Basement temperature

[titleist]

I have a finished basement with no insulation. I gotten various opinions claiming none is needed since it must have been insulated from the outside. I'm not sure what to think of this and I'm wondering what the temperature will be like this winter. I hope I won't have to crank the heat constantly down there.

Right now it's a steady 70 degrees in the basement with all the AC vents closed.The upstairs reads around 75. Anyone currently living in a similar environment? If so, what temperature does your basement get (in Ames) around the winter time?

thanks

 

[ripvdub]

Its really hard to say. Is it completely under ground, walkout, daylight? Just finished my basement, heavily insulated the walls and ceiling for sound, but not the floors, so Prob wont be all that different imo. Will just have up open up the vents to get some heat down there.

 

[CYme]

My basement is finished minus paint and carpet (slowly but surely) and it is always around 3-5 lower than main level. I have a 2 story, and it gets warmer as you go up, 2nd story is 3-5 warmer than the main level. Hope it helps. I also have all vents closed in my basement. I am sure if I opened them in the winter, it would help, but honestly, I like it cool.

Edit:

Oh yeah, walls are insulated w/fiberglass batting, ceiling is not.

 

[NATEizKING]

Insulation only improves.

 

[besserheimerphat]

Ours is completely underground. It's "chilly" year round - probably about 70° and less humid right now with no vents open and the main level set at 78. I'd guess the temperature difference is the same in the winter when we keep the house at 68 and all vents open.

 

[titleist]

Its really hard to say. Is it completely under ground, walkout, daylight? Just finished my basement, heavily insulated the walls and ceiling for sound, but not the floors, so Prob wont be all that different imo. Will just have up open up the vents to get some heat down there.

Completely underground with poured concrete walls. The ceiling is insulated for sound.

I know a majority of your heat loss comes from the above ground level of your house but I'm just wondering if I'll be losing a lot of heat down there if the insulation isn't adequate. One contractor told me (without looking at my basement) to expect a 10 degree difference come this winter.

 

[Scott34]

I have a finished basement with no insulation. I gotten various opinions claiming none is needed since it must have been insulated from the outside. I'm not sure what to think of this and I'm wondering what the temperature will be like this winter. I hope I won't have to crank the heat constantly down there.

Right now it's a steady 70 degrees in the basement with all the AC vents closed.The upstairs reads around 75. Anyone currently living in a similar environment? If so, what temperature does your basement get (in Ames) around the winter time?

thanks

It really just depends on how much time you are going to spend in the basement in the winter. Your finished areas should atleast have insulated walls on the exterior walls. Your foundation walls are going to cool that down more than you think. My brother in law and sister have a basment that they have carpet in, and a living room set up but the walls aren't framed in yet. That basement gets pretty cold in the winter. They are planning on framing in the basement this fall and will insulate all exterior walls. You will probably check into getting it done, you won't like your heat bill if you are down there a lot.

 

[erikbj]

I have a finished basement with no insulation. I gotten various opinions claiming none is needed since it must have been insulated from the outside. I'm not sure what to think of this and I'm wondering what the temperature will be like this winter. I hope I won't have to crank the heat constantly down there.

Right now it's a steady 70 degrees in the basement with all the AC vents closed.The upstairs reads around 75. Anyone currently living in a similar environment? If so, what temperature does your basement get (in Ames) around the winter time?

thanks

enjoy the cool during the summer and buy some blankets or a nice ISU sweat suit for the winter.

 

[leroycyclone]

I have a finished basement with no insulation. I gotten various opinions claiming none is needed since it must have been insulated from the outside. I'm not sure what to think of this and I'm wondering what the temperature will be like this winter. I hope I won't have to crank the heat constantly down there.

Right now it's a steady 70 degrees in the basement with all the AC vents closed.The upstairs reads around 75. Anyone currently living in a similar environment? If so, what temperature does your basement get (in Ames) around the winter time?

thanks

You will get residual heating in the basement from the furnace.

Do you run a dehumidifier in the basement during the summer?

 

[titleist]

You will get residual heating in the basement from the furnace.

Do you run a dehumidifier in the basement during the summer?

I do run a dehumidifier. The reason I ask about temps now is because we are going to be doing some remodeling down there soon for the bathroom. Just wondering if there is something quick and easy to do now before the fall temps approach and before we move some furniture in.

I've read a little about cutting a strip of drywall at the top and blowing in some type of material down the wells. No idea how messy or complicated this process really is..

 

[MNCYWX]

I do run a dehumidifier. The reason I ask about temps now is because we are going to be doing some remodeling down there soon for the bathroom. Just wondering if there is something quick and easy to do now before the fall temps approach and before we move some furniture in.

I've read a little about cutting a strip of drywall at the top and blowing in some type of material down the wells. No idea how messy or complicated this process really is..

I just used foam board insulation. Was the easiest method for me since I was doing non-conventional framing. Just cut, put in-between the studs, drywall.

Basement is the go to place in the summer during the heat (like all of last week). Haven't gone through a winter with it yet but I imagine I'll need a few blankets.

 

[oldman]

If the basement is completely underground, the ground below frostline stays at about 55 F, if I remember correctly. The air gap between your concrete and drywall will provide some insulation from the cold transfer in the winter. The problem with blowing insulation into the outside walls is that, unless you put vapor barrier behind your gyp board, moisture will migrate through the gyp board and possibly reach a condensation point in your insulation. This can cause problems, and at the very least, will reduce the efficiency of the insulation. I'd say leave it the way it is.

 

[Cybirdy]

I can't remember how ours was constructed (less than 5 yrs old). Most of the basement if finished with a large unfinished area that is storage and a playroom. It isn't any cooler in the unfinished area than in the living area. If we are going to be down there watching tv we just throw on slippers and use blankets. Sometimes my husband will turn on a small space heater we have, but of course that is pretty inefficient in the large living area. We keep our thermostat settings pretty conservatively--I think nights in the winter we go down to 63-65. If we are having guests stay down there, we will set it warmer but both sets of parents claim they like to sleep cool.

Our master bath is a whole other issue. It has two exterior walls on the NW corner of the house. We have an empty farm field behind us in the winter and no trees in the yards out back (until now, just did some landscaping). In the winter it will be a good 8-10 degrees cooler in there. Not fun for those middle-of-the-night bathroom trips for a woman--that will wake you up. We bought the house as a spec house and the tile was going in the day we offered. If we could change anything, it would be to put in heated tiles in there.

 

[ISU_phoria]

I do run a dehumidifier. The reason I ask about temps now is because we are going to be doing some remodeling down there soon for the bathroom. Just wondering if there is something quick and easy to do now before the fall temps approach and before we move some furniture in.

I've read a little about cutting a strip of drywall at the top and blowing in some type of material down the wells. No idea how messy or complicated this process really is..

I'd definitely test it out for the winter before doing anything - see how it feels and then decide if you want to make any changes. The new building code coming out is going to limit the amount of insulation to R10 in basements (which is a very small amount). The reasoning is that no matter how well done the waterproofing is done on a foundation wall, it will eventually leak somewhere and with too much insulation and a compromised vapor barrier, you will likely trap moisture and end up with a mold problem.

An over-insulated basement is actually a bad thing.

 

[SuperTrooper]

Basement? It puts the lotion in the basket. It does as it is told. :shocked:

 

[Senolcyc]

This guy's basement is already finished. How you insulated before the drywall went up doesn't help him.

To the O.P. --- leave it as is and experience a winter so you know what is what, and then make your decisions. Until you know, you don't know. Previous owners apparently got by with it as is; maybe not so bad.

 

[titleist]

This guy's basement is already finished. How you insulated before the drywall went up doesn't help him.

To the O.P. --- leave it as is and experience a winter so you know what is what, and then make your decisions. Until you know, you don't know. Previous owners apparently got by with it as is; maybe not so bad.

Yeah, sounds like it would be wise to just leave it and experience a winter with the way it is. The previous owners only used the big area as a rec room and the smaller room as a craft/storage room . I plan to have a couch and big screen TV down there and turn the smaller room into an office. So I do see myself being down there quite a bit. I'll see how it goes.

 

[Scott34]

This guy's basement is already finished. How you insulated before the drywall went up doesn't help him.To the O.P. --- leave it as is and experience a winter so you know what is what, and then make your decisions. Until you know, you don't know. Previous owners apparently got by with it as is; maybe not so bad.

Yeah, sounds like it would be wise to just leave it and experience a winter with the way it is. The previous owners only used the big area as a rec room and the smaller room as a craft/storage room . I plan to have a couch and big screen TV down there and turn the smaller room into an office. So I do see myself being down there quite a bit. I'll see how it goes.

Thats prolly the best idea. The drywall may be just enough to keep it comfortable when your down there. You could always just get a decent space heater and use that when down there.

 

[Althetuna]

5 years ago I built a room in my basement. I put an electric resistacne heater in. It really doesn't run much.(Room is insulated)

Also does the return air for the HVAC system run through the basement. I update the HVAC in my house and eliminated the return air grill in the basement. It made a significant difference the in rest of the basement (colder). The room with the heater is fine.