These cold winter months find us spending more time indoors. A lot of us have basements to retreat to and spend our time.However, sometimes the basement can be significantly colder than the upper levels of the house. To help keep your time in the basement comfortable and more enjoyable, here are four tips to help you keep your basement warm!nn1. Add InsulationnnIf your basement has bare concrete walls or poor insulation, a lot of heat is escaping. Most home basements are concrete. Concrete is very porous and a terrible insulator.Consult a professional to determine what kind of insulation you need or if you should improve your current basement insulation. This will help you keep the warmth INSIDE your basement walls.
2. Upgrade your basement windows or doorsn If you have old windows or ones that aren’t Energy Star certified in your basement, you’re losing a lot of heat through them.Energy Star certified windows and doors help keep the cold air out and the warm air in. Likewise, they have the same benefits during the summer- keeping warm air out and the cold air in.Installing better windows and doors in walkout basements will help you keep warm in the winter.
3. Add carpeting
Some basements are dry but maybe haven’t had flooring or carpeting added. Adding a nice padding and carpet can help insulate the floors of your basement so that heat doesn’t escape into the ground below.Consider having a nice pad installed as added insulation and nice, fluffy carpeting.n
4. Add additional heating You can always add heating options to your basement. There are a lot of ways you can do this, whether with space heaters, new system installation, or a ductless system. Space heaters are the least expensive up front, but may cost more in energy use and on your utility bill. Also be mindful of whether or not your basement is prone to flooding before using any electrical devices there.n
You can also add registers or ductwork to your basement. It’s adviseable to contact an HVAC company to give you an estimate on this scope of work. However it will be done professionally and up to code – an important feature if you want to eventually include this space as finished square footage in the future.
5. Sealing air leaksnAddressing air leaks around your rim joists is probably one of the biggest ways to conserve energy and heat in your basement. The rim joists are where the foundation and joists meet.Another source of air leaks are wiring and plumbing outlets on outer walls. Oftentimes air leaks into your basement through these spaces.If the crack is less than 1/4 inch, you can easily use caulking to seal these leaks. However if they are larger, you may want to use spray insulation – or even consult a contractor to help you if this is beyond your skill level. For gaps larger than 3 inches, you may want to patch with additional pieces of insulation as well.Consult us at Outstanding Heating and Cooling and we will be happy to help you balance your options and see which is the best fit for you! 937-439-4696
Post added to and updated 12/2019
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