Hello,

I planned on zoning my basement from main home level to save energy cost and convenience of thermostat in basement. Recently, I found duct fans which increase air in ducts to room lacking. If I put duct fans in each duct(put on own breaker of course) can I tap into existing ducts and get same results minus thermostat in basement? (also, there are only ducts for main level in home at this time, which are ran in basement.)

Thanks,
Ron

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Originally Posted by Doc P

Hello,

I planned on zoning my basement from main home level to save energy cost and convenience of thermostat in basement. Recently, I found duct fans which increase air in ducts to room lacking. If I put duct fans in each duct(put on own breaker of course) can I tap into existing ducts and get same results minus thermostat in basement? (also, there are only ducts for main level in home at this time, which are ran in basement.)

Thanx,
Ron

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My suggestion... at the thermostat the button or switch for the fan, put it in the on position this constant remixing of the air and redistribution will help make all the rooms of the home more equal.. the blower motor should be rated for continuous use and its less ware and tear on the motor as well

How will leaving fan on constantly at theremostat compensate for the extra square footage in basement?

Thanks,
Ron

By constantly moving the air through out the house it will even out the temperature. Duct assist blower often are not worth the trouble, for one you are putting an obstuction in a duct with already poor air flow, secondly the motors are not very durable.

(3) Heating & air companies told me my furnace was to small to cover the additional spaces in the basement, which is 1000 more sqft; do U believe leaving air on constantly will still work in this case? Thanks for the heads up on the duct fan also.

Ron

I don't see any information in these posts that would tell me the size and location of your home, full, daylight or walk out basement, BTU output of furnace.

If I may... Allot of Hvac (not here per say) guys think that if your going to heat your basement your furnace won't be big enough.. Only true in very small numbers. Remember its already being Partially heated already.indirectly.. if not it would be close to the same as the outside temp. And heat rises so most of the heat that is being put into the basement is going up to the rest of the house. If it were me I'd zone it if possible. Set it up to use the return air from upstairs to be blown out basement supplies during continuos fan mode. Also probably going to get slack from the other fellas here for this one... but put no return air openings in basement. For allot of reasons, mainly adds to natural chimney effect. And when not heating basement it is still drawing return in Really cold air being blown up stairs when fan on continuos mode. Do not worry about the size unless for some unforseen reason you have twice as much heat loss in the basement than the rest of your house. In most cases only a small increase in gas consumption from heating the basement compared to not. As long as there is good insulation and little air infiltration.

Zoning is usually only applied to very large houses. I don't know if your house is large or not but I do know zoning is expensive after the house is already ducted (in the thousands of dollars). I looked into zoning our new house (1238 sq. ft. on the main level) and I was told it wasn't worth it.

There are other options available, of course, such as a fireplace or electric baseboard heaters, if you don't want to upgrade your furnace. However, when a house is built, at least now, they size them to include finishing the basement in the future. Is your home an older home? If so, you might have a lot to gain just by purchasing a new furnace, which should be cheaper than zoning after the fact.