# Basement Heat



## OilNoMore (Sep 5, 2015)

I am looking to finish about half of my basement.  Our home is a ranch, built into a hillside, using blocks for the foundation.  One side of the basement is garage, the other half is unfinished space that in the next year will become 500 sq/ft of finished space.  My challenge is to heat it.  

Initially I looked a installing a boiler and using hydronic heat, but that is too expensive.  I'm considering a Monitor, Rinnai or something similar, but my main issue is uncertainty if this is the best means to heat the space.  Attached to this part of the basement is about 350 sq/ft of addition crawl space.  The crawl space was built using insulated block and poured walls.  

We are having the joist ends/sill area in the basement area spray foamed, along with the crawl space where the plastic covers the dirt floor beneath it and goes up the insulated foam wall about a foot (this is to create a seal from moisture mostly).  The wall that separates the basement from the garage will also be spray foamed, along with the ceiling of the garage area.    

Will the concrete floor in the basement 'eat' heat?  Will a floor unit keep the room warm enough?  Is a wall heater a good option to consider?  We live in upstate NY, not too far from the Canadian border.  I'd also like to make sure we purchase something with a thermostat setting, perhaps one that can be set or controlled remotely.  

Any help is appreciated.  We rely solely on our magnificent wood stove to heat the rest of our house, but wood isn't a great option for the basement.


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## Lake Girl (Sep 7, 2015)

Are you looking at propane, oil, electric, ?  I would be a little concerned for any water lines that may run through that crawl space...  may not want to totally isolate it from the basement.

The concrete in a basement does act as a heat sink but once warm should help to stabilize temps in the basement.


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## OilNoMore (Sep 7, 2015)

Looking at propane.  We looked at installing a boiler but that was cost prohibitive so we have landed on direct vent heaters, and as such there will be no water lines or radiators.  

Does anyone know of any space heaters (Monitor, Rinnai, etc) that have thermostat?  Does wireless thermostat technology exist for these type of heaters?  Ideally would like to be able to monitor the temperature and adjust the temperature remotely (from a smartphone perhaps?).  

Rinnai ES 38 and Monitor 3800 are the two I am currently considering.  I don't really know much about the thermostat issue I described above.  It seems both have only the the on panel controls.


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## Knots (Sep 9, 2015)

I have a Rinnai wall unit in my basement, however I have 4" of foam around the entire foundation so the concrete stays at temp longer once it gets there.


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