Basement Cold In Summer - Ideas To Correct?
Ben J
6 years ago
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Austin Air Companie
6 years agoBen J
6 years agoRelated Discussions
Outdoor summer cactus/succulents... indoors in cold weather
Comments (8)I am further south than all that have spoken so far so I might not be on topic at all. It got down to 36 last night. That was a surprise so today I started moving some of my pots. Our lows will be bouncing around upper 40's and 50's for the next week. But I move most of my Aloes and cactuses down to a covered stone patio that faces south. The low sun heats it up good during the day and the thick cement columns hold a lot of thermal mass. The slightly cold hardy aloes and cactus love it down there. They get great winter colors and if I get a freak cold front , they are not far from the door to my woodshop. I separate my cactus between who is a tropical cactus (inside now), who takes cold but no damp. who is Zone 9, I will move some in and out for cold fronts, some get indoor perches for the whole winter. Some get covered over outside. It is a mixture of treatments. Now they are just getting moved close to where they are going. God there are a lot of them. Many are cold hardy and don't move at all unless it starts poring rain for many cold days and then I haul them under a overhang.....See MoreWill my basement be cold?
Comments (11)itsgood I have a similar situation in my home and do not have a seperate tstat in the basement - but I could if I wanted to. I have found that main and basement equalize to about the same temps - however - humidity is a different story. My house is basement + main + 2nd story. Second story has its own geothermal HVAC. Main and basement are serviced by 2 other GT HVAC units. My main level is divided into two sections - the living area is aboout 2400 sq feet and the master suite is about 1500 sq feet. These two aeras each have their own HVAC unit - 6 ton and 3 ton respectively - 1 tstat for each unit both located on the main level. These units do the main floor plus the basement area below each. So 6 ton handles 4800 sq feet and 3 ton handles 3000 sq feet. The main supply ducts were set up so that the basement areas have their own supply ducts (total of 2, one for each section) and the main level has its set of supply ducts (total of 2, one for each section). If you look in my basement, there are two parallel horse shoe like supply ducts that run around the ceiling in each basement section: one horse shoe handles main space above, the second horse shoe handles basement area below. The HVAC unit servicing the largest section of the house is in the center of the basement and both horse shoes connect to the main output supply of the unit. Currently the dampers for all supply ducts are manual and open all the time. If I needed to, I could install electronic dampers and have the basement horse shoe controlled by a tstat in that section, and main level above contolled by the existing tstat. The basement is unfinished except for 1 rooom. The temp in that room is contolled by tstat on main level above. I have the minimum number of registers in the basment to condition the basement space. I do have the walls insulated and most of my basement is below grade (except the rear wall). It is a walk out. I also have seperate return ducts for the basement and main levels. I have found that my basement is really comfortable even with just the minimum number of required registers down there. When I finish the basement, i will add some registers and initially manually adjust in the basement. If I find that I cannot contol the temp adequately down there, I can always add the parts I need to control the supply ducts and HVAC operation independently. The extra ducting added was well worth the flexibility I now have to do whatever I want later. The total space used for the 2 parallel ducts is just a little larger than if they had used 1 larger supply - so it won't look any uglier when I box in during finishing. I also avoided the extra costs for the zoning controls and extra tstats. I have found that while the temperature in the basement and main level tends to equalize, the humiditity in my basement is much higher in the summer than the main level. To counter this, I wound up putting in a whole house de-humidifier in the basement and because of the way air flows between the 2 levels, that one DH unit conditions both levels. Good luck....See Morebright idea? garage/basement installed condenser units?
Comments (6)Hey zl700 ... Thanks for the post. I thought of the ambient volume of air, but i believe it would be quickly offset by the warmer air from the house being drawn to it ... a kind of self recurring system. The garage volume to begin with is 24x32x9'. Drawing from a minimally drafty basement of approximately 1600 sq ft would tend to bleed warmer air from the entire house to the condenser than outside air, thus increasing efficiency. braytonak ... what if the ducted portion of this design were forced, in other words, not just vented, but employing a two stage fan, like a whole house or attic fan, to exhaust unwanted cold air(or warm in the summer)? andrelaplume2 ... I really think noise could be abated with egg crate type insulation in the effected areas. THANKS for all of your response! Jeff...See MoreIncreasing air flow in vents, cold air in basement -) PowerZoning
Comments (9)They're selling snake oil. There are so manys thing wrong with this proposal. First off, why do you feel you're not getting enough airflow? Is the room they used for their demo hard to heat or cool? If the existing 370 cfm is enough to keep that room comfortable, then there is no reason to pay money to increase the airflow. "More" is not always better. Your air handling system was designed to move air as an enclosed system. OF COURSE it's gonna move more air if you rig it to operate with the fan cover door opened. But again, more is not always better. I'll bet you could stand in that back room and *hear* the air rushing and whistling out of that vent after they took the blower door off. Your system should be set up to move the required amount of air as quietly as possible. You're also risking damage to the blower by making such a drastic change to the static pressure. The fan is designed to work against some amount of resistance. Lessen or remove that resistance and you could burn your fan motor out. A return in the basement is going to bring extra humidty and musty odors into your home. The air conditioning unit would have to work harder to remove the extra humidity. It could actually cost *more* money to operate. And if the unit was not capable of removing the extra humidity, you end up with damp air in your living quarters. This results in a cold, clammy feel that makes you feel uncomfortable. If you have some rooms that are hard to heat or cool, have a reputable HVAC company *calculate* how much air needs to go to each room. It's not a guessing game, and more is not always better. I noticed that you called the original installers and they blew you off. Forget them, they don't sound very professional. Try asking some of your neighbors for referrals, or check something like "craig's list". There has to be a reputable company in your area....See MoreHome Home
6 years agofunctionthenlook
6 years agomike_home
6 years agoAustin Air Companie
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6 years agopatentcolo1
4 years agolast modified: 4 years agoBen J
4 years agoAustin Air Companie
4 years ago
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