How to heat 20x20 basement room that is 'underheated'?

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SpatiallyAware

SpatiallyAware

Lifer
Sep 7, 2009
12,960
3
0
I have a finished basement (done by previous owner) which is not properly heated. It has one return and two supply vents, but the flow on all of them is very low. I had an HVAC guy come out last winter who basically said the furnace and a/c is not large enough to properly service the basement as well as the rest of the house. I suspected maybe crushed vents in the wall but he said no, that they're just long runs from the main unit.


So.. I tried one of those oil heaters, and even on high 24/7 (it's a 1500 watt heater = ~$120 a month) it's not enough.

What next? I had someone tell me that there is a new type of large ceramic heater which is far far more efficient. I also remember in-wall natural gas heaters that worked well from my childhood...

Thoughts?
 
BarkingGhostar

BarkingGhostar

Diamond Member
Nov 20, 2009
8,410
1,617
136
Sounds like the previous owner did nothing more than scavenge from the main household's HVAC system. This means on top of trying to provide questionable conditioning to the basement, they impacted the rest of the home. Shade tree AC!

Unfortunately, if the previous homeowner did this then I suspect they probably cheaped their way out in other areas as well. Have you investigated if there is some insulation in the stud walls?
 
Fritzo

Fritzo

Lifer
Jan 3, 2001
41,920
2,161
126
Home Depot now carries fluorescent shop lights with built in heat. They're regular hanging "tube" type fluorescents with a heating element that you can turn on and off. They work great! They're around $90/light.
 
B

bignateyk

Lifer
Apr 22, 2002
11,288
7
0
I have a similar problem. I have gas heat (gas boiler for baseboard heating). The main floor and upper floor both have sufficient heating, but the basement only has a small section of baseboard heating.

I could extend it, but I think I am going to put in a natural gas fireplace so that I have an alternate source of heat (right now if the power goes out I have no heat since the pumps for the gas boiler require electricity)
 
Gunslinger08

Gunslinger08

Lifer
Nov 18, 2001
13,234
2
81
I'm going to be finishing my basement probably this year. My HVAC system lives down there, and it has 2 vents coming off of the trunk lines (currently closed) that lead to the first and second floors. I'm going to finish one side as a big room, but the other side will be broken up into a utility room, a bedroom, and a bathroom. My first floor is already fairly cold, even when I have the heat set to 72. I have two questions:

1. Should I try to extend the trunk lines so that I have at least 1 vent in each of the rooms in the basement?
2. Should I investigate an alternate heating source for the basement, so I don't draw off too much warm air?
 
dullard

dullard

Elite Member
May 21, 2001
25,820
4,378
126
SpatiallyAware said:
So.. I tried one of those oil heaters, and even on high 24/7 (it's a 1500 watt heater = ~$120 a month) it's not enough.

What next? I had someone tell me that there is a new type of large ceramic heater which is far far more efficient. I also remember in-wall natural gas heaters that worked well from my childhood...

Thoughts?
Click to expand...

I'd say the proper way to do it is to get the right sized HVAC. But that'll cost you thousands of dollars. At the very least, make certain that the vents and returns are not at the same height or the same wall (you want the air to be forced to flow through the whole room).

The oil type heaters are the worst possible heaters for most uses. Why? The heat goes straight up. Straight up to the ceiling where it heats the floor above or even just moves right up the staircase heating the air in the floor above. In most cases, an oil heater has a negligible effect on the temperature of the room it is in. Since heat rises the only way you'll feel warmer with an oil heater is if it is underneath your seat. Give up on the idea of an oil heater helping.

The ceramic heater idea is mostly full of crap. It'll still just be a 1500 W heater since they don't want to blow the standard 15 A fuses or circuit breakers. The only difference is the direction of the heat. The ceramic heater improves over an oil heater a bit by radiating the heat in all directions. But still 1500 W is too small for your needs. And only a small fraction of that 1500 W will be radiated in your direction.

The cheap and simple solution is to give up heating the room. Instead, heat the room's occupants. Those are two different ideas. A $10 1500 W heater with a fan pointed directly at you will make you feel 100 times warmer than an oil heater or a ceramic heater. Of course, this is only practical if there are a small number of occupants and if they don't move around the room frequently.
 
Last edited:
krylon

krylon

Diamond Member
Nov 17, 2001
3,927
4
81
Jizz on yourself and any members of the household. 98.6 degrees, FTMFW.
 
H

handyrandyrc

Member
Nov 3, 2009
42
0
0
I've never used one, but how well do those infrared heaters work?

I'm seeing them all over for 2-300 dollars, but realize they also can draw 1500 watts. However, infrared heat is radiant heat, which the room occupants feel very quickly.

A 20x20 room might be a bit big for one, however. Again, never having had experience with one, I am no pro. Just a thought -- perhaps some research will tell you whether it may be effective or not.
 
Squisher

Squisher

Lifer
Aug 17, 2000
21,204
66
91
You've gotten some good responses here. You can go with a number of alternatives. Gas or electric can heat the area, but it's unlikely something to just plug in. If going with electric which will probably be cheaper initially even if you run a 220v line for some sort of space heater (baseboard, forced air, radiant) there will be higher energy costs later on. If going with a gas space heater you'll need to think about the initial costs including venting.

Another alternative might be a mini-split heat pump which can also supply A/C in the summer (some have SEERs in the 20+), although they're not cheap.
 
SpatiallyAware

SpatiallyAware

Lifer
Sep 7, 2009
12,960
3
0
Squisher said:
You've gotten some good responses here. You can go with a number of alternatives. Gas or electric can heat the area, but it's unlikely something to just plug in. If going with electric which will probably be cheaper initially even if you run a 220v line for some sort of space heater (baseboard, forced air, radiant) there will be higher energy costs later on. If going with a gas space heater you'll need to think about the initial costs including venting.

Another alternative might be a mini-split heat pump which can also supply A/C in the summer (some have SEERs in the 20+), although they're not cheap.
Click to expand...

Yeah I really don't want to spend a ton of money on this. I'm fairly handy, as is my dad so installing a vented natural gas appliance is not a big deal...
 
SpatiallyAware

SpatiallyAware

Lifer
Sep 7, 2009
12,960
3
0
dullard said:
I'd say the proper way to do it is to get the right sized HVAC. But that'll cost you thousands of dollars. At the very least, make certain that the vents and returns are not at the same height or the same wall (you want the air to be forced to flow through the whole room).

The oil type heaters are the worst possible heaters for most uses. Why? The heat goes straight up. Straight up to the ceiling where it heats the floor above or even just moves right up the staircase heating the air in the floor above. In most cases, an oil heater has a negligible effect on the temperature of the room it is in. Since heat rises the only way you'll feel warmer with an oil heater is if it is underneath your seat. Give up on the idea of an oil heater helping.

The ceramic heater idea is mostly full of crap. It'll still just be a 1500 W heater since they don't want to blow the standard 15 A fuses or circuit breakers. The only difference is the direction of the heat. The ceramic heater improves over an oil heater a bit by radiating the heat in all directions. But still 1500 W is too small for your needs. And only a small fraction of that 1500 W will be radiated in your direction.

The cheap and simple solution is to give up heating the room. Instead, heat the room's occupants. Those are two different ideas. A $10 1500 W heater with a fan pointed directly at you will make you feel 100 times warmer than an oil heater or a ceramic heater. Of course, this is only practical if there are a small number of occupants and if they don't move around the room frequently.
Click to expand...


1 occupant, girl who is cold all of the time. She'd have it at 80F if possible, so I'd prefer to not have anything that can be left on like those small space heaters...

Thanks for the advice..
 
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