Random question for the rest of you home owners.
I have all hard floors downstairs, and they get really f*****ing cold in the Winter.
I've worked on sealing the doors and windows and such, so I am wondering, are there any other things people do in Winter to help heat/insulate their homes?
I've taken to putting blankets up against the bottom of my front and garage doors to help keep cold air from seeping in.
Do rugs actually help? I've never tried putting anything big down.
I had that problem at my old place, and all of the issues were above ground- the earth is a great insulator.
The stairs to the basement were across the kitchen from an outside door. When the outside door was opened, you could feel a river of cold air flowing down the stairs.
If you have a door to the basement, keep it closed when opening the exterior doors. hot air billows out the top of the door, cold billows in, and settles at the lowest point.
Hopefully you have decent venting and a large unobstructed cold air return near the floor- airflow is key.
As far as minor fixes, do you have window wells? if so, cap them outside and use the clear plastic window insulation inside. it is cheap and it works.
Expanding foam around the window frames works if you feel cold seeping in.
check where your electric, gas, phone, and cable come in to the house.. most likely near the ceiling in the basement depending on how your house sits. use expanding foam around the entry points.
basically, walk the perimeter the basement with your hand up near ground level and find the entry points and go after them with expanding foam or insulation.
unfinished areas seep cold through the concrete, especially near the ceiling, so if you can segment those rooms of with a door or even a blanket, that will make the living area warmer.
Dryer vents are another great pathway for cold if your laundry is downstairs. expanding foam around the exit and even wrap insulation around the hose itself.
getting all the cold spots upstairs is helpful as well- the cold will settle downwards and wind up in the basement.
Clear plastic window insulation, door sweeps, clean vents... all kinds of little stuff.
if you are still having issues, go after the minutia.
Put your hand near wall plates on exterior walls and feel for cold seeping in- many times if someone installs a phone or cable jack, they push the existing insulation to the side and you wind up with a large un-insulated cavity on an exterior wall... bust out the expanding foam!
Poor window installs can also do it, even if the windows are double pane engineering marvels... if you feel cold seeping in around the outside of the trim around the window, you can pry the trim off and hit it with the expanding foam and pop the trim right back on.
If you have insulated walls downstairs and hunt down the easy fixes at grade level, the easy fixes upstairs, and have good air flow, the basement will be cozy as hell.
