1300sqfoot house w/basement

[Edgewood]

I have a 1300 square foot house. I live in New York State putnum county where it can go down to 5 degrees or lower.

The house has duct work in place already for forced air and central air. I installed a Harman p35i pellet stove in the living room which is centrally located in the house.

Does anyone use existing duct work to move air? How can I use it for that? The intake is in the room with the pellet stove.

In the living room is the door to the basement.

Our basement has a metal walkout storm door thing similar to the ones in movies where you can open it and run down into the basement from the yard. Because of this the basement is colder.

My question is, does anyone else have this? How do you keep the basement warm in the winter. Not warm like 74 degrees but warm enough like 50 degrees that pipes don't freeze or anything. Plus I have the laundry machine down there.

I'm debating weather to switch to my forced air oil heating on super cold days because the unit keeps my basement warm? I like the hotness of the pellet stove so I don't want to have to do that and then if the pellet stove is on the thermostat for the forced air won't kick in the forced air.

Ughhh

Any ideas?

 

[Cory S]

You need to have two airflow corridors connecting upstairs to the basement. One for the heat to rise/be forced upstairs, and another for the cool air to flow back down.

 

[Edgewood]

You need to have two airflow corridors connecting upstairs to the basement. One for the heat to rise/be forced upstairs, and another for the cool air to flow back down.

I think I have this? The forced air and central air come out of the basement through floor vents on my first and second floor and then I have the return air ducts that take the air back down. But it's connected to the furnace.

So how can I use that with my pellet stove?

 

[Cory S]

You can usually run the furnace blower to manual "on", but this only works well in certain situations.

 

[Edgewood]

You can usually run the furnace blower to manual "on", but this only works well in certain situations.

I was thinking of trying that but I didn't know of that would essentially move air down and out into the basement or just move the air downstairs and make it cold and then shoot it back upstairs.

I'm wondering what everyone with a basement does to heat it? Especially in the dead of winter with the only heat source being the 1 stove on the first floor? Did I have a major oversight when thinking this stove would heat the entire house and raise the temp in basement above freezing on bad winter days and nights?

 

[moey]

I was thinking of trying that but I didn't know of that would essentially move air down and out into the basement or just move the air downstairs and make it cold and then shoot it back upstairs.

I'm wondering what everyone with a basement does to heat it? Especially in the dead of winter with the only heat source being the 1 stove on the first floor? Did I have a major oversight when thinking this stove would heat the entire house and raise the temp in basement above freezing on bad winter days and nights?

Most folks close the door and dont go down there. If your basement does not have airleaks or not many it will probably stay upper 40s low 50s on the coldest days in winter.

 

[doghouse]

Most folks close the door and dont go down there. If your basement does not have airleaks or not many it will probably stay upper 40s low 50s on the coldest days in winter.

Insulate, especially where the floor joists meet the sill.

 

[Cory S]

As long as the basement is somewhat air tight, and there's some type of appliance down there etc, temperatures usually stay between 40-50* since is below grade/sub-terrain. You can always put a thermometer down there and keep an eye on it to see how cold it gets....

 

[billb3]

If your metal "walk in door" is a Bilco door they have huge gaps that let wind thru and the best solution is to put a door at the bottom of those stairs to stop the wind and cold.
Air sealing and insulating the basement should keep it the same temperature as the ground plus any incidentals from the living space. Mine stays almost 60 degrees year round and the concrete is not insulated but all the joist bays have been wind sealed and insulated.
I removed the masonry chimney so I have no heat losses going up it thru the boiler nor thru the chase it was in.

 

[Edgewood]

If your metal "walk in door" is a Bilco door they have huge gaps that let wind thru and the best solution is to put a door at the bottom of those stairs to stop the wind and cold.
Air sealing and insulating the basement should keep it the same temperature as the ground plus any incidentals from the living space. Mine stays almost 60 degrees year round and the concrete is not insulated but all the joist bays have been wind sealed and insulated.
I removed the masonry chimney so I have no heat losses going up it thru the boiler nor thru the chase it was in.

I'm thinking of just getting rid of the walk in door and sealing it off. I don't use it and it causes so many problems.

 

[alternativeheat]

I'm thinking of just getting rid of the walk in door and sealing it off. I don't use it and it causes so many problems.

In your situation I would run the oil and the stove. Take the stove out of room temp and put it in Stove Temp ( may be call Constant Burn or what ever these days but its the same thing). And set the stove so at least at night and on cold days the central heat comes on.

But really in todays pricing I don't know why people are screwing with pellets vs oil anyway, other than if you like a stove going I guess. But you won't save much of anything cost wise. You might as well burn both and be comfortable. One will way offset the other in terms of quantity of fuel used. I know , I did this with coal for decades. A stove going cuts way into oil consumption but yet the central heat cycling heats your cold spots. it was a cost saving measure once, not right now with oil down and pellets up in cost.

 

[billb3]

That bulkhead entrance serves purposes one of which is often safety as a second source of egress in an emergency.

If money is tight throw a tarp over it to stop the wind blowing thru it. ( if I'm picturing what you have correctly )
If there's no door at the foot of the stairs staple a carpet or dense blanket to the entranceway/cutout in the foundation as a form of cheap barrier to the cold. Even if it just hangs draped over the entrance it helps a little.
Usually identifying and addressing air leaks in foundations and sill plates fixes cold basement problems.