Adding vents to a basement heating/cooling system?
 

We are refinishing the basement, which is a full basement. About 2/3rds of it is going to be our theater room, but there are only 2 vents for the whole place. As such, it gets a little cold during the winter (read: a LOT cold). Would it be possible to just run some more vents to increase airflow downstairs, or would that **** up the whole house due to a more dispersed airflow?

Thanks in advance.

I do all my venting on here.

Hmm, no wonder there's so much hot air.

Just take your computer down to the basement, open up Chiefsplanet, and it should be all good.

Sure you can add vents. Insulating the outside walls will make a big difference too.

Depends. Homes are sized for cooling, not heating. Takes more to move cold air than hot. I'd just add a couple of space heaters.

Seriously, though, I hope someone here can provide you with the answer you need.

I am as far from handy as an elephant with a sledge hammer in hs trunk.

I'd recommend calling a few HVAC companies for advice and bids. Costco, at least in SoCal, has affordable options that feature their personal guarantee. Call their toll free number to see if they offer service in your area.

I'm sure that it's possible but you may need to add a new furnace. Good luck!

if the furnace is downstairs you could run vents did but usually the hot air is coming out of the top of the furnace. you would have to do a 180 on the vents and get them down to the floor to have much impact. I would recommend doing baseboard electric heat instead. it will also be quieter in the theater that way.

That's not how you run ducts.

Hence my recommendation.

There's nothing wrong with vents being on the ceiling if you are heating a basement with a basement unit. You just need to be sure you have the proper size ducts to add a few extra vents and you'll need a return somewhere. You'll also have to consider the effect it will have on the cooling, since that is how homes are sized.

I'd call around to HVAC companies and get someone out who's familiar with sizing and have him look at what you've got and if you can add a couple then add them. If you can't, without getting a new unit, then just add some space heaters.

Look into some of the new radiant heat options. They are much simpler than in the past and much less expensive.

I really lament not putting in-floor heating into my kitchen when we redid it. It wasn't that expensive and our kitchen only has one vent, so it's cooler than I'd like in the winter, particularly the tile floor.

I'm not an HVAC expert (wait - this is the Internet, I can be whoever I want to be!), but it seems like ceiling heat vents are going to be very inefficient.

How exactly are they going to be less efficient than floor vents? If you don't have a crawl space to feed the duct under the house then you put them in the ceiling. They both have their seasons of efficiency.

I think ceiling vents are better for cooling and floor vents are better for heating. As a compromise they tend to be placed in the floor. But the fact that heat rises means that you have to really pump a room with hot air if you want it to reach the height levels where people are hanging out. (People other than NBA players, of course.)

If heat rises do you think the heat from a floor vent is evenly distributing itself on the floor before rising to the ceiling? You are going to have to pump a basement full of heat no matter where the vents are.

You'll have to make sure your unit is being enough to add additional ducts. If it is, you are good. My house is 1700 sq feet with a 3 ton unit. I would like to add one vent in my den, but i would have to go up a size to do that. Thankfully, its the family business so everything is at cost for me.

How many sq feet is your home, including your basement? What is your current unit size?

I was told that they basically say 1 ton is about equal to 500 sq feet coverage
Posted via Mobile Device

I think it depends on the space, the unit, the manufacturer, ceiling height, etc. Cubic feet should also be taken into consideration.

I'm having a ductless Mini-Split installed this week in a 300 square foot room and chose a 12,000 BTU AC/Heat Pump. The heating most likely won't be necessary (as the reason for the unit is to cool the room, regardless of the exterior climate) but a 9,000 BTU unit would have needed to work harder than the 12,000.

Also, this particular unit is 12,000 BTU cooling but 15,000 BTU heating. It's an LG and has a SEER rating of 20, so it should be very efficient, energy-wise.

Good. I was worried you'd freeze your ass off out there in socal:D

A typical house has eight foot ceilings, windows do make a difference though.

It's just a quick way to calculate tonnage for a typical situation, iirc
Posted via Mobile Device

I think you guys have to take dehumidifiers into the equation as well, whereas out here, it's not nearly as important.

FTR, the room I'm going to cool has nine foot ceilings and a 4'x6' brand new dual pane, Low E, window. But it has to be cooled separately from the rest of the house due to the use of the room.

new meth lab going in huh? Lol
We are just getting to the end point on a thousand foot add on, two stories, turned an existing bedroom into a large bathroom and added another. Had to add another system. Been fun
Posted via Mobile Device

The area we want to heat is about 800 sq ft. It already has two cents but I want to add two more.

Whole house is about 2500.

Well we stained the concrete instead of putting in tile or carpet so I don't think that will work, unfortunately.

Bare concrete? Good luck ever keeping that room warm.

If your ceiling is high enough, put in a hardwood floor and put in-floor heating below it. It will turn your basement into the coziest man cave ever.

(Rules question: am I allowed to use the word 'cozy' to describe a man cave?)

Yes, but if you were talking about your "manscape," 'cozy' would be off limits.