Insulating under basement floor

Drake · 06-10-14, 09:08 AM

I'm trying to weight the advantage of insulation "under" a new basement floor in the total thermal year of a new basement space. I can understand that if only heating was considered that it would be a "no-brainer". But in my current basement it is a welcome refuge in the hot summer to work in my shop in the cooler earth conditioned space. We have about equal heating and cooling days and the basement is not living space so it being somewhat cool in winter is tolerable for me when working down there. New basement will have insulated walls and insulation between it and heated living space so any heat lose from basement should already be minimal. I hate to do anything more that will lower the overall summer cooling benefit that earth can provide. It is not always easy to build for a total balance of comfort in a space as we all have different climate and personal situations so just coping the other guys project is not always proper. Thoughts?

06-10-14, 09:08 AM	#1
Drake DIY Guy Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Mpls,MN Posts: 315 Thanks: 2 Thanked 17 Times in 17 Posts	Insulating under basement floor I'm trying to weight the advantage of insulation "under" a new basement floor in the total thermal year of a new basement space. I can understand that if only heating was considered that it would be a "no-brainer". But in my current basement it is a welcome refuge in the hot summer to work in my shop in the cooler earth conditioned space. We have about equal heating and cooling days and the basement is not living space so it being somewhat cool in winter is tolerable for me when working down there. New basement will have insulated walls and insulation between it and heated living space so any heat lose from basement should already be minimal. I hate to do anything more that will lower the overall summer cooling benefit that earth can provide. It is not always easy to build for a total balance of comfort in a space as we all have different climate and personal situations so just coping the other guys project is not always proper. Thoughts?