ᐅ Should an unused basement in a new build be heated or not?
Created on: 15 Jan 2018 19:50
H
Hubert123
Hello everyone,
I have been testing my heat pump quite intensively lately.
We moved into our new build (bungalow KFW 55, 2016, 220 square meters (2370 square feet) ground floor, 120 square meters (1290 square feet) basement) in April 2017, and now we are in our first winter with the heat pump.
The basement is completely unused. It’s just masonry. What would you do?
Heat it? Not heat it at all and just ventilate briefly now and then? Heat it and ventilate?
I’m worried about mold growth.
I asked five people and got five different answers.
The fact is: heating the basement, even only on level 2 out of 6, would cost an extra 500€ per year in heating costs!
But the fact is also: I don’t want any mold!
So, what do you think?
Thanks for your helpful opinions.
I have been testing my heat pump quite intensively lately.
We moved into our new build (bungalow KFW 55, 2016, 220 square meters (2370 square feet) ground floor, 120 square meters (1290 square feet) basement) in April 2017, and now we are in our first winter with the heat pump.
The basement is completely unused. It’s just masonry. What would you do?
Heat it? Not heat it at all and just ventilate briefly now and then? Heat it and ventilate?
I’m worried about mold growth.
I asked five people and got five different answers.
The fact is: heating the basement, even only on level 2 out of 6, would cost an extra 500€ per year in heating costs!
But the fact is also: I don’t want any mold!
So, what do you think?
Thanks for your helpful opinions.
Hubert123 schrieb:
Extremely low costs on your end.
I tried it recently at about 5-10 degrees Celsius (41-50°F) outdoor temperature.
Without basement, around 15-18 kilowatt-hours; with basement, about 30 per day.
And I only had the ERR set to level 2!
Although I don’t know if it makes a difference in electricity consumption whether it’s set to level 2 or 6, since the flow temperatures for the upper floor are around 30 degrees Celsius (86°F) anyway, and for the basement they are just mixed… I also think that your 30 kWh figure isn’t very meaningful. Especially if the area is usually unheated, it takes quite some time to reach the desired temperature. The heat from the water is absorbed into the building structure, which causes the return flow temperature to drop. It takes a while for the entire space to be warmed up; in our case, it took about 1.5 days just for the ground floor, with increased consumption.
You should review the function of the ERR more carefully. Whether it’s set to 2 or 6 doesn’t initially affect the water temperature. An ERR simply measures the room temperature and closes the valves once the set temperature is reached, so no more warm water flows in. That means the water flows at the same supply temperature until your set value of 2 is reached, just like if it were set to 6. It’s possible that the target value wasn’t reached before your test ended.
Overall, you shouldn’t expect too much. A 220 m² (2,370 sq ft) house plus 120 m² (1,290 sq ft) basement is already a large building, and even with a brine-to-water heat pump, you will consume a significant amount. We were at 500 kWh in December for a 160 m² (1,720 sq ft) KfW 55 city villa, with a good coefficient of performance of 4.2.
I think so too.
Even though the basement is within the heated envelope, the ground floor is not particularly insulated against the basement, which leads to increased losses due to a higher supply temperature and lack of insulation.
But that is not the question here. The question was about mold. And this is where the hygrometer helps.
Even though the basement is within the heated envelope, the ground floor is not particularly insulated against the basement, which leads to increased losses due to a higher supply temperature and lack of insulation.
But that is not the question here. The question was about mold. And this is where the hygrometer helps.
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