Heat a basement?

[gstrom99]

I grew up in a house with a basement, near Chicago. Fast forward 50 years, after living in houses with NO basement (crawl space - then on a slab for 30 years) I have now moved to a 100 year old farm house in rural Iowa. Winter is cold in both locales.

This house has a basement, used only for laundry and storage. LP furnace (brand new) and electric hot water heater are down there as well. The walls are 1/2 cinder block under the newer single level, 1/2 field stone under the original 2 story.

My question is this: should I open up the single duct outlet to heat the basement as much as that will, or keep it closed - sending all the heat to the occupied area?

 

[repete]

Where does the furnace get its supply air (air from the room to the furnace)?

You have an LP gas furnace in the basement? Is it a daylight basement?

 

[gstrom99]

The furnace is a brand new Trane high efficiency with the PVC pipes for combustion air inlet and exhaust outlet. The cold air returns are in the living room and first floor bedroom. What is a daylight basement? I have one window in a window well...

 

[Thomas]

Would be lot extra work have you consider 2" styrofoam...blue board as some call it...outside block wall?

 

[arizona98tj]

You posed a question as to if you should heat your basement. Is there a reason you are thinking of heating your basement? My office is in my basement so I heat it. If I didn't spend a fair amount of time in my basement, I wouldn't heat it.

 

[gstrom99]

There is 1" pink foam board on the outside of the cinder block first floor walls. I had that added when they dug down and installed/replaced the plugged/bad foundation drain system. The reason for my inquiry really is only if it helps the heated living area feel any warmer, is more effiecent for some reason or prevent mold down there (since it'd be warmer/drier). I'll say one thing - the basement is DRY since the foundation drain was fixed, and dirt landscaped to slope away from the house. Oh, functioning gutters helped too...

 

[PILOON]

As U know heat rises, so heating the basement would result in warm floors for U to walk on.
Assuming the basement is insulated I'd suspect the additional heat costs would be minimal.
Perhaps adding some insulation to that one window would be beneficial (like a Styrofoam panel).

 

[arizona98tj]

Obviously the warm air, if you have some in the basement, will rise and to some degree, make the floor above perhaps feel a bit warmer....but I doubt that a single duct would really have that much of an impact. Not having mold is always a good thing....and a humidity check would give you a good indication of where you sit in regards to that.

 

[MossRoad]

There is 1" pink foam board on the outside of the cinder block first floor walls. I had that added when they dug down and installed/replaced the plugged/bad foundation drain system. The reason for my inquiry really is only if it helps the heated living area feel any warmer, is more effiecent for some reason or prevent mold down there (since it'd be warmer/drier). I'll say one thing - the basement is DRY since the foundation drain was fixed, and dirt landscaped to slope away from the house. Oh, functioning gutters helped too...

Since your basement is dry you shouldn't have a mold/mildew problem. My only concern with heat would be with freezing pipes, expecially if they are on outside walls. How cold does it get in the basement?

Another concern is Radon. Have you had a Radon test in the basement? From what I recall dealing with selling my father's house. Radon can build up in a basement. If you vent the basement, or turn the air over in the basement, it doesn't build up as much. Anyhow, I'd get a radon test kit if it was never done.

 

[gstrom99]

There is a dehumidifier down there. It ran NONSTOP before the foundation drain was fixed, and the place was always damp. Now, it keeps it around 40% and even shuts off when not needed.