ᐅ Basement as a Watertight Concrete Structure – Heating Options?
Created on: 30 Jun 2020 15:50
T
TommyD
Hello everyone,
I have been a silent reader here for a long time and find the helpful answers really good!
We are slowly starting to explore the topic of house construction and are now just about to start the floor plan design for a semi-detached house.
We are currently stuck on the subject of the basement. Due to groundwater pressure, we are planning on a waterproof concrete shell (“white tank”).
I have read extensively on this topic but now actually have more questions than certainty or knowledge.
What about heating a waterproof concrete shell?
--> We want to hang laundry in one of the basement rooms.
What about perimeter insulation and vapor barrier?
--> Does this also play a role in heating? Should all rooms that are heated be insulated from the outside?
Is it absolutely necessary to heat all rooms if they are insulated from the outside?
Does a full underfloor heating system make sense, possibly including a ventilation system (underfloor heating plus ventilation is installed in the rest of the house)?
Thank you in advance for your help!
I have been a silent reader here for a long time and find the helpful answers really good!
We are slowly starting to explore the topic of house construction and are now just about to start the floor plan design for a semi-detached house.
We are currently stuck on the subject of the basement. Due to groundwater pressure, we are planning on a waterproof concrete shell (“white tank”).
I have read extensively on this topic but now actually have more questions than certainty or knowledge.
What about heating a waterproof concrete shell?
--> We want to hang laundry in one of the basement rooms.
What about perimeter insulation and vapor barrier?
--> Does this also play a role in heating? Should all rooms that are heated be insulated from the outside?
Is it absolutely necessary to heat all rooms if they are insulated from the outside?
Does a full underfloor heating system make sense, possibly including a ventilation system (underfloor heating plus ventilation is installed in the rest of the house)?
Thank you in advance for your help!
MaxiFrett schrieb:
Is it possible to connect the basement to the mechanical ventilation system without heating it?
So, a usable basement outside the thermal envelope, with central ventilation?
In theory, you would bypass the heat recovery.
That way, you could avoid running a dehumidifier and still have fresh air.
However, with a mechanical ventilation system bypassing heat recovery, you would probably need two separate circuits, since the living area and basement have different requirements regarding the dew point.
An alternative might be decentralized ventilation systems that can be controlled based on dew point, right? Installing two of them in the basement.
But then you would be mixing central and decentralized systems again.
Or is this all nonsense? Our landlords had this brilliant idea too (before building the house) to keep the basement outside the thermal envelope... In the end: always cold, always damp. They covered the cost of the dehumidifier, and we idiots had to empty it constantly... Neither an external fan (decentralized system) nor any expensive climate panels could solve the problem... Shoes in boxes all got moldy...
Why do you want to do that?
MaxiFrett schrieb:
Is it possible to connect the basement to the mechanical ventilation system with heat recovery without heating the basement?
So a usable basement, outside the thermal envelope, with central ventilation?
In theory, the heat recovery would have to be bypassed.
That way, you could avoid running a dehumidifier and still have fresh air.
However, with a mechanical ventilation system bypassing the heat recovery, you would probably need two separate circuits, since the living area and the basement have different requirements regarding dew point.
An alternative might be decentralized ventilation systems that can be controlled according to the dew point, right? Installing two of those in the basement.
But then you would mix central and decentralized systems again.
Or is this all nonsense? Could you please explain the heat recovery aspect again? Is this about the temperature difference caused by the cooler air in the basement?
debaser schrieb:
Just connect the basement rooms to the controlled residential ventilation system, and that’s it. There isn’t really a huge temperature difference anyway.Outside the thermal envelope, there is...A brief note on this.
There are two important points:
1) What type of waterproof concrete basement (WU basement) do I get according to the contract? There are construction methods that allow temporary water ingress. In that case, you can even have a damp basement from the outside, and this is legally permissible.
2) Waterproof concrete and indoor climate have little connection, except that of course no fresh air supply is present and no diffusion to the outside can occur.
Therefore, whether the basement is waterproofed or not, it should be insulated and climate-controlled—that is, heated and ventilated. The specific method is a separate issue. Since an uninsulated basement will be cold, moisture will condense on surfaces, which can lead to mold and mildew on clothing and cardboard boxes.
There is an informational sheet dividing waterproof concrete basements into different usage categories, with recommendations for various A** categories.
Another note regarding the contract: agree on the DBV (German Concrete and Construction Association) information sheet on waterproof concrete and specify a usage class (here it would be A).
From that, the climate requirements can be derived. If you really want to use the basement, it should be integrated into the building’s thermal envelope.
There are two important points:
1) What type of waterproof concrete basement (WU basement) do I get according to the contract? There are construction methods that allow temporary water ingress. In that case, you can even have a damp basement from the outside, and this is legally permissible.
2) Waterproof concrete and indoor climate have little connection, except that of course no fresh air supply is present and no diffusion to the outside can occur.
Therefore, whether the basement is waterproofed or not, it should be insulated and climate-controlled—that is, heated and ventilated. The specific method is a separate issue. Since an uninsulated basement will be cold, moisture will condense on surfaces, which can lead to mold and mildew on clothing and cardboard boxes.
There is an informational sheet dividing waterproof concrete basements into different usage categories, with recommendations for various A** categories.
Another note regarding the contract: agree on the DBV (German Concrete and Construction Association) information sheet on waterproof concrete and specify a usage class (here it would be A).
From that, the climate requirements can be derived. If you really want to use the basement, it should be integrated into the building’s thermal envelope.
Similar topics