I have a customer who wants to heat his basement (~900 sq. ft.) without changing out his furnace. I am looking for a pick list of options as alternatives so I can research the best solution. So far I have:
Wood
Radiant
Gas
Does anyone have any other suggestions? They would be much appreciated!
Replies
What is his electric service like? Enough for extra wattage?
Dale,
I have more questions than suggestions. Any idea how the furnace is sized compared to the heating load? Is the furnace in the basement? Is there a reason, other than lack of capacity, not to tap into the existing forced air system? That would be my suggestion: look into using the existing heat source. A 900 sf basement, with 8 foot ceilings could probably be heated with something like 250 - 300 cfm, depending on exposure and insulation. Moving air through a basement that is converted to a living space is always a good idea, regardless of the heat source.
Tim,
Thanks for your reply. The house has ~4500 sq. ft. on two levels. The basemeent is ~1200 sq. ft. but the owner only wants to heat ~900 sq. ft. He has had the forced air unit checked (by an HVAC tech) to see if it can heat the basement - the answer was no. The furnace is located in the basement. Do you have any experiences w/ baseboard electric heating? I will be looking at some HVAC supply catalogues this weekend in hopes of getting some ideas.
dlb
What about a gas fireplace? Style & function.
Yes, I have a fair amount of experience with electric baseboard heating. My house, originally built in 1971 was all electric baseboard heat. After one January, in northern Illinois, with an electric bill of $377, decided it had to go.
The cost of use aside, it is very flexible to control with line voltage thermostats by room or zone and easy to install. A lot of manufacturers offer electric basebords. When I design a heating system for building that has a glass vestibule, I usually put in electric baseboards. Markel is an industial/commercial version that I use most often. I don't know about residential specific models. Grainger has a small selection, to get started with and their prices are pretty representative.
Wall mouted electric unit heaters, Q-Mark brand for instance, is another option, in the electric resistence heat, as are oil filled electric radiatora and baseboards. My experience with the oil filled baseboards is nil, I have a few of the oil filled radiators that are nice to supplement an unheated space.