How do you heat your Basement?

Recently I bought two  "Electro log" stoves that use radiant heat from electricity. They are seem pretty nice. plus clean.  Electricity costs but any heat will. Try oil like I use. The stoves start putting out heat right away and use a nice fan.

100% of my home is 100% climate controlled (Heat and AC) via the flip of a switch. All levels, basement included, are fully finished.

We have a walkout basement as well, and the whole-house heating system has a zone for the basement. We use # 2 fuel oil which over the past two heating systems in the northeast (as you know) was not cheap. If you have natural gas available, a space heater may be a good option for you.

 

Our layout is in another structure and in this case we have a propane space heater that does an excellent job.

I use a natural gas wall mounted heater that I purchased 12 years ago at Tractor Supply Co. It is the non-vented type, although I mounted it below a window which I crack open when operating the heater. The heater comes with a fan which has two speeds. It puts out plenty of heat and after a while using it I have to turn the temp control down as it gets pretty hot in my train room. 

My train room is also in a walk-out basement. As I said we have natural gas and it has been cheap to operate.

I use wood furnace with blower and filter. Always have plenty of firewood in my area. I do have LP gas furnace as back up.

We just have a couple of vents in the ducts from the main system. Keeps it fairly warm most of the winter. In extremely cold weather we have a small electric space heater that we run to make up the difference when we are down there. Ours is not a walkout though and most of the concrete walls are only exposed about a foot above grade, so that helps too.

 

Don't know your house layout, but if there is a way you can tap into your main system (heating is usually oversized somewhat) that might be a good option? If not large enough, then a separate system as you have now will probably be needed. As others have suggested, natural gas is probably a good way to go if you have that available. The make natural gas space heaters that can do a pretty large area. 

We have a monitor kerosene heater permanently in the room, hooked up to an outside tank and an outdoor vent. I turn it on if I plan on going down later. Otherwise, I set it at about 50, but the room stays at about 54 without it.

I don't heat mine however in the dead of winter it will get down to 55. I just wear a sweatshirt.

The house is electric heat, has been since it was built 1977.  Baseboard electric, which was upgraded, 1997, to a heat pump.  I recently replaced the garage doors with energy efficient doors.  Most open basements/concrete or cement block wall could use a moisture/ insulation treatment, there is little or no R-value in those walls.  Same applies to a concrete floor with no insulation under it.  Most basements were never considered living space, and not insulated, makes it difficult to heat.   Insulate, insulate, insulate, then consider a heating system.

There is a lot of discussion about the efficiency of older equipment v.s. new equipment, High E glass replacement windows, and Geothermal heat systems.  None of these are quick cheap fixes.  I managed Federal tax credits for the Garage Door replacements a few years ago. The doors were pre-approved and qualified for the tax credit. Basic saving was (3) doors for the price of (2).   Some of those tax credits may still be around. Again Insulate, insulate, insulate. IMO   Mike CT

I have an oil furnace and whole-house A/C which I never use.  Right now using a couple of electric heaters is cheaper than oil. My layout occupies my dining area and a little of the living room.  Really like t that way. I eat and run trains.

Forced air natural gas and central air conditioning same as the rest of the house.

 

Art

Live on Long Island in an older home with a traditional cellar. Added a third zone to my #2 fuel oil system. Has its own thermostat. As was previously stated by Passenger Car Collector, its more costly than gas or even electric. 

Three heat pumps do the whole house.

 

Our house is a split foyer, seven steps up from the front door to the main floor or seven steps down from the front door to the basement.  1/3rd of the basement area is garage.  The garage is at level with the yard, the rest is about 1/2 below ground, due to the slope of the lot.

 

We have HVAC ducts in the basement ceilings although I always keep the fully closed.  The basement probably stays about 5 degrees cooler than the main level of the house without any heat.  The garage on the other hand, gets much colder and I use an electric space heater when working in the garage in the Winter.  I did replace the old garage door with an insulated garage door and it has made a big difference in temperature.  The garage actually is warmer in the winter an cooler in the summer. Wish I would have change it sooner.

 

Jim

My basement is tied into the rest of thes rest of the forced air of the house.

 

Having said that, I've been considering getting an infra red heater to use when the change of seasons has the upstairs warmer than the basement and the heat doesn't come on.

 

I have a friend who swears by his infra red heater, nice even heating and the unit is safe to touch, minimizing burn/fire risk.

 

Heres the "brand name" version. Edenpure Heater

 

There are also "knock off" brands for less available at the major hardware chains like Menards.   Infra Red Heaters

 

 

Superwarp, you might consider having a qualified heating engineer consider whether the house heating system could handle a few outlets in the basement.  If walls aren't well-insulated, installing studding and insulation would help.

My house was built 1936, has two furnaces.

    The main house is gas forced air and the train room is in the basement has it's own furnace, that is shared with the addition, built in 1998. Also gas force air.

Gas forced air does cause some dust issues for the trains. 

Cheers from Michigan 

My basement is where the furnace is located, however it get cold down there.  I have a three space heaters that I use when I plan to be down there for any length of time.  One looks like a radiator and is filled with oil, One is a long electric heater, and the third is a little ceramic heater I picked up at Home Depot.  I used it last year while I was working on the room and it will run you out of there after a while.

I have just finished remodeling my train room in the basement & i had installed a wall mounted 30,000 btu gas space heater this will be my first winter using it,it is unvented which i am ok with because i will use it only when i am running trains.

I don't really have a heating source in my basement. I just bundle up and run some trains!!!

My basement is part of the whole house heating system with its own zone. Oil heat, but it rarely 'comes up' unless the outside temp has to be under freezing for a few days, it generally stays at a comfort level. and has a walk-out on one side.

Gerald, that's a lot of carbon monoxide to deal with.  Please install a CO detector and be wary of headaches.

I agree, I would have a CO detector. My house is an A frame, the LR/DR is one room with a 3 ft. ceiling and that is a lot of space to heat in a Yankee winter. My bedroom is a loft which looks down on to the LR/DR where my layout is so I get an aerial view. I don't try to heat it all to a comfy temperature in the winter. I keep my den warmer. I have used the oil-filled radiators which are OK but I like the radiant heaters better, so far. Will see what the electric compny says but oil is costly and dirty.

I meant to say a 30 ft. ceiling !!!

RJR, Thanks for the heads up,i already have a carbon monoxide detector in the train room, like i mentioned before,i will only use it when i run trains,also the area where the trains are is small & it wouldn't take long at all to heat this area & if i was going to be there longer i would just shut it off,oh one thing i forgot to mention is the unit has a sensor that will shut the unit off if the oxygen level drops to low,but i wouldn't depend on it,i still would shut the unit off if i was going to be down there for any length of time.

          Thanks again for bringing that up.

The one big mistake I made was not finishing the basement off and insulating the walls.  I have natural gas force air heat for the entire house with a few registers in the basement which really don't put a dent in the temp, hence the pellet stove.

 

I'm thinking one of these.  We have these at work in the shop areas, wondering if anyone here has experience with them?

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gBZ6s9MGsds#t=230

I had the basement finished before I started the layout.  Walls are fully insulated as well as the floor.  The basement uses the house HVAC .   Its comfortable all year round.

If it's possible, insulating the basement well could permit the existing system to heat the basement.  You only lose heat through the walls & windows.  Anything lost through the ceiling heats the rest of the house.

 

Many years ago I had a shell only extension put on my house.  Heating contractor said I'd need another furnace.   I insulated the extension with 6" in ceiling and 3.5" in walls, and did duct work myself.  Heating & a/c were both more than adequate.

 

In my current home, I finished the basement myself, and put 3.5" in walls.  Existing heating is adequate.

Same here.

I have a gas hot water system which only gets used on extremely cold northeast PA winter days. We've had a wood burner in the basement for almost 30 years. This pretty much heats the entire house. The interior basement walls are brick, with an air space between the cinder crete foundation and the brick. The basement is too small for a layout, and there is no other space at this time in the house for one.

My layout is suspended around a covered patio attached to my workshop. The workshop is heated with a wood burner as well. With the attic door closed, the space is quite comfortable in a tee shirt on normal winter days. When the temperatures get into the single digits, it's not worth feeding the wood burner.

A few years ago, we closed in our 12' X 16' deck and heat it with a gas stove. This room is where the trains are displayed, and serves as the Christmas layout space.

We have a fire place in the front room which is directly above the wood burner, so it is only burned for entertaining, or during cold snaps. Convection is a wonderful thing, so with strategically placed vents and returns, the house is quite cozy, with the exception of the attic which is used as a bedroom. If the door is kept open though, it does get some residual heat. I do have to mention that the house is just under 1000 sq feet, so it's not a large home.

As long as I am able to do the work involved using wood as fuel, we'll continue to use it. It is good exercise too! I get a lot of help from three strapping sons.

Don

gas forced air with central ac. best part heat is free as i have a gas well on my property.

I have a separate 1800 sq ft building for the trains heated with a 125,000 BTU furnace on Propane that heats it up quickly in the winter,building has a10 ft ceiling.

My basement gets some heat from the furnace and pipes but I am more than comfortable as the track lighting generates a lot of heat. And as Spence said, wear a sweatshirt.

Good old fashion cast iron hot water radiators.  When the heat shuts off they stay hot for a long time.

Propane IR wall heater.  We loose electrical service from time to time.....so you need something that will run w/o electric power.

Hello everyone, I am fortunate like 69nickcamero we have a gas well on our property that we heat our home with.

I have a ventless gas heater with a blower that I bought at Tractor Supply in the basement that keep the basement warm thru the winter months.

 

Mark strittmatter

TCA # 14-69917

Indiana PA

Kind of surprising to me to hear all the different scenarios.  I have never lived in a house that didn't have a furnace in the basement that heated the whole house, basement included.  I live in Michigan.

.....

Dennis

I also live in Michigan and the house has hot water radiator heat.  My train room is next to the boiler room, and all the return pipes come through a radiator set in the wall between the rooms, so just before the water returns to the boilers, it still has enough residual heat to warm the train room nicely.  The guy who built the house in 1923 was a builder and used the best materials available at the time to build his house.  A lot of thought and sound engineering went into the house's construction.  The train room was a former dance room since he and his wife were square dance fans and frequently held parties with the dancing in the main room, which has a terrazzo floor!  There's also a fireplace in the room which I never have had to use. 

 

Jerry in Michigan

I didn't heat our basement when we had one.

used to live in western New York.

had an old stone basement. no matter what time

of the year it was, the basement stayed a constant

60 degrees Farenhite. middle of winter at minus 20

the basement was 60. middle of summer in scorching 90s.

basement was 60. I use to go down there in summer

when it was hot and camp out. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA