Heat the basement

[bsruther]

Since I remodeled our basement last January, we spend most of our winter down here. The last half of the winter, we ended up not making very many fires in the insert because I can't get the heat down here. I know it sounds kinda stupid, but I'd like to find a way to pipe some of that hot air down here. We have a brick ranch that is very well insulated and the living room temps get up to 85-90 with the insert running. The basement living area is about 450 square feet and it doesn't take much to keep it warm. I've thought about putting a direct vent with a fan in the floor blowing down here, but I'm not sure that I can draw high temperatures from the living room floor level.
Also, the stove is directly above the furnace room, so I'd have to draw the air from the other end of the living room.
Anyone have any ideas?

 

[RonB]

I doubt that the floor vent would do what you need it to do. It would likely be a bigger project, but it would make more sense to me to draw the air from the living room ceiling area and pipe it down. To complete the loop it would be nice if the insert upstairs was drawing air from the basement floor area. After you think about those two things for a while and how to accomplish them, you realize that you are trying to swim upstream. A small stove in the basement area would solve the problem in a more simple manner--and you could be sure that it would solve the problem.

 

[Martin Strand III]

Woodford:

Trying to blow warm air from upstairs to your cold downstairs basement with a fan and piping is like trying to live past 100 years old drinking moonshine.

Simply put, it's not going to happen.

Poor planning, after thoughts and the fact you are going against Mother Nature (warm air rises, ya' know) won't turn your fan and piping into a HVAC system.

Your best bet, besides a basement stove, is to go for accessory electric heat and/or lots of blankets and slippers.

Aye,
Marty

 

[PaulRicklefs]

Have you tried running your furnace fan to help equalize the heat on both levels?

 

[oconnor]

Running a ducted fan to move the cold air off the basement floor into the room the stove is in will help you some, as the air that replaces it will be warmer. I will be doing that to keep the unheated basement in my home a bit warmer, but it isn't a living space, just a storage area and workshop.

If your furnace fan can be run, it will help, especially if you can have it pull cold air out of the basement room you are in. In my last house, I would remove the filter cover, and it would pull large amounts of air from the basement and circ it thru the house.

 

[branchburner]

... like trying to live past 100 years old drinking moonshine.

Simply put, it's not going to happen.

Aye,
Marty

Well, it's worth trying... if you're wrong, I'll let you know in 52 years

 

[bsruther]

I didn't think there was a practical way to get the heat down here. Just seeing if anyone had any ideas that I hadn't thought of. It would be difficult and costly to put a stove down here. I plan on getting a furnace add on wood burner when the old oil furnace dies anyway. I tried running the furnace blower with the stove burning. It made a slight difference, but not enough.
Maybe Obama will buy me a big screen TV for upstairs so that I can sit up there and enjoy the warmth.