Adding heat to basement

We are looking to finally add heat to our basement, for real this time "> It's a pretty big space that functions as our playroom and family room, and space heaters aren't really cutting it. But more importantly, a pipe froze and burst this winter so we really need the space heated long-term.

We have natural gas heat on a hot water system, so I think the most likely solution is adding a loop. We've had one consultation but ideally I'd like a few estimates. Has anyone done this? Who would you recommend I call?

Thanks!

Maybe go with Radiant Floor heating instead. Heat eminates from the floor where the kiddos are. Our daughter has it in her whole house via a hot water piping system, we have it in our family room via an electric system.

soorlady said:
Maybe go with Radiant Floor heating instead. Heat eminates from the floor where the kiddos are. Our daughter has it in her whole house via a hot water piping system, we have it in our family room via an electric system.

We have carpet :-(

Does anyone know the relative cost efficiency of running a loop off the boiler in the basement vs. running an electrical unit like a Fujitsu?

We have considered central air but are not quite ready to take the plunge. However, the unit they recommended for the basement also has heating and dehumidifying functions, so it would be sort of an all-in-one.

If adding this unit to the basement will also take care of heating and dehumidifying it could be worth considering, and it's similar to the cost of installing the loop and baseboards.

But, is it more expensive to run the Fujitsu continuously or to run the loop with thermostat?

I was talking to a local oil company guy in CT this morning, and he said the mini-split ductless a/c systems are really good for not just a/c, but also heat and dehumidification. We are looking into that for our house, including the basement, despite the fact that we already have electric baseboard heat in the basement already. The humidity down there is so high we have been getting mildew, so we need a solution that covers a broader range. On top of all the other benefits, he said that if you use the mini-splits to heat individual spaces in winter, it saves a significant amount of money on oil for heat.

Or what about electric baseboards, in terms of efficiency? They're less expensive to install but I don't want my electric bill to skyrocket either...

Basements are pretty well insulated by the earth outside, so I have a feeling the electricity used to heat that space would be significantly less than what it would take to heat a room above-ground. The "thermostats" for our basement heaters are more in the nature of "on-off" switches (in this case dials with no writing to indicate what they do) on the wall, so I want to have those replaced with the real thing. And I would leave it set for 50 degrees, which we could turn up if we were down there any length of time. I strongly suspect the cost will be pretty low.

Just be aware that once you have heat in the basement it is considered "finished" and your tax rate will be adjusted to reflect that. Since you use the space a lot it is probably worth the increased tax bill, I just wanted to make sure you knew that and factored it into your decision.

spontaneous said:
Just be aware that once you have heat in the basement it is considered "finished" and your tax rate will be adjusted to reflect that. Since you use the space a lot it is probably worth the increased tax bill, I just wanted to make sure you knew that and factored it into your decision.

Thanks! It actually is already finished. It just wasn't finished with heat...

If you have a hot water system, did you check your basement pipes? If they're insulated, maybe you could just take off the insulation.

This may sound dumb but I assume your furnace is down there? Is it in its own room? Our basement is unfinished and it's the toastiest room in the house in the winter bc of the furnace down there (and natural insulation from being partly underground). We even considered venting a bit from the basement to an un insulated closet in our entryway which is basically an ice box in the winter. If your furnace is enclosed in your finished basement, can you....Unenclose it somehow to let that heat do some work for you? Then an electric baseboard heater might be enough to just have on occasionally

Adding electric baseboards is,pretty easy - did it I last house which had family room/guest room and home office in the basement.

I'd say it added $75-$100 month in electric costs, those rooms were used heavily. In retrospect I probably would have extended the ductwork (house had forced air heAt

FC_ said:
If you have a hot water system, did you check your basement pipes? If they're insulated, maybe you could just take off the insulation.

The pipes are all boxed in, so we don't have that option, unfortunately.

@afa for some reason we don't get residual heat from the boiler at all. It's in a little room but there are doorways, one of which we have open with just a curtain. But that's right behind our couch and nada.

It was my understanding that a space isn't considered finished for property tax purposes until it has heat. I may have misheard though, and I'm sure this varies town to town

peteglider said:
Adding electric baseboards is,pretty easy - did it I last house which had family room/guest room and home office in the basement.
I'd say it added $75-$100 month in electric costs, those rooms were used heavily. In retrospect I probably would have extended the ductwork (house had forced air heAt

I agree that electric is the easiest and least expensive to install, but as you've seen it will add a lot to the bill. I would only put electric heat in in a space where it won't be used much, or as a last resort if other options aren't available.

spontaneous said:
It was my understanding that a space isn't considered finished for property tax purposes until it has heat. I may have misheard though, and I'm sure this varies town to town

Hmm, that's very interesting. I wonder if ours if factored in for tax purposes or not. How would I confirm this? Call the town?

I was reminded that if we added any major electric, we will really need to upgrade our electrical panel. We learned this when we were getting our central air estimates. That makes the cost of adding either baseboards or central air way more than I'm interested in spending right now - so, boiler loop it is!