Cold Basement!

Our basement is the coolest part of the house. In winter, it becomes extremely cold.

We have ducted heating in our home and in our basement, which is the only part of the house which doesn't heat up so easily.

Can someone please suggest a solution?

Cheers, Michael

We're also experiencing similar problems.

I am starting to finish off part of my basement and need to figure out a way to heat it. Can I add in another take-off from my existing ducts or is there a better way to heat the basement? I don't want to affect the rest of the house because we already have one room that doesn't seem to get enough heat.

Daniel

Can you insulate the walls?

Maybe carpet the floors, too.

Curtains over the windows will keep some heat in too.

Good luck to both of you

If your furnace is newer than 20 years old, the building code (Canada) calls for a combustion air duct to be brought into your basement to supply fresh air for the furnace during the combustion cycle. Although this fresh air is required only when the furnace is in it's combustion phase, the vent is wide open 24/7.

As the duct may be between 5"-8"in diameter, it's like having a window open in your basement
24 hours per day,7days per week. By having a Hoyme motorized air control(damper) installed, you can stop this cold air from spilling out onto your basement floor 24/7 and only have this fresh air coming in when it is required for combustion.

Having the Hoyme damper installed is probably the most cost effective way to solve your cold basement problems, and save up to 20% on your heating fuel costs at the same time.

These dampers are made in Canada and distributed around the world. For more information go to http://www.calgaryhomecomfort.ca.

Where are you from? I don't know anyone who has got a basement. Are you from America?

If so this Aussie and NZ forum probably isn't the best source of ideas for basements.

Hi Bella,

Actually, my split-level home is based in Templestowe, Melbourne which consists of a basement - the type that neighbours the garage.

It's very cold down there, and ducted heating doesn't seem to warm it up as nicely as the rest of the house.

Although given the season, it's a great place to spend a good portion of the summer in as it stays nice and cool throughout.

Wow that sounds pretty neat! So is it underground?

I'd probably be to scared to have a house with a basement. I'd always be wondering if anyone was buried down there.

Oh that's a good topic. Hounted houses!!

Well, it's safe to say the majority of it is underground. One side of the basement connecting to the garage is level with the driveway out front.

It's well lit for a basement. There are windows placed in a few places to allow for some good natural light - not your typical 'horror story' basement scenario.

Sorry Bella, no ghost story for you.

Hey homeone... have you been able to find a heating solution for your basement?

Have you considered floor heating?

We retail a range of floor heating products which are suitable for basements which are hard to heat (we find this to be common in the North American market).

There are floor heating options available for several floor finishes:

- Under rug floor heating suitable for hard floors which are not being repalced (the floor heater is layed under a loose lay rug)
- Under fitted carpet floor heating which is layed between the carpet underlay and carpet
- Under tile floor heating which is layed on the slab directly beneath the tile finish (before tiles are layed)

The floor heating mats not only warm the floor. As the floor warms up, the heat radiates into the room. A 20sqm room would require 1.5kW which will cost around 6c per hour (12ckWh & duty cycling 1/3 of every hour).

More info available on www.coldbuster.com.au