Basement heat

I am trying to refinance and the appraiser said he can’t count our basement in the living space calculation unless we have radiators there. (Since the basement is one-third of our space, this would significantly affect the appraisal). The boiler is on this level, and the steam pipes (the current source of our basement heat) span just under our basement ceiling, at approximately 7′ high, before turning up to heat the two floors above. There are a few inches of space between the pipe and the basement ceiling….i have heard of people mounting small radiators, horizontally, up by the ceiling …. not the most efficient since heat rises but i can’t think of a simpler solution…anyone on this forum have this set-up, or have another idea that won’t cost thousands?

JMT

in Heating 13 years and 8 months ago

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Hardcharger | 13 years and 8 months ago

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The appraiser is wrong.  The room is properly heated (maybe overheated) by the overhead pipe.  A bare pipe radiates heat.  Try to plead this before you start spending money.  The appraiser is working off a checklist and has little knowledge of Brooklyn real estate, they are often from L.I.   The basement space is valuable.  I have to cover my pipes to prevent us from roasting.

I am guessing if you write exchange three letters, they will give you a proper appraisal.  Get your own comps and have a Real Estate agent look at it and give a number.
Get a used radiator and duct tape a couple of pipe fittings and get it appraised in the summer.  This isn’t the DOB,

xistent | 13 years and 8 months ago

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i am not the original poster steam man. sorry about the vague details- im out of town now and need to clarify with the contractor BUT i am certain we have a boiler that heats with steam. im assuming he suggested that he can vent off the pipes that run off the ceiling does that sound feasible?

steam_man | 13 years and 8 months ago

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I’m totally confused by this last post. Are you the same person as the OP? In any case, I don’t know what ducts you are talking about. Boilers don’t have ducts (maybe you have a furnace?). If so, then you could increase the size of the furnace to allow it to cover the additional space (basement) and add required ducts. Zoning would be a bigger concern though. Think it through and call a furnace installer if you do have one of those. I hate them things….

xistent | 13 years and 8 months ago

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we are renovating our basement and our house has a gas boiler which heats the house with steam. he suggested
putting some vents in the ducts that are in the ceiling and should easily heat the basement as the boiler is right there. Is this not a good solution?

Master Plvmber | 13 years and 8 months ago

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What steam_man said.

steam_man | 13 years and 8 months ago

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wiley has the generalities right. So the typical installation involves pulling a hot water zone off your boiler and running the loop around your basement through radiators. For the cheapest installation you would use baseboard radiators. You are definitely in the thousands range maybe the best budget number would be $3000\. Equipment involved is: radiators, pump, thermostat, relay, copper piping, some other minor electrical items, various fittings. I may have left some stuff out but that is the gist of it. You could do this with either a hot water or a steam boiler. A hot water boiler may require a zone controller for multiple pumps. Anyway, that’s about it…

agdipierro

in Heating 13 years and 8 months ago

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Electric baseboard

wiley | 13 years and 8 months ago

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usually folks run a hot water loop off the boiler – it’s not going to cost thousands but will be an expense – I’m sure others might have ball park costs, or other solutions.