now that I have a pellet stove my basement is cold

[splash]

I hope you can help. I have been burning pellets for 4 years on the main floor of my 2 story house. Since I had my house insulated last year, the pellets heat both floors. BUT now that my gas furnace isn't running, my basement is cold. I need suggestions on what to do about a cold basement. It got cold enough last winter that a couple of house plants died but my pipes didn't freeze. I have a thermometer down there this winter to check on the temp. How can I heat it? I don't use my basement except for a little storage. It is brick foundation and I was thinking about getting a really small pellet stove and installing to use it as necessary to heat the basement but that would be expensive to set up. Any other suggestions? Thank you.

 

[kast]

Hot water? hot air?

 

[imacman]

I hope you can help. I have been burning pellets for 4 years on the main floor of my 2 story house. Since I had my house insulated last year, the pellets heat both floors. BUT now that my gas furnace isn't running, my basement is cold. I need suggestions on what to do about a cold basement. It got cold enough last winter that a couple of house plants died but my pipes didn't freeze. I have a thermometer down there this winter to check on the temp. How can I heat it? I don't use my basement except for a little storage. It is brick foundation and I was thinking about getting a really small pellet stove and installing to use it as necessary to heat the basement but that would be expensive to set up. Any other suggestions? Thank you.

Splash,

you didn't mention what type of heat system you had (hot air, baseboard??), or whether or not the basement had it's own heat zone valve.....or did it just stay warm from the heat from the burner?

 

[splash]

I hope you can help. I have been burning pellets for 4 years on the main floor of my 2 story house. Since I had my house insulated last year, the pellets heat both floors. BUT now that my gas furnace isn't running, my basement is cold. I need suggestions on what to do about a cold basement. It got cold enough last winter that a couple of house plants died but my pipes didn't freeze. I have a thermometer down there this winter to check on the temp. How can I heat it? I don't use my basement except for a little storage. It is brick foundation and I was thinking about getting a really small pellet stove and installing to use it as necessary to heat the basement but that would be expensive to set up. Any other suggestions? Thank you.

Splash,

you didn't mention what type of heat system you had (hot air, baseboard??), or whether or not the basement had it's own heat zone valve.....or did it just stay warm from the heat from the burner?

forced hot water; baseboard on the first floor and radiators on the second floor. the basement used to stay warm (too warm) from the gas burner. There is no other heat zone valve for the basement. The gas burner is two zones but both thermostats are affected by the pellet stove so my gas burner doesn't come on at all. any suggestions? I want to avoid having my pipes freeze. Last winter was a little mild but one never knows in New England. Thanks for your help.

 

[rap69ri]

The best idea would to put a heating zone in the basement, but this isn't always practical. I do have a zone in my basement, but have the temp set to 50 and the heat never comes on. The temp usually hovers around 55 down there. Just to be sure my pipes don't freeze on those really cold nights, I run my boiler for 20-30 minutes every few hours. Also, make sure your pipes are insulated well.

 

[tumbles]

Put a small oil filled electric heater is an opiton. I use them on contruction sites and they work well. I also hear good things about the "eden pure" . Just my 2 cents

 

[BrotherBart]

I would suggest one of the Delonghi oil filled radiator heaters with the "antifreeze" feature. They come on at 44 degrees to keep stuff like pipes from freezing up.

That is what we use in the basement when we are going to be away. Well, actually there is one in every room of the house.

 

[sinnian]

You could just "snip" the wire to one of your thermostats and rewire it in the basement to a programmable one to turn on at 55 degrees, or whatever, just something to turn your gas pilot light on to warm your basement.

 

[imacman]

The other option is to get something like the ThermGuard. You could put it onto the 1st flr stat, and have the burner come on every 2-3 hours for a few minutes to keep the water moving in the pipes and heat it up a little.

www.bearmountaindesign.com

I put one in my second floor bedrooms zone due to problems with a pipe that freezes if the heat doesn't come on often.

They also offer a 10% discount to hearth.com members.

 

[natnyer]

well if the basement doesn't get below 32 degrees why heat it? Move the plants upstairs and save some money in the process.

 

[pelletizer]

If you have a chimney flu you could find a used small cast iron stove.

I am in the same situation as splash as far as basement heat goes and I spend a lot of time down here working on projects and on this Basement PC.

 

[splash]

Thanks everyone, you've given me several suggestions which I will research and make a decision. I know I don't have to heat it until it gets really really cold down there but I want to be prepared. Thanks again.

 

[smaxell1]

Put a small oil filled electric heater is an opiton. I use them on contruction sites and they work well. I also hear good things about the "eden pure" . Just my 2 cents

Those eden pure heaters are an absolute ripoff. Buy some other kind of electric heater if you want to use electric heat.

I am not even going to go into the physics of it.

 

[ronlat]

Had the same problem in my house. Solved it by installing a small return from 1rst floor to basement and using a inline duct fan 500 CFM to keep basement above 50. Uses only a small amount of electricity and at 500 CFM does not pull too much heat out of the main floor or second floor.

 

[smaxell1]

Had the same problem in my house. Solved it by installing a small return from 1rst floor to basement and using a inline duct fan 500 CFM to keep basement above 50. Uses only a small amount of electricity and at 500 CFM does not pull too much heat out of the main floor or second floor.

Brilliant idea... I will be doing that myself!!