Heating solutions for finished basement?
rock_fish
| Posted in Energy, Heating & Insulation on
So, we have a basement finishing project that is all wrapped up but now we realize that the space is a little too cold in the winter.
There is pre-padded laminate flooring over the concrete surface.
For the HVAC we cut two new registers into the existing (overhead) heating ductwork.
Since the new outlets are overhead, the heat rises of course, which is making it hard to heat the area, especially the floor.
Space heaters are not cutting it.
We’re looking into baseboard heaters, but are there any other (better?) ideas out there?
Or, any recommendations for baseboard units that we can retro-fit into this finished (drywall and paint are up) space.
Replies
I'm pretty sure this isn't the answer you are looking for, but if you used a thick berber or medium pile carpet with a foam backer, cut a bit smaller than the room and used it as a rug (to make it easy to remove if there was a water issue at some point), then you wouldn't feel the cold floor on your feet and you wouldn't sense the temperature differential as much as you do now. A modest space heater would probably be adequate at that point.
Basements are a bear to heat - basically, it's wasteful to attempt to fight the cooling power of the earth by pouring heat against any surface that is uninsulated against the earth. We have a wood stove in our basement, which keps average winter temps around 80 degrees. But that's not for everyone.
Pull up the laminate - it'll usually come up easily if it's click together and line the floor with DriCore.
Makes a big temp difference, esp at floor level.
"Ask not what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive... then go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive."
Howard Thurman
http://rjw-progressive.blogspot.com/
At points where you opened your supply ducts, extend downcomer ducts to a few inches above the floor. Draw your return air from the overhead. Box in your downcomer ducts and finish them to match the walls. this works very well in my house.
Virginbuild