Did another thang this weekend

[f6john]

The great thing about basements are how cool they stay in the summer. Conversely they can be a little too cool in the winter. Even with the hvac vents provided in my basement it could not be considered comfortable in the coldest times of the winter. One room in the basement is 750 sqft with no finished ceiling so I added a 30,000 btu gas heater. I think it is going to work great.

[Jersey mike]

You made a good decision, I’ve had a 36,000btu in my basement (1,300sqft) for probably 20 years. Mines a free standing natural gas 36” burner. It was huge plus when Superstorm Sandy killed the power for 9 days, it kept the house fairly comfortable and luckily we didn’t have extremely cold weather.

My basement has unfinished walls, basically painted concrete block with 3 vents from the HVAC system but the thermostat is upstairs so the basement can get pretty cool in the winter, but I can get the temp up from 67-68 to 75 in about 15-20 minutes, having 1 or 2 12” oscillating fans helps push the air around.

For safety reasons I keep a CO detector down there since the furnace and water heater are down there as well.

Enjoy the warmth, it’s great.

[Jess from VA]

My small 3-level split home is a son of a B to equalize heat and cool in summers and winters.

In the hot summer I close all the basement ducts, and even with no AC it's still the coolest place in the house.  Upstairs (heat rises) is hot as heck.  Even with central air, I put the smallest window ac unit you can get in my (upstairs) bedroom window so I can get some sleep without sweating (instead of cranking the whole house down just to cool my bedroom).

Winter is the reverse.  All basement ducts are wide open and those upstairs are just cracked open a little.

I've spent years adjusting my house vents, which helps but is no solution.

I even change clothing (shorts/sweats, long and short sleeve Ts) depending on what part of the house I'm in.  

I got all new HVAC (furnace and AC) just two years ago, and that helps, some.

Good job on that gas heater John.  I have a couple of those small 6" electric heaters I can set right next to me, but I hate running them (and I think they're a fire hazard).

I grew up in an old home on a lakefront island in MI that had no heat upstairs where us 3 kid's bedrooms were.  If you closed your bedroom door in winter, you could see your breath in the morning.    

[scooperhsd]

The great thing about basements are how cool they stay in the summer. Conversely they can be a little too cool in the winter. Even with the hvac vents provided in my basement it could not be considered comfortable in the coldest times of the winter. One room in the basement is 750 sqft with no finished ceiling so I added a 30,000 btu gas heater. I think it is going to work great.

I've got one of them (free-standing style) in my basement, to help warm it up when necessary (or emergencies when the power is out and I can't get the generator started). 30K BTU is a whale of alot of heat in my basement - it can easily put it to 78 F down there.

[Kep]

Been in HVAC business 42 years of my life...ask any guy in the business and they'll tell you to run your fan in the "ON" position in order to constantly circulate air...helps to maintain a more even temperature throughout the house and is actually easier on the motor as the most electrical load on the motor is on start up , once it is running  load drops and the internal fan cool s the motor windings....

[Jess from VA]

Been in HVAC business 42 years of my life...ask any guy in the business and they'll tell you to run your fan in the "ON" position in order to constantly circulate air...helps to maintain a more even temperature throughout the house and is actually easier on the motor as the most electrical load on the motor is on start up , once it is running  load drops and the internal fan cool s the motor windings....

Kep, I've done that during power outages in summer heat, where my generator will run the 110 fan, but not the 220 AC.  That and keeping all windows blocked of sunlight made it almost livable upstairs when power was off for long periods.

My neighborhood has multiples of identical houses, and every one of the split level owners has the same big problem with equalizing heat and cool.

Running the fan on constant at least during extremes of heat and cold is an idea I haven't considered.  And maybe only daytime when I'm up, not nights sleeping.  I always turn down heat and AC at bedtime (with my small upstairs bedroom 110AC window unit set low with door closed in summer heat, which is a blessing).

Are you saying this won't prematurely age/damage the furnace blower motor, and won't skyrocket my electric bill?

And I guess the thermostat will still cycle heat and cool the same even with the blower on constant??

Thanks for any advice.    

[h13man]

I installed one of these 30,000 ceramic plaque variety in a well insulated 1500 sq. ft. detached garage. Works great for quick warm up within an hour or less.
The downside the propane fuel variant has moisture from the propane tank thus I had wooden vinyl clad Pella windows installed per new construction and 10 yrs later the 2 south windows I had to replace and the north one 3 yrs. later. Replaced them with complete vinyl as the Pellas rotted out. Never seen older all wood frame rot out unless they're really old but the vinyl clad had exposed wood to breathe so I attribute part of this to the unvented propane heater. At the present I'm considering a overhead 5500/7500 btu 220V heater. Not saying this would be a situation in your application but something to consider.

[f6john]

I’ll be watching for excessive moisture and I have the French doors on one side and a window on the other side of the heater so it should be easy to detect. The door is fiberglass and the window is all vinyl so I’m not concerned with rot. In my previous home with a fireplace insert in the basement, I ran a dehumidifier most of the time.

[Jersey mike]

I installed one of these in a well insulated 1500 sq. ft. detached garage. works great for quick warm up within an hour or less.
The downside the propane fuel variant has moisture in it thus I had wooden vinyl clad Pella windows installed per new construction and 10 yrs later the 2 south windows I had to replace and the north one 3 yrs. later. Replaced them with complete vinyl as the Pellas rotted out. I attribute this mostly to the unvented propane heater. At the present I'm considering a overhead 5500/7500 btu 220V heater.

I wouldn’t attribute moisture content in propane to the demise of your windows.

If the moisture content was high enough to rot the wood sash, you’d have other moisture related issues innthe garage like dew (moisture buildup) on your tools, paper towels would feel damp snd other things like that, it would not just effect the windows.

Vinyl clad exterior with wooden interior sash are ok windows, typically entry level, just basic windows that may come pre-primed for paint, but typically need paint asap after installation as the prime coat is not very good. If they were not primed and suited for stain and a varnish then that would need to be done asap as well.

I dealt with many different window manufacturers over the years and I can recall the style you’re talking about, you weren’t the only one with issues, Pella windows aren’t as great as some believe. That vinyl exterior and wood interior was a design choice that didn’t work too well. Wood is a great insulator however I don’t believe the wood under the vinyl was ever primed or painted to protect against moisture buildup on the vinyl backside against the wood.

[h13man]

I'm pretty much in agreement with you Jersey as the single hung Pellas were a $100 each but budget friendly at the time. Definitely the all vinyl sliders are working out quite well holding up to the southern exposure. Both windows have reversible black/white painted 1/8" aluminum passive solar panels thus a 3 degree avg. gain in the winter w/o heat assist.

[Kep]

Been in HVAC business 42 years of my life...ask any guy in the business and they'll tell you to run your fan in the "ON" position in order to constantly circulate air...helps to maintain a more even temperature throughout the house and is actually easier on the motor as the most electrical load on the motor is on start up , once it is running  load drops and the internal fan cool s the motor windings....

Kep, I've done that during power outages in summer heat, where my generator will run the 110 fan, but not the 220 AC.  That and keeping all windows blocked of sunlight made it almost livable upstairs when power was off for long periods.

My neighborhood has multiples of identical houses, and every one of the split level owners has the same big problem with equalizing heat and cool.

Running the fan on constant at least during extremes of heat and cold is an idea I haven't considered.  And maybe only daytime when I'm up, not nights sleeping.  I always turn down heat and AC at bedtime (with my small upstairs bedroom 110AC window unit set low with door closed in summer heat, which is a blessing).

Are you saying this won't prematurely age/damage the furnace blower motor, and won't skyrocket my electric bill?

And I guess the thermostat will still cycle heat and cool the same even with the blower on constant??

Thanks for any advice.    

Bought  my home 16 years ago and have run the fan continuously ever since, blower motor is still running strong.Previous house we owned , I did the same for 13 years.

[Jess from VA]

Bought  my home 16 years ago and have run the fan continuously ever since, blower motor is still running strong.Previous house we owned , I did the same for 13 years.

Thanks for coming back to my questions Kep.

I walked the 4 doors down to the supervisor who installed my all new HVAC just a few years ago (now retired and a friend/neighbor), and asked him about it.  He told me more detail about how it worked and said the blower motor was built to take it and that power use was not expensive.  

I had been reading on line and there was talk about multi speed blowers (higher power draws), and my friend told me my blower was an electronic variable speed (ECU) that would speed up when needed (like if I let my filter get dirty/clogged), and ran harder for AC than heat.

I think I need to try it for heat more than AC anyway.  It happens to be 28 degrees outside right now and the furnace is working.  

EDIT:

Well Kep, I've been running the fan on constant for several days now, and it is making a small but noticeable improvement.  I've been able to knock the thermostat down a few degrees without getting cold in my house cold spots.  Of course I'm hearing it run walking around the place and wondering what the (small) noise it, but then remember.... oh yeah (no sweat).   

Thanks again for the good advice.