Heat escaping into your basement won't matter much directly, it is still contained in your living space but you might like to carefully dust off the ductwork and acquire some duct tape to better seal the joints. I like the metallic tapes because it sticks better for much longer, it isn't as strong against tears and rips and it is more difficult to apply because it has waxed paper over the sticky side to remove as you apply it but it molds well to the surfaces and sticks well for ever. The plastic stuff tends to dry up and fall off over time.
You can identify the seams and more particularly locate the leaks with the fan running and seal them off thus insuring all of the forced air available gets delivered where it is intended. Still, if the basement is warm the heat will migrate up through warm floors and so on into the rest of the house. A lot depends on just where and how much insulation was in the basement and how well cracks and gaps are sealed. Calk and air barrier is the first and generally the most important line of defense. Now is a good time to take a vacuum and go all around the perimeter of the basement up under the floor and clean away all dust and debris. Usually the house sits on a sill of wood which sits on the top of the basement wall but there are other design. The floor joists are those boards usually 2 by 10 which run on edge under the floor from one basement wall to a central beam. One end sits on the beam usually and the other on this sill plate. There is probably a pair of these side by each at each edge of the basement on those walls. You tend to get air leaks where the rim joists meet the floor decking, where the rim joists meet the sill and where the sill sits on the basement wall. These too are the most important places for insulation. This is also where many penetrations enter the home, things like outside plumbing, outside electrical fixtures, power venting for the furnace if you have that and maybe even your sump pump. They will probably calk that in very well but you might check other penetrations for air leakage and of course a penetration point for critters like insects and mice or snakes. Check around windows too. With the finish removed there may be small leaking gaps around the frames where they meet the cement walls. You can lose a lot of heat directly out through even very small gaps. Anyway these are all places for calking. The bays at the end of the joists often called joists bays are very good places to put insulation as well as the long run along the side rim joist. This is the narrowest point so where most of your heat conduction will escape. How you choose to deal with that can depend on how the basement will ultimately be finished. For now I think I would buy 6 inch fiberglass, cut it and fit it into those bays and along the edge. It should bit snugly but not require compressing to get into place. These days people often have special foam blown in, that will require a contractor and equipment and more money but it will make somewhat better insulation. Fiberglass isn't all that expensive though and you might apply it yourselves until the permanent finish is ready. Depending on where you live it might well be sufficient. So, to recap, leaking ducts into the basement won't matter much. The heat remains in the house, it is the heat which escapes out through the walls to the outdoors which will cost you the money. That can come down through the floor into the basement and leak out that way. If you want to reduce the temperature of the basement and deliver more to the house above you can patch leaky ducts and you could even wrap them with insulation, they even make insulation that wraps around ducts and sticks there for the purpose. It also tends to quiet the fan sounds by damping vibration so there are other reasons to do that while the ducts are exposed. Hope this is helpful . ----- Original Message ----- From: Claudia To: [email protected] Sent: Sunday, October 18, 2009 6:26 AM Subject: [BlindHandyMan] Drywall & Insulation? Okay, So, here is my next question, in this never-ending thought process. This summer, our basement was gutted; all paneling, drywall, insulation & dropped ceilings were removed, due to potential mold issues, after our flood last fall. Now, because all ductwork is exposed, I can feel our furnace blowing air into our basement. Prior to the removal of all of these elements, you could not feel the furnace or AC heating or cooling, at their respective times of the year. Now, because the basement is currently just the concrete shell, I would assume that our utility bills are going to skyrocket this winter, because there is no insulation, drywall, etc? We aren't planning to redo this portion of the basement this winter obviusly because it's just not going to happen right now! So, is it safe to assume that this is going to happen? Thanks. Claudia MSN: [email protected] Skype: claudiadr2009 Join either of my groups; the first is for visually-impaired women, while the other is for people wishing to discuss homemaking issues. [email protected] [email protected] [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
