The underground location of basements is naturally cold. Hence, if you stay in a basement apartment, it could get pretty chilly in the winter. During the summer, you may also notice that the basement would still feel cold even though it's hot outside, which is mainly due to the density of warm air versus cold air.
Why does my basement feel cold when it's hot outside?
During the summer, you may also notice that the basement would still feel cold even though it's hot outside, which is mainly due to the density of warm air versus cold air. Other reasons behind the cold temperature in your basement include:
Will a cold air Return Vent make my basement warmer?
Often people have their cold air return mounted at the ceiling or up close to the ceiling, and by doing this, you are not moving the cold air, only the warm air. This is how an adequately positioned cold air return vent will help make your basement warmer:
Is a basement cooler in the summer than outside air?
In the summer, the basement is often cooler than the outside air. In the winter, the basement is often warmer than the outside air. The theory holds that unheated, uncooled basements generally follow the area's annual temperature. Your level of comfort is a different matter, though.
What are the pros and cons of living in a basement?
The temperature in basement apartments can be both a pro and a con—heat rises, so they tend to stay cooler during warmer months, but that also means they can be too cold during winter, too. Wacksman said this can affect utility costs, so it’s something to consider.
Why are basement apartments so cold?
Basements tend to be damper than other places in your house. This is often caused by water seeping through the concrete foundation, rising from a dirt floor or simply because of poor ventilation. This higher level of moisture in the air will end up making you feel much colder than the ambient air temperature.
Are basement rooms colder?
Simply the fact that basements are located underground makes them inherently colder. Dirt is a very good insulator. As a result, the basement will stay cold even during the summer months.
Are basement apartments always cold?
A basement apartment stays cold even during summer due to the cold air density. Other contributing factors to the coldness include high moisture and poor insulation. However, there are many ways to keep your basement apartment warm if it gets cold and vice versa.
Is it healthy to live in a basement apartment?
Health problems Living in a basement apartment may cause several diseases, owing to molds and radon. Mold is a type of fungi that grows very easily in damp places. Radon, an odourless and colourless gas that causes lung cancer, is commonly found in basement apartments and is harmful to human health.
Do basements stay warm in winter?
A basement is naturally insulated by the earth that surrounds it—keeping it cool in summer and relatively warm in winter. But this natural insulation isn't enough to make basements truly comfortable from late fall through the start of summer, especially in northern climates.
How can I keep my basement apartment warm?
If the basement is still struggling to stay warm, try combining several heat sources. It can be difficult for your HVAC to regulate the naturally cooler temperature of the basement and the rest of the house. Try installing baseboard heaters or using space heaters along with your HVAC to make up the difference.
How do you survive a basement apartment?
Basement Living Tips Invest in an air purifier, dehumidifier, and other air cleaning tools for your home. Paint an accent wall or use bright colors in furnishings. Decorate using space-saving furniture. Purchase quality lighting, including lamps, recessed lighting, and bright yet efficient light bulbs.
Is it not good to live in basement?
Basements have features that expose the people living in them to certain risk factors, like mould, carbon monoxide, volatile organic compounds, and radon. Risk of flooding, sewer backup, etc.
How cold is unheated basement?
In central California, where I've done a lot of engineering work, it's around 55–60F. In southern Arizona, it's around 70F.
What is disadvantage of basement?
Damp and Moisture Concerns However, since basements generally have no windows and extremely limited access to the outdoors, sunlight cannot reach the interior areas, and you might face damp walls, especially if poor construction materials have been used.
Is it depressing to live in a basement?
“There is often less natural light in basement dwellings, which can lead to feeling depressed,” says Sinclair Kruth. “A lack of natural light can also lead to difficulty sleeping and disrupted sleep-wake cycles, which can lead to feeling fatigued but not able to rest properly.
Is it OK to have a bedroom in the basement?
In short, yes. You can use your basement as a bedroom, but you have to ensure that it complies with the proper building codes. Basement living spaces require an emergency exit and rescue openings, also known as an egress code.
Does having a basement make your house warmer?
Heating Your Unfinished Basement Can Save You Money Heating an unfinished basement can raise the comfort of your home. This is because (as you probably know) warm air rises; the upper levels of the home will draw up this air, creating a much more comfortable home.
Is it OK to have bedroom in basement?
In short, yes. You can use your basement as a bedroom, but you have to ensure that it complies with the proper building codes. Basement living spaces require an emergency exit and rescue openings, also known as an egress code.
Is it better to have a bedroom in the basement?
Does adding a bedroom in the basement add value? Absolutely. Buyers are all about usable space and are willing to spend a little extra to have more of it. According to Remodeling Magazine, a midrange basement refinish yields on average 70% ROI.
Does concrete floor make room colder?
It has the ability to absorb heat from direct sunlight, store the heat and release it slowly. The ability of concrete to absorb and store heat energy is called "thermal mass". In addition to the design advantages of concrete flooring, they are an inexpensive way of regulating the temperature inside a house.
Why is my basement cold?
The second reason cold basements are common in cold climates has to do with heating systems that are not quite complete. Your basement may even include warm air ducts opening up into the space and blowing heated air, yet your basement is still too cold.
What happens if you don't have cold air ducts?
If these cold air ducts don’t extend all the way to the floor of your basement in several locations, stagnant pools of cold air will develop in your basement with no way to get back to the furnace. ...
Why does warm air rise in basement?
To make matters worse, warm air rises because it’s less dense than cooler air. This is one reason warmth wants to leave your basement, not stay down there.
Can a furnace heat a basement?
Most furnaces have plenty of power to heat a basement and the upstairs combined, but only if proper cold air return ducts are present. Cold air return ducts are to your house what veins are to your body. While arteries carry oxygenated blood away from your heart and to your entire body (corresponding to warm air ducts), veins are different.
Can you extend cold air return ducts to basement floor?
Extending cold air return ducts to basement floor level is not difficult, but it’s a detail that often gets forgotten by contractors in a rush to complete a finished basement and cash a cheque. All houses with a forced air heating system have cold air return ducts at the ceiling level in the basement as they go to your furnace, and perhaps even extending partway down some walls. Just make sure they go all the way down to a floor that’s been covered in subfloor panels and you’ll actually want to spend time down there, even in winter. Need help choosing a finished floor for your basement? Visit baileylineroad.com/3-basement-flooring-options for a tour of my favourite basement-friendly choices.
Can a jigsaw cut ductwork?
The variable speed jigsaw that’s doing the work has been fitted with a fine-tooth metal-cutting blade. Don’t try this job with a regular jigsaw blade for wood.
Is concrete cold?
Concrete is cold and if you stand on it long enough you’ll feel cold. This is easy to understand, but puzzling to me because basement floors are still routinely finished with inadequate floor insulation. It never ceases to amaze me how often finished flooring is installed directly on concrete. Besides the mold hazard this leads to, it’s just plain ...
What Temperature Should Your Basement Be?
The expected unconditioned basement temperature varies according to your area and to the season.
What months make spring in basements so chilly?
Winter months make spring in your basement so chilly.
Why does my basement feel cold?
Moisture Makes It Feel Colder. Basements are inherently damp places, even if you don't have active sources of water. Cool temperatures plus humid air makes one feel cold. Humidity can create other problems, as well.
Why is the upstairs temperature higher?
As a result, the upstairs temperature is higher because: Heat pumping from the system rises and congregates upstairs. The added solar heat gain. So, throughout the day, your furnace is kept in check by that upstairs thermostat—to the detriment of the basement.
What is a motorized register?
Motorized registers, such as those from Activent or Vent-Miser, do the opening and closing for you. These battery-powered units are individually controlled by a thermostat in each room. When the heat rises in the room, the register shuts; when the room cools, the register opens.
How to determine the temperature of a basement?
One rule of thumb to help determine the basement temperature is to average out your area's temperature across the entire year. In the summer, the basement is often cooler than the outside air. In the winter, the basement is often warmer than the outside air.
How long has Lee been remodeling?
Lee has over two decades of hands-on experience remodeling, fixing, and improving homes, and has been providing home improvement advice for over 12 years.
How Can I Make My Basement Warmer?
A lot of people think if they only insulated their basement walls, and installed a sub-floor to come up off the concrete that this alone will help make their basement warmer. But there is more to it than just that.
Should I Dehumidify My Basement?
It is recommended that you have a dehumidifier going in your basement at all times. The reason for this is because basements tend to be a damp and cold environment, due to moisture coming up through the foundation, water sources, or from high humidity inside of your home.
What happens when the thermostat turns off?
When the thermostat turns off, the heat that is in the basement will slowly make it’s way up to the upper floors, while the cold air from the upper levels will make its way into the basement.
Why does my basement feel cold?
A lot of the times the reason your basement could feel cold is that it has a high level of humidity, and without the proper ventilation set up. Basements can be damp, and when you mix that with humid air, the combination of the two will make things feel cold. One other problem with this is that the humidity and cold will create condensation, ...
What is the best way to keep a basement warm?
Space Heater – A space heater is another excellent way to help keep your basement warm if you don’t want to extend your ductwork or if you are unable to extend the ductwork because your furnace is not rated for the additional square footage.
Why do you need HVAC vents in basement?
But before you do this, you will need to make sure that your furnace is capable of handling the extra square footage.
Why does it get colder when you walk down the basement?
The most straightforward way to explain this is that warm air rises, while cold air is denser and sinks to the ground. Cold air will tend to move to the lowest point of the room, or until it has nowhere else to go. Warm air in your home will move up to the highest point in the room.
Living In A Basement Flat
We’re pretty pleased with our new rental flat, you can even have a nosy gawp at our flat tour. We live in a basement flat or basement apartment if you’re feeling fancy (or American) with our own entrance and small outside space (enough room to grow a few veggies in pots and sneakily dry our washing/store our bikes).
6 Things to Know About Basement Flats
1. You will be woken at odd hours by your upstairs neighbour running the taps (loud cranking noises) at strange hours of the night. But you’ll soon get used to that.
What is a daylight basement apartment?
“This gives it more light and more fresh air, and, all in all, is an improvement over a classic basement apartment,” he says.
What is the difference between a basement and a garden apartment?
A basement has at least 50 percent of its height above street level, but a cellar has at least half its height underground, says Nadine Adamson, an associate broker at Brown Harris Stevens ...
How high should a basement be?
In New York City, where basement apartments are fairly common, legal guidelines require adequate exits and ceilings that are at least 7 feet high, for example.
Why is my basement so noisy?
Many basement units face the street or the building entrance, or are near a shared laundry room, and can be noisier because of foot traffic, says Lahav.
What does "garden level" mean?
It could mean there’s green space in front or in back of the building, which might be accessible to the apartment. Typically if you show up to look at a “garden-level apartment,” what you’ll find is an entrance at ground level, Jenis says.
What is an English basement?
In Manhattan, these types of basement units—which have larger windows and that are only partially below ground —are often referred to as “English basements,” says Emile L’Eplattenier, chief real estate analyst with TheClose.com .
Do basement apartments have backyards?
While the lower price point of basement apartments are often the main draw for renters, English basements or daylight basements often have backyard access that upper floor apartments don’t. “This can push up rent, and not insignificantly,” L’Eplattenier says.
Shivering in your lower-level rec room or home office? Warm up with these clever solutions
A finished basement adds significant square footage to a home, providing an additional living space that can be used as a TV room, home office, home gym, or children’s play area. The problem, however, is that basements tend to be chilly in winter, especially for those living in colder climates.
1. Space Heater
A powerful portable space heater is one of the easiest—and most economical—ways to quickly heat up a cold basement. Our favorite model, the GiveBest Portable Electric Space Heater, heats up to 200 square feet. While it won’t warm up the entire basement floor, it’s perfect for an enclosed room.
2. Electric Fireplace
Add both warmth and elegance to a basement with a sleek built-in electric fireplace, like this one from Antarctic Star. It can be recessed, semi-recessed, or wall-mounted, providing several installation options depending on your needs. It comes in six widths, ranging from 30 inches to 68 inches, to provide options for spaces of varying sizes.
3. Portable Baseboard Heater
Some basements come equipped with baseboard heaters, but if yours didn’t, it’s feasible to add one without undertaking a major renovation. This Fahrenheat portable baseboard heater simply plugs into a wall outlet and features nearly silent operation. For added safety, the unit will shut off automatically if its air intake is blocked.
4. Cozy Area Rug
If your basement floors always feel cold, a quick solution is to put down a high-pile area rug in the main living area. This plush rug from TWINNIS comes in a range of colors and four sizes, and its nonslip base makes the use of a rug pad optional. The fluffy microfiber material is soft enough to make it a great surface for a kids’ play area.
5. Thermal Camera
When the entire basement seems to constantly feel cold, it can be overwhelming to identify the actual source of your temperature issue. One way to get to the bottom of the problem is by investing in a thermal-imaging camera like the FLIR TG165-X, which can identify cold (or hot) spots in any space.
6. Warm Throw Blanket
If your basement doubles as a den or TV room, it’s prudent to equip your couch with cozy throw blankets to stay warm while binge-watching the latest Netflix series. This throw blanket from The Connecticut Home Company —which topped our best throw blankets guide —comes in five sizes and a rainbow of colors to suit any décor style.
