Some of you know I’ve been remodeling an 1870’s farmhouse for several years now. One issue that I can’t seem to solve is getting even heat, since the main part of the house has a full basement where a ten year old heil furnace (with a woodburning stove attachment) feeds the house as well as a large addition that snakes on a couple of ells away from the main house with crawlspaces under it.
I think the main problem is that the furnace is drawing a lot of cold air through the crawlspace, so that the floors in the addition are extremely cold, and affects the heating in those areas. The addition is probably undersupplied, and adding to that, the returns are located on outside walls and the supplies are on interior walls. there are only a couple returns in the whole area, which is approximately 800 square feet. The walls are insulated, and the ceiling is adequately insulated as well. There are a few old windows left that do leak some cold air, but not a tremendous amount.
When the furnace is running, especially if we are burning wood, a lot of air is drawn through the crawlspace to the main basement. I wondered if connecting some pvc to the intake of the woodburner and the furnace to outside air would help solve this? Should I completely block off the crawlspace, or at least the holes where it connects to the basement? Would I want to spend the money and miserable time insulating the crawlspace within the floor joists? At least the crawlspace is ventilated well enough that it is never damp, if that is a benefit to this system, LOL.
Any suggestions or confirmations?
Thanks!
Replies
MD:
Self-Adjusting Make-Up Air Control
http://www.skuttle.com/216.html
Start with that to keep from sucking air through the crawls.
_______________________
"I may have said the same thing before... But my explanation, I am sure, will always be different." Oscar Wilde
Hey Bob,
good to see you. I appreciate the tip, looks like a good thing.Does it affect return air movement at all? Any idea what it costs? I guess you've seen it in action if you're recommending it.
thanks,
Dog
MD,
There using them in al new construction in SW Michigan, and they seem to be doing a very good job of controlling depressurization issues.
I'm pretty sure their web site has instalation instructions.
I don't have a price on them.
_______________________
"I may have said the same thing before... But my explanation, I am sure, will always be different." Oscar Wilde
Damn buddy, you are alive. Where you been keeping yourself? Get in contact, we miss bs'ing with you. Hey to the lovely wife. Kick the dog.__________________________________________
Remodeling Contractor just outside the Glass City.
http://www.quittintime.com/
dawg... happy new year.!.
is the crawl dry ? is there a rat slab in it ? or... what is the floor ?Mike Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
Hey Mike, Cal,
Yep, the crawl is dry, no rat slab, just gravel and nice sharp rocks. Nasty one.
Mike, we'll have to talk sometime about fiber cement siding. I may have had enough of it with this job, though I'm doing another one with it too.
Cal, I'm still here, just have had no time for conversation. I hope that changes soon. I'm going to Texas next week, hope to come back to some decent work, weather, and a better picture overall. Good to see you here. Say hi to Joyce.
scott, i've been doing a couple different things with crawl spaces... my ultimate crawl would have EPS 3" or 4" panels against the concrete walls extending to the bottom of the subfloor deck...... then we fill the cube space that is formed by the band joist and the EPS panel with Dens-Pak cellulose... usually drilled thru the subfloor and blown from above...
did that on the last two jobs..
here's the first one.. Cadioli helped us pour and insulate this one..
the pic . shows an EPS panel notched out to receive the floor joists.. the panel has 1/2" blueboard bonded to it for flame spread rating... the EPS is all Perform Guard treated...
on the next job we did a full basement this way.. except we had tehm bond 1/2" osb for flame spread and to give us some strength so the owners would have finished walls .. the 2d one has an oil burner in the basement and this basement is warm as toast.. with a nice warm floor above..
the 2d pic is unbelievable...... mark working !
what's up with the FC ? i really like the stuff.. i may try residing one of my gable ends with it just for the hell of it ( may not either )Mike Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
Mike,
That's a really awesome system in the crawl! Any insect issues with the foam in your area?
Are you conditioning the crawl with forcced air, or using "standard" vents?
If conditioning, are you putting a return in the crawl? Using a rat floor?
Bob_______________________
"I may have said the same thing before... But my explanation, I am sure, will always be different." Oscar Wilde
sorry 'bout that .... here's a right side up view....
26531.10 in reply to 26531.9
that one has a lower area with a walk-out & insulated door.. there is an Andersen basement window in the crawl area.. which i never intend to open.. so , it conforms with code for "ventilation" but i don't want it vented..
the foam is treated with borates.. in the osb basement the foam is treated and we sprayed the osb with Bora -Care in a 1:1 dilution..
here's some pics of the OSB basement... one with the hatch open to the old crawl space..... and the other shows a section next to a basement windown with a panel not yet installed
Mike Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore