I have a portion of my basement that I use for woodworking sectioned off with a plastic wall and zip door. The location of my benches is in a corner with new basement windows on each wall a few feet from the corner. I have a fieldstone/mortared foundation with early concrete block on top of it. The height of the block varies from 3 course to about 6 courses as the foundation is built into a hill. The fieldstone is stepped and drops down with the elevation.
I heat the area with a small ceramic electric heater with a fan. It can heat the area running steady, but barely. I was in a discussion with a coworker today and I came up with the idea of hanging a few rolls of insulating reflective material like "Reflectix". It is a bubble wrap type of material with aluminized layer on one or both sides. I am looking to keep heat in the work area and minimize drafts from the stone/block wall. Has anyone used the product and liked the results? I thought of rigid foam panels or fiberglass batts, but I don't want to build a framed wall out. The fieldstone wall is wider than the block wall so there is irregularities to the "plane" of the wall. I figure if the insulative sheet is out a few inches from the wall, there would be less work and less material. Just a matter of hanging the product and taping it at the seams. The rim joists are insulated with fiberglass batts between the floor joistsThis cold snap made it a little bit too cool to work down there especially when the stove is running upstairs. A cold work area is not very motivational. Any thoughts or ideas? This is by no means a finished basement, it's all business down there. I also like that I can roll the sheets up to inspect for a water leak if need be.
(broken link removed to http://www.reflectixinc.com/basepage.asp?PageName=Single+Reflective+Insulation&PageIndex=755)
I heat the area with a small ceramic electric heater with a fan. It can heat the area running steady, but barely. I was in a discussion with a coworker today and I came up with the idea of hanging a few rolls of insulating reflective material like "Reflectix". It is a bubble wrap type of material with aluminized layer on one or both sides. I am looking to keep heat in the work area and minimize drafts from the stone/block wall. Has anyone used the product and liked the results? I thought of rigid foam panels or fiberglass batts, but I don't want to build a framed wall out. The fieldstone wall is wider than the block wall so there is irregularities to the "plane" of the wall. I figure if the insulative sheet is out a few inches from the wall, there would be less work and less material. Just a matter of hanging the product and taping it at the seams. The rim joists are insulated with fiberglass batts between the floor joistsThis cold snap made it a little bit too cool to work down there especially when the stove is running upstairs. A cold work area is not very motivational. Any thoughts or ideas? This is by no means a finished basement, it's all business down there. I also like that I can roll the sheets up to inspect for a water leak if need be.
(broken link removed to http://www.reflectixinc.com/basepage.asp?PageName=Single+Reflective+Insulation&PageIndex=755)