Heating Basement

[jughead]

Hello all

 

In the process of fixing up the basement of a new to me but 100 year old house. House is heated by natural gas/hot water radiators. Currently, no rads in basement. Basement is finished but I would like to add a heating source. I have looked at everything from adding a natural gas fireplace, to electric, to infrared, etrc.

 

Just curious if there is anyone who can offer some pro's or cons or suggestions.

 

Thanks.

[Headhunter]

Jughead... I had a similar situation when I lived down town... 80+ year old house with Rad heat. Found out that installing an additional rad for the basement was not a feasible alternative as the system will in all likelyhood not supply the basement rad with enough pressure to actually provide a useable amount of heat.

I ended up buying a Napoleon gas heater for the basement. Great unit and it pounded out tons of heat. Comes with a remote that works on either a timer basis or a thermostat built into the remote.

I'd highly recommend that unit. Just be sure that you have easy access to an outside wall for proper ventilation.

HH

[jughead]

Was it a wall mount heater or one of the vented stand alone one akin to a smaller wood stove in appearance. I have heard pros and cones about some of the wall mounted ones. Also not sure about the ones they advertise currently that run off natural gas but don't require venting. Seems odd to me to run something that burns off a fuel yet requires no outside vent.

[fishing n autograph]

I have an electric fireplace in my livingroom. Doesn't use much electricity and will heat the room very quickly. One thing you could try is a baseboard space heater. They work wonders and are relatively safe.

[Guest gbfisher]

Have you looked into floor heat with gas wall mounted heaters as well?

[Headhunter]

Mine was a stand alone, vented much like a wood burning stove. It got so hot, that at times, it was almost unbareable.

Mind you, the unit was pretty much over kill, based on the space it was used to heat, but with the thermostat in the remote, it worked very well, as long as you found the right place in the room, to put the remote, for maximum efficiency. (man I wish I could spell!)

The other up side of this unit is that should the power go out, the unit still worked. It was not plugged into the wall, but ran off of a battery pack tied into the unit. I changed batteries anually.

We found that the unit actually heated up most of the house, with the hot air rising and fully heating the main floor of the house as well. Can't say for sure if the unit helped save money, but the basement was warm and dry.

HH

[Chris]

If you have a natural gas hookup already you should check out some of the wall mounted fireplaces or stoves they have. A buddy of mine had one that looked just like a wood stove only it ran on natural gas. It heated his whole basement, and I believe he could still use it when the power was out, although maybe without the fan.

[Meely]

I'd look into a wood pellat stove.

 

I think it would do fine in your basement.

 

I love mine !!

 

Meely

[Hairpy]

I just built an external room onto my house and used radiant floor heating (wire) from Nexans and it works awesome. 280 square feet with a programable stat was around $600. It keeps everything warm.

 

Joseph

[gdelongchamp]

I recomend that you talk to a heating specialist/plumber about tying into your existing hot water heating system. It's a simple matter of installing a circulating pump if required and a zone valve to install an additional heating unit in the basement. I have done this on several occasions without any problems. I even salvaged an old cast iron radiator from the dump and had the plumber install it and it worked like a charm. THe rad was only 5 bucks as opposed to a new one for 500.00. You have to be carefull on location of course as this is very important. Installing water lines to the heater can be very expensive. It could be far cheaper than a nat gas heater and venting to the exterior. Baseboard cast iron heaters are also very expensive and you don't get near the btu's that the old fashioned stand up cast iron heaters throw out.

[bigbuck]

In floor radiant heating is a great idea. I've got a gas fireplace in my basement and when I fire that baby up, it turns my basement into a sauna.

[I'mHooked]

Was it a wall mount heater or one of the vented stand alone one akin to a smaller wood stove in appearance. I have heard pros and cones about some of the wall mounted ones. Also not sure about the ones they advertise currently that run off natural gas but don't require venting. Seems odd to me to run something that burns off a fuel yet requires no outside vent.

 

 

It would seem odd, however if you think about a gas kitchen stove, they don't get vented outside (directly). Sure you may have a hood vent fan above, but it's probably not used all the time and there's probably kitchens that may not ever have the fans at all.

[Hooked]

My dad recently picked up this: Comfort Furnace

Works like a champ. I think he ended up paying $400 for it.

Edited November 25, 2009 by Hooked

[Double What??]

I can throw another vote at the in-floor radiant heat concept... Lots of possibilities that most folks aren't really even aware of. Not sure where you're located but I can highly recommend these people. Talk to "Walter", he know's what he's talking about, will answer your questions, no obligation and no "Bull".

 

Cheers,

DW

[Gerritt]

I happen to have access to a couple of old rads... should you go that route...

[holdfast]

Jughead... I had a similar situation when I lived down town... 80+ year old house with Rad heat. Found out that installing an additional rad for the basement was not a feasible alternative as the system will in all likelyhood not supply the basement rad with enough pressure to actually provide a useable amount of heat.

I ended up buying a Napoleon gas heater for the basement. Great unit and it pounded out tons of heat. Comes with a remote that works on either a timer basis or a thermostat built into the remote.

I'd highly recommend that unit. Just be sure that you have easy access to an outside wall for proper ventilation.

HH

 

We did the same, heated the whole Basement and it looked sharp. Saved on our Heating costs as we had Base Boards.