Looking for advice. When burning the fireplace insert on the first floor the forced air heat might only kick on one or twice a day on workdays. This leaves the basement chilly. When I built the house I had an extra flue added in the chimney that runs to the basement. Was looking for suggestions for an economical method of heating basement. It is insulated with 2" foam on the walls. Don't want to wrestle firewood down there too so I was thinking of just going electric, but was also contemplating a pellet stove. Thoughts from the group?
A small electric heater would work but with it being insulated it should not take much to keep it warm enough so nothing freezes. A pellet stove might work but you might also have a problem getting proper draft in the basement. There will be many others with suggestions for you. Good luck. And, welcome to the forum!
Lot of basement pellet burning people here. But for the cost you might try electric for a bit and see how ot does. Gary
An electric heater seems like the best thought so far. Do you spend a lot of time down there? If so, you'd want a larger one to quickly heat the area. If not, then a smaller one will take the edge off from those frigid nights. I put another wood stove in mine to combat this problem and heat a potential hang-out space. Build thread coming soon...
I can assume that being from Pa, your Forced Air system is already in the basement and not on the main level, right? Just cut in a couple of duct registers into the supply trunkline. It won't bring it up to 70f, but it will help temper it more so than not having them in there. You may also consider adding a register to the return trunkline of return plenum....that is of course if the surroundings allow it. For instance, it your furnace is in a small room with a pilot lit water heater, you don't want to add a return register around that. Is your basement finished?
Basement is not finished. I have vents cut but the forced air system doesn't kick on because the 1st floor fireplace keeps it in the high 70s upstairs. I have natural gas in the basement and have thought about a thermostat controlled wall mount unit. We don't use it much but it is used from time to time. It is a walk out and when it gets below zero it can get pretty cold down there. I picked up a cheap electric heater for this coming winter just wanted to see what others were using.
With natural gas in the basement, I would put in a vented gas heater. Cost would be min. and you can control it with a stat. Electrical units cost a lot to use.
This is probably best bet, A gas thermostat controlled wall mount unit. I use electric down there once in awhile I have had a few of the Oil-Filled heaters , some are junk but this is a very good one , not because of all the bells n whistles, it's just a good quality heater . Thermostat, 24-hour double functioni timer, you can set a freeze setting, kicks on at 45°F ,Remote control Shop De'Longhi 5,120-BTU Oil-Filled Radiant Tower Electric Space Heater with Thermostat and Energy Saving Setting at Lowes.com Oh, hay , Welcome to da club
A walk out basement. Unfinished. 2" foam on the walls. Extra flue runs to basement. No wood stove in basement. What are you waiting for? Everything is in place for it!!!
I hear ya Yooper and I put some serious thought into a woodburner, the space is not used much and wood is my primary heat upstairs, but the idea of stoking two fires isn't that appealing. With my family schedule it takes a concerted effort just to keep the insert upstairs fed and up to temp around the clock. I liked the pellet stove idea just because I could get one that I set the temperature and would check on every day or two.
What's the benefit of heating the basement? Is it a kids play area? Or just a workshop you use on the weekend? I guess what I'm getting at, do you want the basement heated all the time, or just part of the time. And do you want to raise the temp just a few degrees, or have it as toasty as the upstairs? If it's just occasionally I'd go the electric route. Otherwise I'd try to utilize that natural gas already down there.
