A part of our basement is now finished. One new duct line was run off of a secondary line, with two outlets in the ceiling. It’s definitely not enough heat for the space, especially with french doors and porcelain tile.
I can try to add an additional duct run off of another line, but should probably first find out if the furnace was sized for a finished basement. A second heat source might be required.
Assuming my current furnance has the capacity, should there be a cold air return from the finished part of the basement? Wasn’t sure if that was required/needed/typical.
Pm me a rough idea of the dimensions of your house (length, width, ceiling height, number of floors, rooms that are finished and want heated) and I can give you an idea of the size furnace that you should have.
Running an additional duct of an existing line is typically a bad idea. It just reduces the amount of air total to the house. If you are going to run a line, it needs to come off the main trunk line.
Basements are difficult to heat simply because the hot air wants to travel up. Give me a general idea of what you are looking to do and I will be able to help, and at very worst, I can always stop out and look at it some evening when I’m working out your way and give you an exact idea of what would be needed to help in the heating department downstairs.
Also, turning up the blower speed won’t help. It’ll move more air, but won’t produce adequate heat if the furnace is undersized and also wont help if the system is not plumbed properly.
I was in a house about a month ago that has that, a place out in Sewickley. I had never seen it before up close. It is absolutely fantastic. The most even heat throughout the entire house. My only fear is if something would break it would cost a fortune to fix.
Baseboard electric would help, but it is really expensive as far as your electricity bill goes. If he has existing duct there and the furnace has some spare capacity, it would be far more efficient and just as comfortable to just add a duct (something he could do himself most likely)
They actually cause the house to lose heat if run in combination with a furnace. If they are your only choice its not too bad, but the venting of those systems can screw up newer style furnaces.
I’m going to get the dimensions to check the capacity.
The under floor heating looked really nice but was pretty expensive, and I had the same thought about having to pull up tile to do repairs.
If I have to do an additional heat source it will probably be a gas fireplace. Minimal effort if it’s a vented unit, and it gives me a separate thermostatically controlled source. We’ll see what the calcs show for the furnace.
If you are real close as far as square footage goes, I’m able to do a heat loss/heat gain calc to see exactly where you are. Typically, if the furnace is over 10 years old, it was most likely oversized by the previous heating contractor. Not an efficient way to install, but a very common problem seen throughout the country that may actually help in your situation.
I might try calling the contractor and ask if they typically size it to include the basement. There were originally three drops in the basement (one in the finished area), so you would hope they at least accounted for that.
Usually it is not accounted for in A/C quotes, and typically counted as a “half floor” in terms of the numbers for a furnace quote. But that’s just the way we typically do it, I can’t say that for everyone.
