Providing heat outside the thermal envelope in a retrofit

[jar546]

I am not sure that this home has any thermal envelope. This is in the basement.

 

[Paul Sweet]

The basement walls are the thermal envelope. They're just not a very good thermal envelope.

 

[TimNY]

Why couldn't the floor be the thermal envelope; just not a very good thermal envelope?

Increasing the sq.ft that is conditioned would increase a non-conformity. Without knowing the whole house I couldn't make a decision one way or the other. An argument could be made either way.

 

[peach]

they may need heat in the basement to keep the water from freezing.. that looks like a water meter on the back wall.

Retrofits are always hard to make "the right" decision.

 

[klarenbeek]

Unless the floor is insulated, I consider the basement within the thermal envelope.

 

[TimNY]

If the space was previously unconditioned, the boundary between the conditioned space and the unconditioned basement would be the thermal envelope. Which brings us back to the question of whether or not the basement was conditioned previously. If so, a non-conformity was increased.

Pumping heat into the basement will solve a freezing problem, but so will insulating the walls and sealing drafts. From an energy standpoint, dumping heat in there [presumably] every time the first floor needs heat is not the greatest solution.

Not saying it's right or wrong. I would have to be there to make a decision.