With winter officially on the way and the holidays right around the corner, you’ve most likely started gearing up for the Big Chill. You’ve contacted your HVAC service for furnace maintenance, you’ve looked at heating tips for energy efficient homes, and you’ve swapped out your old HVAC system filters for new ones.

Now, what about your newly finished basement? Finishing a basement can be a great achievement and it certainly adds value to your home. But before you can truly enjoy it and consider yourself prepared for winter, you’ll need to bring heat to your underground family space.

Bringing home heating to the basement
It’s essential to hook up your home’s heating and air to your finished basement not only to heat up the space but also because heat rises. Without proper connectivity, there’s no way your new underground office or family space will be warm enough to inhabit this season.

Therefore, it may be in your best interest to set up heating systems as you finish the basement rather than going back and adding it in later. Consider the following three options for bringing heat to your finished basement space:

1. Make your floors toasty-warm
   Many basement floors are made up of cold concrete, which can suck up the heat and leave you with icy, uncomfortable feet. Additionally, up to 25% of a home’s heat will escape through small holes and cracks in the flooring and walls. For this reason, consider installing radiant floor heaters if you’re already redoing the floors. This will help heat the room from the flooring itself and will keep your feet nice and warm throughout the year.
2. Use your existing ductwork
   While you’re doing construction in your basement, consider extending your ductwork into the basement. This will help provide your basement space with just the right amount of heat. However, before doing this, contact your HVAC service for a professional opinion. The last thing you’ll want to do is throw off your HVAC system and cause problems with heat circulation around your home.
3. Use a portable option
   If redoing your floors or extending your ductwork makes you uncomfortable, go the simplest route and set up an electric space heater. This type of heating works best if your basement is a space you only use once and a while.

If you’re having trouble setting up a proper heating system in your finished basement, don’t be afraid to contact an HVAC service. An HVAC service is there to help and is always willing to lend a helping hand.