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I have an unfinished basement that I do not have the means to finish. I live in the northeast so we've got cold winters here. My goal, and I hope it's possible is to heat the basement for times when the kids want to go down there to play. And when I'm tired of hearing them play upstairs. :-) I have area rugs, tables and chairs for them to use - it's just heating it. I was thinking space heaters. Is this feasible? Any recommendations/suggestions? I know one feature that I want is one with a timer so it shuts off automatically in case they forget to do so themselves.
Is this this even a reasonable idea or is it wishful thinking? As for size, I'm not exactly sure. My house is two stories and about 1800 sqft so maybe 800-900 sqft - would that make sense?
My recommendation would be fan forced electric heat since its a good immediate heat source as opposed to a convection heat source but not sure about an automatic kid sensor to activate the heater/heaters, perhaps you need to design one!
As long as you have sufficient electrical capacity to run a heater, there's no reason that you can't just plug in a heater or 2. If there's no insulation it may take a while to raise the temperature much.
Could use simple electro-mechanical timer switch to turn off after X minutes/hours
Quote:
Originally Posted by orbaya
I was thinking space heaters. Is this feasible? Any recommendations/suggestions? I know one feature that I want is one with a timer so it shuts off automatically in case they forget to do so themselves.
Is this this even a reasonable idea or is it wishful thinking? As for size, I'm not exactly sure. My house is two stories and about 1800 sqft so maybe 800-900 sqft - would that make sense?
Resistive electric space heaters are all equally efficient, and depending on your electric rates, may be relatively expensive to operate. As for the automatic shutoff, could install new outlets controlled by those simple mechanical twist timers, like the ones you used to see on the heat lamps in a motel bathroom.
Quote:
Originally Posted by orbaya
I have propane.
Propane heat is usually a fraction of the price of resistive electric, so as mentioned, it could make more sense to have the existing forced hot air furnace provide heat to the basement, especially if it is already located in the space and you'd just need somebody to cut in a couple of registers on the supply ducts.
There are motorized dampers which could be setup to close the damper remotely (e.g. when the lights are off the damper is closed), but these run +$75 each.
I have an unfinished basement that I do not have the means to finish. I live in the northeast so we've got cold winters here. My goal, and I hope it's possible is to heat the basement for times when the kids want to go down there to play. And when I'm tired of hearing them play upstairs. :-) I have area rugs, tables and chairs for them to use - it's just heating it. I was thinking space heaters. Is this feasible? Any recommendations/suggestions? I know one feature that I want is one with a timer so it shuts off automatically in case they forget to do so themselves.
Is this this even a reasonable idea or is it wishful thinking? As for size, I'm not exactly sure. My house is two stories and about 1800 sqft so maybe 800-900 sqft - would that make sense?
Thanks!
Furnace in the basement? Ductwork for first floor running through the ceiling area of basement?
Have a HVAC contractor tap into the existing ductwork and add a couple of vents- one at each end of the basement. You can open and close manually as needed; or if you’re really want that lazy man option have him install dampers at the two vents. They could be wired to operate with a wall switch (like the lights).
The ideal heater would be a small Toyotomi gas heater. But that's me
However, the Toyo oil-fired heaters are quite popular in Alaska, since they are the most efficient and economical to run.
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Could use simple electro-mechanical timer switch to turn off after X minutes/hours
