I recently bought a townhouse and noticed the gas consumption is very high,
and we're only into the middle of the fall. The townhouse has forced hot
air heat. The house has a relatively large finished basement, and since I
don't use it except for storage I've decided not to bother heating the
basement. I've closed off the regular/ordinary heating supply vents in the
basement. However, the basement also has return vents (one in the main
room, one in a closet that is relatively close to the furnace room, and
another return vent that is in the furnace room itself, located directly on
the main return duct)

My question is this: If I don't intend to heat the basement, is there any
reason to keep any of the vents (either return or supply) opened within the
basement itself? To me this seems like a waste of heating power.

Am I correct in thinking I can simply close off all the supply air vents and
all return vents within in the basement itself, and this will cause the
heating system to focus on the main living areas? (By the way, the house I
just sold had LOW heating bills and I did not have ANY supply or return
vents opened in the basement (there was only one return and one supply and I
closed both of them all year)

One problem is the return vents in the new townhouse do not have any
built-in adjustment lever that would allow for closure. Can I just use the
magnetic covers (designed specifically for this purpose) to close them?

Another question: besides the basement, my townhouse has 2 levels. I
noticed that, by default, more air flow comes out of the downstairs vents.
Is it more efficient to keep the downstairs supply vents *partially* closed
to allow for more airflow upstairs, or would it be more efficient not to do
that since the heat will tend to rise even with less forced air flowing out
of the of upstairs vents vs. the downstairs vents?

Thanks.

J.

Do you have enough upstairs returns for the system to not affect
performance, a pro will have to check it out.

Do you have enough upstairs returns for the system to not affect
performance, a pro will have to check it out.

There is at least one return vent in every room, and there are a few in
hallways.

In general, would you say that if the goal is to heat everything but the
basement, then there is no reason to have vents opened in the basement
itself as long as there are enough return/supply vents on the main floors?

J.

"jeff" wrote:

In general, would you say that if the goal is to heat everything but the
basement, then there is no reason to have vents opened in the basement
itself as long as there are enough return/supply vents on the main floors?

Personally, I'd like to make the basement part of the air space. I have
an open (no door) stairway, so it isn't sealed off any way.

Making it part of the air space would go a long way towards
de-humidifying the basement, something that many need.

Personally, I'd like to make the basement part of the air space. I have
an open (no door) stairway, so it isn't sealed off any way.

Making it part of the air space would go a long way towards
de-humidifying the basement, something that many need.

My basement does not have a door either. There is an L shaped staircase
leading to the basement. Will adding a door save me much energy if the goal
is not to heat the basement, or would it likely not save much heating energy
since the staircase is L shaped and cold air doesn't tend to rise?

If I walk down into the basement from upstairs, there is roughly 10 x 10
enclosed room in the basement (with no air ducts), that leads to the main
section of the basement. Down in the basement, there is a door between the
fully enclosed basement room and the main section of the basement, and I
leave it shut, but the enclosed room near the steps still seems much cooler
than upstairs (and is as cool as the rest of the basement). Would adding
a door at the top of the steps save me much heating energy (prevent cool air
from getting up the steps and to the main floor), or would it not likely
make much difference due to the shape of the staircase and cold air tending
to stay low rather than rising?

Thanks,

Jeff

"jeff" wrote:

Personally, I'd like to make the basement part of the air space. I have
an open (no door) stairway, so it isn't sealed off any way.

Making it part of the air space would go a long way towards
de-humidifying the basement, something that many need.

My basement does not have a door either. There is an L shaped staircase
leading to the basement. Will adding a door save me much energy if the goal
is not to heat the basement, or would it likely not save much heating energy
since the staircase is L shaped and cold air doesn't tend to rise?

Yes, no, maybe, probably, unlikely, depends on the source of the heat, I
don't have a clue? Take your choice, the answer is in there. G

make much difference due to the shape of the staircase and cold air tending
to stay low rather than rising?

It would add to the safety, an open staircase is an invitation to fall.

Yes, it would decrease the flow of air from up to down, how much,
probably not a whole lot if every thing else is closed up.

If it isn't a problem to use, I suggest adding it.