Air-con in walk-out basement? (Menomonee Falls: house, floors, basements)

[Cat001]

We are building and we have a walkout basement. We are going to finish the basement and use as guest room and study room, but not sure if air-conditioner is necessary for basement. The house is in Menomonee Falls.

[43north87west]

Originally Posted by Cat001

We are building and we have a walkout basement. We are going to finish the basement and use as guest room and study room, but not sure if air-conditioner is necessary for basement. The house is in Menomonee Falls.

I would air condition the basement space. If you are using the room or rooms in the basement frequently, you should keep the space air conditioned. The problem with basements that aren't climate controlled, is humidity, which promotes mildew and can attract insects. Even though it might be cool, basements can be clammy, which is not comfortable.

You could use dehumidifiers, but those have the negative effect of heating the air that they are dehumidifying, which is undesirable in summer, although it's OK in the winter. So A/C is definitely the preferable choice.

[Cat001]

Originally Posted by 43north87west

I would air condition the basement space. If you are using the room or rooms in the basement frequently, you should keep the space air conditioned. The problem with basements that aren't climate controlled, is humidity, which promotes mildew and can attract insects. Even though it might be cool, basements can be clammy, which is not comfortable.

You could use dehumidifiers, but those have the negative effect of heating the air that they are dehumidifying, which is undesirable in summer, although it's OK in the winter. So A/C is definitely the preferable choice.

Thanks a lot!

[Chicago60614]

I would agree, if you're going to A/C the upstairs, you should pipe a little to the basement as well.

We've always had AC in the basement, and just closed off most of the vents because it was already cooler down there. As the previous person said, the big plus of having AC downstairs is HUMIDITY.

If you have half your basement exposed as well, it's just going to warm up down there and heat the house from below. Then you'll have a fight on 5 sides of a house as far as cooling.

[caieva]

I'm not sure I agree because I have a three story, and the AC has a really tough time getting all the way up to cool the bedrooms, and even though I close the vents in the walkout basement bedroom it is always really cold there. So I think you have to take into consideration the rest of the house as well. Also, even though we have the AC going to the walkout level, we absolutely need the dehumidifier. THere is never any issue of the basement rooms getting too warm as they are cooled by the hill they are built into.
So, if you go for the ac in the basement rooms, make sure you have a real ability to turn it off in those rooms, or make sure you have a pretty powerful unit to get it up two floors!