New zone recommendation.

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Rockycmt

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I have a vacant zone in my basement. Sitting unused. I have a hydronic WH system. I would like to find a forced air solution. It is part finished space in a utility room. More heat below means more heat above I say. It stays cold down there and the first floor floor remains cold.

What is the simplest unit I can add to the zone to toss out hot air. I want to plumb it and power it with 110. The zone valve has its own thermostat switch.

Thoughts?
 

John Gayewski

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A forced air solution would be a unit heater. Not sure how cheap that would be. Baseboard uses hot air convection along with radiation. Baseboard, to effectively heat and move air, needs high temps (180°). The other caveat with baseboard is you need to have open space for airflow over the fines element.
 

Rockycmt

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What I am looking for is a furnace without the heating element. Just a blower. I was thinking of adding a Hot Water heat exchanger to the plenum plumb the zone thru it. I can easily duct that around the basement. Do they have such a unit? Those unit heaters look a bit too garage style.
 

John Gayewski

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What I am looking for is a furnace without the heating element. Just a blower. I was thinking of adding a Hot Water heat exchanger to the plenum plumb the zone thru it. I can easily duct that around the basement. Do they have such a unit? Those unit heaters look a bit too garage style.
A furnace without a heating element (air handler) is almost the same price as one with a heating element. You would be better off just buying a gas furnace if you were going that route.
 

Fitter30

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What I am looking for is a furnace without the heating element. Just a blower. I was thinking of adding a Hot Water heat exchanger to the plenum plumb the zone thru it. I can easily duct that around the basement. Do they have such a unit? Those unit heaters look a bit too garage style.
There called fan coils how many btu's are u looking for. Theres also a cabinet heater or you looking for ac also with what btu. If you are its cabinet and coil looks like a furnace.
 
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WorthFlorida

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What are you really want to do, get more heat to the first floor or heat the basement for occupied space such as a family room, etc? Here is a good explanation what you could be up against. (heating-btu-calculator)

You may not have enough BTU's from your heat source and could make the entire home cooler and the furnace or WH work harder. The first question is what is your budget? Even the cheapest way it can still cost a few hundred dollars but he hard part is already done, an extra zone. Does this zone already have a circulator?

The main issue is really your heat source. If you are using a WH (typical water heater) gas or oil fired, would you have enough BTU's to carry the additional load? If the basement is not insulated you'll lose more heat in the basement than what would raise to the first floor. If you are trying to get the first floor warmer, you'll need to stop the heated air from raising to the second floor. Maybe better windows and insulation, etc.

Another solution to get more warmth for the first floor is google "retro fit radiant heat between the floor joist". As others suggest, a simple baseboard is easy to install and low cost. If you google "fan coils" as Fitter mentioned there are dozens of different sizes and designed and the prices are all over the chart.
 
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