Guys with Basement arcades...

That80sGuy

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ok.. the basement in the house I just bought is only heated. The HVAC is only run upstairs and the ducts are run in the attic with the vents in the ceiling. There is only an electric heater mounted on one wall in the basement..and you can feel some moisture in the air..its not overwhelming..but the humidity is there.

What would be the most cost effective way to update the heating and cooling in the basement and mitigate the dampness?
 
If you can feel it, it's likely upwards of 90%. You want 30-50%. More than 50% and wood starts to grow surface mold.

Forget the HVAC, get a dehumidifier in there. I combined that with an HVAC condensate pump taking the water outside and I never have to empty it.
 
You should think about getting a dehumidifier.

I had a humidity issue in my basement at one point. I picked up a 70 pint Frigidaire dehumidifier. It keeps the basement as dry as I want it to be.

Does your basement have any windows, i.e. those little high ones? Is it walk-in on one side? You might be able to put a window mount AC unit down there depending on the configuration. Does your basement get too warm in the summer?
 
Ditto for a dehumidifier. As far as HVAC, you won't really need a heater down there if you have a dehumidifier & your games running...you may need to think of some type of cooling though!
 
I have a basement arcade, but living in Utah means dry air. The idea of humidity in the house seems so foreign to me.
 
Well.. The humidity varies alot down in the basement. I went home for lunch and it was perceptible but not bad. I was already thinking about a dehumidifier of some sort .. I just don't want it to take up much real eastate in the basement. Also.. I can leave the doors open to the downstairs and that helps some since cool air sinks.
 
If you get a dehumidifier, do yourself a favor and look for one that is designed for lower temperatures. Basements are generally MUCH cooler than the first level of a home, and normal dehumidifiers are nto as efficent in cooler temperatures (65 and below).

The new dehumidifier I got (a GE designed to run at lower temps) does an infinately better job than the Whirlpool standard dehumidifier I had last year.

I'd run a small fan to move the air around a little too. I think in no time you'd see a huge improvement.

Chris
 
Yeah the ceiling is tall enough I could install a couple of small ceiling fans. On one end is a window that I thought would be ideal to mount a unit in to pull the moinster out and provide AC.
 
If you get a dehumidifier, do yourself a favor and look for one that is designed for lower temperatures. Basements are generally MUCH cooler than the first level of a home, and normal dehumidifiers are nto as efficent in cooler temperatures (65 and below).

Basement temps are not a big issue down here. That, and when temps do start to fall the air gets very dry. Upstairs, we dehumidify in the summer and humidify in the winter. In the basement, we dehumidify in the summer and they pretty much shut down in the winter.
 
Yeah, you want to dehumidify. I'm not sure it MUST be as low as 50%, but you don't want it too humid. I set my dehumidifier at 45 and it seems to be doing the job just fine.
 
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