Recent News and Articles on the Keywords: cold heat + basement + heat  Related to the article below (Last Update: 8/5/2008)

Home Heating Cost Pose Big Problem For Many WBZ, MA - WORCESTER (WBZ) ― A new UMass report called "Heat Rises" is highlighting just how many families could be left out in the cold this winter. ... Iowa's sirens mix of old, new, and lack oversight Chicago Tribune, United States - Aug 3, 2008 Taking shelter in a basement while sirens wail has become a routine event this year in Iowa. Twelve people have been killed by tornadoes in the state and ... Canada.com Beating the heat on the cheap Canada.com, Canada - Jul 29, 2008 But when the sizzling season actually arrives, he goes down for the count and heads to the basement. I didn't always have a safe haven from the heat. ... Paradise Valley home one with environment The Bozeman Daily Chronicle, MT - Aug 2, 2008 ... which is boiled by the sun?s heat and warms the water. The warm water then travels to the basement and heats the cold water in the storage tanks. ... Facelift spruces up downtown landmark Lethbridge Herald, Canada - Aug 1, 2008 In addition, three heat exchangers on the roof recapture heat from the top of rooms and hallways to warm fresh cold air coming into the building. ... Montgomery County History 101: Pennypacker Mills Norristown Times Herald, PA - Aug 3, 2008 A basement was dug and a furnace added, supplying central heat. A wraparound porch was also built, which, Callegari explained, "served as a kind of outdoor ... Homeowners who use heating oil seek alternatives The Associated Press - Jul 13, 2008 They essentially suck the heat from cold air for warmth, and the cold from hot air for cooling. They have long been popular in warm climates, ... Sick of high energy bills, our columnist investigates solar options Wall Street Journal - Jul 18, 2008 The average US household is expected to spend 33% more this winter on heat, according to the US Energy Information Administration. ... How to fix crawl spaces and basements The Daily News of Newburyport, MA - Jul 22, 2008 The cold ground causes significant heat loss through the floor (which again means the basement or crawl space ceiling). Remember from a previous article, ... Wave the heat goodbye Independent and Free Press, Canada - Jul 9, 2008 Heat wave? What heat wave? Day 6 - 11 pm: I remember another trick. I lightly spritz the sheets with cold water before lying down. And myself. Ahhhh? ...

How to heat a cold daylight basement

Q: Like many of us here in the Northwest, I have a split-level house. You enter the front door and are confronted by two sets of stairs, one going up and one going down. The daylight basement has many windows and a sliding glass door going out to the back yard.

It is so cold down there that it is nearly uninhabitable during the winter. It has a concrete slab floor (with carpeting), and two of the walls are concrete about 3 feet up. There is a family room, bedroom, bathroom, laundry room, small storage room and a "bonus room."

One of my favorite memories of how cold it can be, even when the temperature outside is comfortable, is coming in and finding my father-in-law sitting watching TV with a throw blanket on his head! We keep several throws on the sofas and have a wood-burning stove there. The stove is not practical unless you are watching something that goes on forever, like the Super Bowl.

What is the most economical way to heat this area? Put in a second gas heater? Baseboard heaters? Family will be coming this Christmas, including a new grandson who was just born yesterday. It is too cold for him to sleep down there!

A: Congratulations on becoming a grandparent. This question was undoubtedly prompted by that "nesting" urge that makes women go all wacko, cleaning and decorating right before giving birth. Who would have guessed it applied to grandparents also? Your question was not clear on whether you presently have a heating system in the basement. If so, manipulate the upper-floor registers toward the closed position to divert more air downstairs. If that results in no apparent change, an adjustment in your plenum scoops and dampers can be accomplished fairly simply by a heating contractor.

Lacking visible heat registers, you may need to have some vents cut into the ceiling. Every split level I've walked into (with forced-air heat) has ducts in the basement ceiling to heat the upper floor. This is again a simple alteration to cut vents into the existing plenums.

Assuming you have heat now, but maybe more heat is still needed, you can add heat to the entire basement or each room individually. Your cheapest option is to buy portable radiant or resistance heaters and place them where and when needed. This may not be permanent, and is not the safest option, but it will help take the edge off. Baseboard or forced-air electric wall heaters are reasonable to purchase, but adding electrical power will be challenging and potentially spendy (and cost more to run the heaters).

Adding a gas or propane fireplace in place of, or in addition to, the wood-burning unit you have now is a very popular option. If adding it to the room, remember that these fireplaces can vent out a sidewall and do not require a chimney. A single gas fireplace can be outfitted with a thermostat, but does best when heating one specific area, or areas, making for temperature differentials between individual rooms.

Q: I recently replaced my hot-water tank, which is inconveniently located in the attic. When we tried to get the old tank out, we realized that the trap door to the attic must have been finished and the fold-out ladder added after the original tank was installed. The opening was too small to get the new tank in and the old tank out.

At first we figured we could take a sledgehammer to the old tank and reduce its girth by a couple of inches (by "we," I mean my boyfriend). After some attempts at taking pent-up frustration out on the tank, he realized that he literally wasn't making much of a dent in it.

Can "we" rent some kind of saw or something and just cut it up in slices and remove it that way? Are there any dangers to doing this? (The gas furnace is up in the attic, too.) I readily admit that I am not the "handy" sort, and he is a stone mason, not a plumber, electrician or carpenter, as he likes to point out repeatedly.

A: Just for giggles, I tried cutting up a tank last year with a Sawzall (large reciprocating saw). "Tried" being the operative word. In the end, all I had was a mess of foam insulation and metal casing, not doing much damage to the liner itself. Had I spent another hour, or ahem, used a sharper blade, I may have been able to do a bit more damage. But ultimately it would have taken a cutting torch to get it into the size needed to get down a folding stairway.

Those tanks are like battleship boilers. An open-flame cutting torch is not something that would be especially wise in an attic. But this is all moot, since you need to get a new tank up there, no matter the success of the demolition activities. Drain it and leave it in the attic if you must.

Did you consider removing the folding stairway for the tank swap? How feasible would it be to move the tank permanently into a closet in the main living area or garage? Another possibility, if you have a gable-type roof, is to cut a hatch into the sidewall for extraction and removal.

Keep in mind, you are not stuck with the exact tank measurements you have now; manufacturers make skinny and taller water tanks that just might fit up your stairs (if you have available head-height in the attic). And finally, an instantaneous on-demand water heater may just be the ticket for your dilemma.

Darrell Hay answers readers' questions. Call 206-464-8514 to record your question,