My basement is unfinished and gets VERY cold. The cieling in the basement is completely unfinished, i can see the beams and floor boards of the first floor. Can i assume this will cause the upstairs to get cold much faster and to lose alot of its heat?if so, what are my options for insulating the ceiling? i dont have alot of money, and its a rental home so the investment isnt worth it for me if it is a major expense
heat rises, cool air sinks so heat leaking from the upstairs to the basement is unlikely. Drafts are a different story if your house is not tight. Look into an acoustic drop ceiling, if you can create a dead zone of air between basement and upstairs this will insulate.
I'd advise either the 1.5 - 3 foam for the walls and floor. Do the most you can get away with. You screw the plywood to the floor with concrete screws/washers with the foam underneath. All joints of the foam are taped. Then you can go over this with carpet. Or you can go for the more expensive dricore plywood but without the insulation. The walls will just have foam cut to go behind the studs or between them. The ceiling of the basement will use non-faced insulation but insulation is not really needed on the ceiling.
yes the cold from the downstairs will effect the heat on first floor,all new homes come with the floor insulated,dont listen to people that dont know what they are talking about.
if your furnace and water heater are in the basement you need to find out why it is still cold down there...you need to get the basement warm to let some of the warmth rise into the living area...
The US dept of energy says that you would get little benefit if any at all from insulating the ceiling in a basement. They recommend it only when the ceiling is for a crawl space.
