Really cold in my basement?

Question

I live in baltimore and the temp. around here can get pretty high and the humidy very sticky. I live a rancher style home witha furnished basement, the problem is when we turn the air condition on to about 71 F' the basement is much colder then the upstairs with all of the vents closed it feels like 65 down there. Is there a simple way to fix this or am going to have to spend alot of money? thanks

Answer 1

Is you a/c large enough that it cycles on and off?

If so the easiest thing would be to open the vents in the basement and turn the fan on constant fan. This will circulate that air in to the rest of the house.

The basic temperature of the earth is about 55 degrees. You can insulate against it but the earth will always be drawing heat out of the basement.

You could even cut your cooling bills by opening those vents and running the fan before turning on the a/c. Then that way you are using the earth a little to cool the house by moving that cold air upstairs.

Beyond that it is not simple and would involve major work changing how the air circulates in the house and/or zoning off different parts.

Good Luck.

Answer 2

We added more insulation in our , but to be honest with you, when it's so hot and humid outside I really enjoy the coolness of the basement. Aside from closing the vents a basement will always be a basement , years ago no one lived down there it was mainly a storage area . It's only natural that it's cold down there , the only thing that you could do is to add a dehumidifier downstairs to take out some of the humidity .Keep in mind that heat rises!

Answer 3

Thor is on the right track. There are a couple ways to remedy this (both are not cheap).

1. Have separate units installed for the upstairs and the basement.

2. Have Zone valves installed to keep air out of the basement when only upstairs needs cooling.

You have to be care full about blocking registers. If you drop the airflow through the system too much, you could wind up with a coil freezing problem.

Oh and FYI...Removing humidity will make the room COLDER. An air conditioner works by removing humidity. If you remove even more humidity, brrr...

Humidity in the air holds heat! Same principle as in the winter time. If you add a humidifier, you can set your thermostat at a lower temperature and still be comfortable.

Answer 4

My guess is that the humidity in the basement is making it feel colder than upstairs. Try using a dehumidifier to cut thru the humidity and that may offset the colder temps.

Also, even thou you have your vents closed downstairs, chances are that there is still cold air blowing past the vents.  Buy magnetic covers that cover the vents and that will keep more of the cold from coming thru. Hopefully you have vents in the floor and not in the ceiling.  Not sure if they make round magnetic vent covers.