsulated concrete in the floor, the thermal load of the cellar is 3005 BTUH. If I assume R25 in the floor, the thermal load declines to 2765 BTUH. If you'd like me to plug in your actual cellar dimensions and/or want to add additional factors (eg ducting, heat source inside the cellar, altitude), let me know and I'll be glad to redo the calculation. I hope this helps!
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