To spend $1,000.00 on the insulation between a wasted sector of basement and a first-floor of heating is perhaps one of the weakest investments of the capital which you can make.

The insulation is conceived to slow down the transfer of heat. Although I do not have PhD in thermodynamics, I can say to you that the transfer of heat is a nonlinear function. This means simply that the loss of heat is large when the differences between the two temperatures is significant. If the temperature of two objects is rather narrow, the hotter object cools slowly at the lower temperature. You can prove this very easily.

Take two 16 nails of penny and put them in your furnace. Place the temperature at 400F and let the nails rise at this temperature. Take the nails out of the furnace and place one in an empty cake pan out of metal and place it in your freezer. Place the other hot nail in a cake pan out of metal which you place on your meter of kitchen.

After one minute, open the door of freezer and touch the nail quickly. I am trustful you will be able to touch it without obtaining flaring. Wet your end of finger and then touch the other nail which rests on your meter. I will bet that you obtain a fast vapor whistle as this nail is always completely hot.

This simple experiment should indicate to you that the thermal transfer between your first stage of heating what is probably 70-72F and your basement what could be 60F is extremely slow. The quantity of energy that you would save in fuel costs would be measured in the penny and probably nickels each season of heating, not in dollars. It could be necessary for decades to you before you break even on the initial investment of $1.000.00 for glass fibre handled you the beater think of the placement in the beams of floor.

What is more, you will discover that your basement will become more uncomfortable and more cold which it is now. If you carry out any work to the bottom there, you can be to add heat thus you can work in relative comfort.

Since your walls of basement lead the cold in your basement via outside on the cold ground, it could be interesting to add the surplus of insulation your exposed base of masonry. You can choose to use the foam or glass fibre of close-cell if you choose. But be sure that you controls with your local department of building as some insulations which are flammable - as the closed foam of cells - must be covered with dry partition or any other material approved to prevent the fast diffusion of fire/flame.

I would also inspect the joint between framing out of wood and the top of the concrete base. Do this one day windy and try to feel for escapes of air. The infiltration of air can be an important drain on your budget of heating. Pack the insulation in all the cracks which you discover or block up them to stop the circulation of air.