Best way to keep the basement warm

[glen1971]

We just got a PC45 installed a week and a half ago and love it so far... We are going through about one 40# bag in just over a day, so I'm not sure if that is good or bad, but I guess we'll see..

Ours is installed on the main floor of the house (1,400 sq ft) and I was wondering what every one else does to keep the basement from turning into a walk in cooler? I have set up a thermostat in the basement and tied it into the furnace fan to try and help circulate the air. Will it work, or is there a better way?

 

[Chrisnow86]

I have no heat in my basement and it is a constant 50* all winter... I have insulated the floor so I'm not fighting it upstairs. Ground temp is about 50 degrees 6 ft down.. So ur basement should stay around there

 

[Big E]

Basement Dweller, Stove in basement, furnace blower on full-time, first floor 70* basement 80*, floors nice and toasty to walk on

 

[Bioburner]

Good luck with the PC45. Your best bet would be to put another stove in basement and enjoy warmer floors and with a bit of planning and looking for the natural air flows could assist the heating upstairs taking some load off the 45. Don't know your wind exposure or temps to tell what a good fuel use is. Some of the fuel use is what kind and quality of pellets. Just tried burning some pellets that were terrible.

 

[glen1971]

Good luck with the PC45. Your best bet would be to put another stove in basement and enjoy warmer floors and with a bit of planning and looking for the natural air flows could assist the heating upstairs taking some load off the 45. Don't know your wind exposure or temps to tell what a good fuel use is. Some of the fuel use is what kind and quality of pellets. Just tried burning some pellets that were terrible.

I didn't want to put the stove downstairs, since we aren't down there that often... I guess we can kick up the heat down there before the kids go down there.. With only the one stair case to the basement with a higher ceiling above it (11'), I don't know how warm the upstairs would have been if it was down there..

The venting is out behind the stove through the wall and 45s down.. It is on the north side of the house, as that was the best place with our prevailing west winds.. We have had gusts here in town over 65 mph and it is usually "breezy" in this part of the province.. We are using premium pellets with low ash and moisture and about 8,700 btu.. We tried a different brand tonight, but after comparing the bags, these have a slightly higher ash content, moisture content, less btu's and cost more per bag.. Don't think we'll be buying them again....

 

[bags]

Welcome! You made the right choice putting your stove where you spend the most time. You could always add another down stairs if you wanted and it would be used more. Until then tell the kids to dress accordingly. It's winter time. Or look for some inexpensive type of supplemental heating unit for your lower level and use it as needed.

 

[mr47930]

We have our stove on the first floor and it heats the main living area and the 2nd floor nicely. For the basement, like others have said it should stay a constant ~50ish*. I have my man cave down in our finished basement with the 60" flat screen and spend pretty much all Sunday afternoon down there watching football. We bought one of those infrared electric heaters and it does an awesome job to my surprise. I plug it in when the game is about to start and by the end of the first quarter I would guess it gets the temps up to the mid 60's.

Edit: The mid 60's temp in the basement is perfect because its too cold for the lady and just right for me so she doesn't come down there. That means I get to watch the entire game without any interruptions!

 

[bogieb]

It all depends on how your basement is set up. If it is all underground (for the most part), doesn't adjoin an unheated garage, and is fairly well insulated at the joist and along the foundation, it should stay fairly warm.

In my case, my 650 sq/ft of basement would be downright cold left to its own devices even with piloted utilities because it adjoins the garage, has no foundation insulation inside or out (I'm in the process of remedying that) and has big gaps at the windows and joist (also mostly remedied at this point). I believe the only reason it stayed above freezing was the FHW pipes run along the unfinished ceiling, so they added heat to the room. I placed my stove downstairs just to ensure that the pipes wouldn't freeze when the FHW is running.

So, if you have a basement that adjoins an unheated garage (like mine), or it is walkout on one side, and/or it is not well insulated, it may get fairly cold. What kind of heating is down there? If you use propane and run a piloted furnace and piloted hot water heater, they may provide enough heat to keep it warmish if the basement is well insulated too. So many variables to account for in each situation that it is hard to know what the answer to your question is.

 

[Jackfire]

I have a 1700 square foot home and just recently installed a englander evolution that does 2000 square ft.. , heats well , my question is , i have baseboard hot water heating system , any advice from people with the same heating system on how they keep things from freezing up ?

 

[bogieb]

I have a 1700 square foot home and just recently installed a englander evolution that does 2000 square ft.. , heats well , my question is , i have baseboard hot water heating system , any advice from people with the same heating system on how they keep things from freezing up ?

If none of the pipes go outside a heated area, and your walls are reasonably air tight, they should be okay in all but the coldest weather. My pipes run thru an unheated garage so if it is <20 outside I will run the FHW furnace for 5-10 minutes first thing in the morning and again at night (if needed). I have lived in a house where one pipe at a corner of the heated basement would always freeze even though it was inside an area heated to 68 with FHW system. Just happened that the wind would hit that corner just right and get to the pipe (the exterior was not wrapped as today's houses are). I would pile snow up that exterior corner for insulation and a wind break, which usually worked well

 

[Jackfire]

thanks

 

[Chrisnow86]

i drained the pipes in my base boards cause i refuse to use oil lol

 

[Jackfire]

cant do that my hot water comes from same system

 

[mr47930]

I have a 1700 square foot home and just recently installed a englander evolution that does 2000 square ft.. , heats well , my question is , i have baseboard hot water heating system , any advice from people with the same heating system on how they keep things from freezing up ?

I don't know anything about it but I have read that people install the thermguard on their thermostat which programs it to run at certain time periods through the day. Do a search on it im sure there is a ton of info.

 

[Chrisnow86]

ya i had a tank less hot water system too.. i was sick of burning oil in the summer just to take a shower and do dishes so i put in a electric hot water heater and bypassed the coil.. cheaper for electricity than the oil.. well at least where i am..

 

[bogieb]

i drained the pipes in my base boards cause i refuse to use oil lol

Well that would be great if I never went anywhere for winter vacation, but I need something to heat the place when I can't fill the stove everyday. And no, I have no family within 1800 miles, nor any friends that could come take care of my stoves for me.

 

[Chrisnow86]

i don't travel much in the winter anyway lol.. hell up until this year i was heating with a wood stove i couldn't stay away from the house much at all.. it was ok during the day cause of solar heat with the way my house is designed.. but with the pellet stove im on vacation!! I can actually go out for dinner on a Friday night!! haha

 

[Polar Bear]

Make the basement feel like Africa and the upstairs will be comfortable

 

[roadking88]

ya i had a tank less hot water system too.. i was sick of burning oil in the summer just to take a shower and do dishes so i put in a electric hot water heater and bypassed the coil.. cheaper for electricity than the oil.. well at least where i am..

bingo...i did the same thing using 300 gals oil a year just to take showers...i put in an electric tank on a timer and it cost me 25 a month to heat water vs 300 gals at 3.40 last year.
cellar doesn't get colder than 49-50 degrees with no insulation on the cement walls...temps in the teens or single numbers i start a fire though..