Has anyone had problems with their basement freezing in the winter? It will be my first heating season with an XXV. I have a boiler for hot water and baseboard heating but hope not to use it much for heat. What are the options if freezing is an issue?
Basement Freezing
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JUst set the thermostat on your furnace at about 60* and run the pellet stove as much as possible. If it gets below 60* the furnace will kick on.
If you are concerned about your hot water heat pipes freezing (not drinking water) due to lack of use, you can have a professional install anti-freeze into your heating system.
I have one of those indoor/outdoor thermometer sensors strategically located under the house where the greatest threat to freezing may occur. The coldest its ever gotten there is 38°, but if it had ever gotten close to freezing I would simply shut off the pellet stove and run my boiler instead to keep the lines in use.
I also have a 100' string of 100watt bulbs hung along the area of my pipes on a switch so that if the temp drops too much I turn the lights on and surprisingly the temperature on my sensor does rise significantly.
I have one of those indoor/outdoor thermometer sensors strategically located under the house where the greatest threat to freezing may occur. The coldest its ever gotten there is 38°, but if it had ever gotten close to freezing I would simply shut off the pellet stove and run my boiler instead to keep the lines in use.
I also have a 100' string of 100watt bulbs hung along the area of my pipes on a switch so that if the temp drops too much I turn the lights on and surprisingly the temperature on my sensor does rise significantly.
Pretty sure if your basement like mine is underground it will not get below freezing as long as the living space is heated.
Our basement is underground as well. The furnace turns on in the winter for hot water only. Never had a problem. I put a thermometer down there just to check it when it's really really cold for several days in a row. It has never hit the low 30's.
I live in Northern NH and have burned pellets for 4 years. I have never heated the cellar, about 1/2 of the cellar is below grade.. It stays 55 to 60 most of the winter. If there is a 25 below day it may go down to 52. Buy yourself a thermostat for peace of mind.
Tom C.
Tom C.
No problems with my basement, as it is below ground. I do have a crawlspace below bathroom and laundry room. I have a thermometer probe in the crawlspace with a small electric heater down there. Whenever it gets too cold there, I plug it in from upstairs. I only need to do this when it gets around 0 degrees. not nearly the hassle I expected.
SmokeyTheBear said:
The Bear Mountain Design product is called ThermGuard. You attach it to your thermostat and you can program it to turn on the boiler periodically. It actually can go into your boiler room as well. ThermGuard just needs to connect to your thermostat wires where ever they are.
I have mine set to come on for 2 minutes every few hours. This circulates some water through the pipes and keeps them from freezing. Of course, these are your heating pipes, not your potable water.
This eliminates the need to put antifreeze in your system which can potentially leak back into your potable supply if your back-flow preventer fails. It is also a lot less expensive and a lot quicker. It can be installed in less than 10 minutes.
You simply turn it off when the weather gets nicer. It remembers your settings the next time it gets cold again. Simply turn it back on. You can search this forum, there are a lot of happy users out there!
My thanks to every one of them!
Cheers,
John
I opened up some of my hot air duct so I can heat the basement directly with the oil furnace I have and (loosely) closed off most of the duct going to the house. My cellar is about half in the earth and I installed a second sensor at about 2 feet above ground in the basement, so whatever sensor gets triggered (living room or basement) the furnace will kick in as backup.
The only addition I would need is an automatic damper inside the duct work to reroute the hot air either to the basement or to the rest of the house. Will see this season if that is really necessary. Cost me about 25 USD for the sensor and some 35 ft cable, and a little work for cutting holes in my ductwork.
Friend of mine had their pellet stove running all winter and got frozen pipes because they forgot about the basement....much more expensive then being pro active or burn some gallons of oil just in case.
The only addition I would need is an automatic damper inside the duct work to reroute the hot air either to the basement or to the rest of the house. Will see this season if that is really necessary. Cost me about 25 USD for the sensor and some 35 ft cable, and a little work for cutting holes in my ductwork.
Friend of mine had their pellet stove running all winter and got frozen pipes because they forgot about the basement....much more expensive then being pro active or burn some gallons of oil just in case.
ETA: Removed post. Moar on topic, old stone basement with new furnace, not enough depth underground to keep it at an even temperature. No clue if it will keep pipes from freezing since the PELLET STOVE in the house should keep the furnace from kicking on.
we have an oil furnace in the basement (duh. where the heck else would it be?) it actually has vents to the basement itself.
but, when we have our stove installed next week, i plan on using one of the two forced air ducts we have in the living room (where the stove will be) and placing a small fan in said duct as well as opening up a section of that duct in the basement to move some warm air down there.
the register i plan on using is about six feet from where the stove will be.
we also have a gas fired water heater down there.
i'm hoping that between what air i can move to the basement, the pilot light on the water heater (as well as leaving the heater tank unwrapped), and the fact that the basement has very little above ground exposure, that i can keep a suitable temp maintained down there.
i'm starting with a very small desktop "personal" fan to see what happens by not taking much heat from our living area.
i'll have to see the balance if i need to go to a bigger fan. and if this can be done while still actually keeping us comfortable in our living space.
i'm thinking it's a good thing our house is only 925 sq. feet.
interestingly, this house has a few little drilled holes for different wires the previous owner wanted to pass through to different areas.
one of these very small holes is in the living room and i will use our indoor outdoor digital thermometer and run the outside temp probe right to the basement and be able to monitor the temp from upstairs.
i would love it if i can burn zero oil this winter.
i'll do a follow up on this post when the nights here are below zero.
but, when we have our stove installed next week, i plan on using one of the two forced air ducts we have in the living room (where the stove will be) and placing a small fan in said duct as well as opening up a section of that duct in the basement to move some warm air down there.
the register i plan on using is about six feet from where the stove will be.
we also have a gas fired water heater down there.
i'm hoping that between what air i can move to the basement, the pilot light on the water heater (as well as leaving the heater tank unwrapped), and the fact that the basement has very little above ground exposure, that i can keep a suitable temp maintained down there.
i'm starting with a very small desktop "personal" fan to see what happens by not taking much heat from our living area.
i'll have to see the balance if i need to go to a bigger fan. and if this can be done while still actually keeping us comfortable in our living space.
i'm thinking it's a good thing our house is only 925 sq. feet.
interestingly, this house has a few little drilled holes for different wires the previous owner wanted to pass through to different areas.
one of these very small holes is in the living room and i will use our indoor outdoor digital thermometer and run the outside temp probe right to the basement and be able to monitor the temp from upstairs.
i would love it if i can burn zero oil this winter.
i'll do a follow up on this post when the nights here are below zero.
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