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Thinking about moving into my basement, few questions...

2K views 19 replies 11 participants last post by  LVDIY 
#1 ·
I bought my house last November, a 3 bed/1 bath with a big unfinished basement. I live in the attic with two tenants renting from me, I recently put in a second bathroom in the basement, and I want to move down there next to it so I can rent out the attic for even more moneydollars. At some point I'll be finishing the whole basement and adding a proper bedroom, but in the meantime this would help finance it. I was gonna make temporary walls out of office cubicles, boxes full of blankets, hanging more blankets, etc etc. A few concerns:

Will a space heater be viable for making it through a Minnesota winter? Will it be dangerous to have it running for hours at a time? I wouldn't leave it on when I wasn't home at least.

How can I verify that there's no mold etc? I've heard the storebought tests aren't really worth much. I've got a dehumidifier running 24/7 and the moisture's still 50% right now. There's some stains on the walls, but I have never personally seen any water come in during my time here, and it smells normal. I've hung out downstairs for extended periods already with no consequences. Just wanna be sure. I think I might repaint the walls with a new coat of white moisture repellent paint, which would also make them not look gross, but I don't wanna cover up a problem if there is one.

Anything else I should be worried about? Is this a terrible Cosmo Kramer idea?
 
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#5 ·
The safest space heaters ,I believe, are the oil filled ones---they have no exposed elements---just a radiator with hot liquid inside.

You must have an egress window----I'll save the lectures for another time---be safe--you have a lot of lives in your hands.
 
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#3 ·
A vented space heater no where near combustibles is a safe as a furnace. Homes were heated for many years that way. MN and BTU's required I have no clue.

No opinion on the rest of your questions.
 
#11 ·
If you want to heat it with electricity long-term, why not get some 'permanent' baseboard heaters and a thermostat and wire them in temporarily but safely?

Is there a furnace in the basement now that is heating the rest of the house? If so it would be not too difficult to tap into that.

If the walls are concrete or block, a couple of coats of flat white wall and floor paint will brighten the basement up considerably.

50% is fine if you can keep it there. The dehumidifier will help heat the basement too.

Do you have enough AC outlets for what you want to do?
 
#12 · (Edited)
I've got a boiler just a couple yards from where I was going to be staying. I imagine you can't really change things around as easily as with a furnace... Never looked into baseboard heaters before. There's tons of outlets downstairs, so no worries there. What makes this superior to using space heaters?
 
#17 ·
Humans tend to be most comfortable at around 40-60% Relative Humidity (RH). Your current measurement of 50% RH is perfect -- no need to try to force it any lower.

While mold can affect people differently (think pollen allergies, etc.) mold spores are common in the air and most folks are unaware that they breathe in mold spore all the time. Mold is rarely any sort of significant health concern except for extremely asthmatic, allergic, or immuno-compromised. If you SEE visible mold growth -- get rid of it as well as (important) the underlying source of moisture which allowed the mold to grow. If you do not see significant mold growth, don't even worry about it.
 
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