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Excessively hot basement (1 Viewer)

Menopause and Sweating. Intense heat starts in your chest and rises to your neck and head. ... Doctors theorize that hot flashesand night sweats happen as a result of changing estrogen levels. Fortunately, there are plenty of ways to beat the heat and excessive sweating of menopause.

 
Spike said:
Do any of you suffer from this?

My basement through much of the summer is really hot. This summer has been the worst. In the hottest times, it averages 85/86/87 degrees. 

We do have a fairly new dehumidifier that runs and keeps the moisture level at 50%. 

We have had our furnace checked out and it is not that either. 

The house was built in 1999. It is in southeastern Mass  

Any thoughts?
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IMO it’s the dehumidifier.....thru it’s function.  When it’s hot outside and cooler in the basement, humidity inside will rise.  The dehumidifier is, in effect, raising the inside temp. to match the outside temperature to reduce the humidity inside.  Any duct work in your basement?  Perhaps a dryer vent line is open or cut too?  More likely it’s the dehumidifier.

 
Before we had the dehumidifier, there would be lots of drips of water under the pipes in the cellar. 

 
You have a cellar in a house built in 1999, and a basement whose door is closed to the main level, with no ductwork, a/c or presumably any airflow at all? Please describe your basement: windows, walk-out (?), insulation, size, etc. Are humans even supposed to be down there? The way you describe it as a cellar you’d think no windows and a damp 65 degrees all the time with no light or windows.

Did you pm Shuke yet?

 
Johnny Rock said:
You have a cellar in a house built in 1999, and a basement whose door is closed to the main level, with no ductwork, a/c or presumably any airflow at all? Please describe your basement: windows, walk-out (?), insulation, size, etc. Are humans even supposed to be down there? The way you describe it as a cellar you’d think no windows and a damp 65 degrees all the time with no light or windows.

Did you pm Shuke yet?
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Great idea!

@shuke - what the hell is going on here?

 
Spike said:
Do any of you suffer from this?

My basement through much of the summer is really hot. This summer has been the worst. In the hottest times, it averages 85/86/87 degrees. 

We do have a fairly new dehumidifier that runs and keeps the moisture level at 50%. 

We have had our furnace checked out and it is not that either. 

The house was built in 1999. It is in southeastern Mass  

Any thoughts?
Click to expand...
Have you ever walked outside to take a look?

Maybe the dirt has washed away from the foundation and we're looking at more of a first story kind of deal now instead of a basement.

 
Chemical X said:
IMO it’s the dehumidifier.....thru it’s function.  When it’s hot outside and cooler in the basement, humidity inside will rise.  The dehumidifier is, in effect, raising the inside temp. to match the outside temperature to reduce the humidity inside.  Any duct work in your basement?  Perhaps a dryer vent line is open or cut too?  More likely it’s the dehumidifier.
Click to expand...
Time for a new dehumidifier if it’s throwing off that kind of heat.  I don’t see how a dehumidifier can heat up an entire basement.

 
I received multiple PMs about this.  Can we get some photos of this so called "basement" of yours?  Are you sure it's not a crawlspace?

 
NotSmart said:
Have you ever walked outside to take a look?

Maybe the dirt has washed away from the foundation and we're looking at more of a first story kind of deal now instead of a basement.
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No. No change in what surrounds the foundation. 

 
shuke said:
I received multiple PMs about this.  Can we get some photos of this so called "basement" of yours?  Are you sure it's not a crawlspace?
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I have a few pics but no way to get them to you except via email or text. 

 
Has it been like this since you owned the house, or did it start recently.  My basement is always chilly.

Also, I was once told by an AC guy to not run the dehumidifer when the AC is running.

 
Thorpe said:
Has it been like this since you owned the house, or did it start recently.  My basement is always chilly.

Also, I was once told by an AC guy to not run the dehumidifer when the AC is running.
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Always. 

And we have no A/C in the basement. 

 
Galileo said:
Why not?
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It was 15 years ago.  I think he said the AC is also a dehumidifier and the AC won't work as effifiently.  

"And we have no A/C in the basement. "

He meant running it in the same house when running AC.

This is just one AC guy's opinion, I don't know if it is true, but he did do a really good job fixing a leak the previous AC guy left in my system....

 
Spike said:
Yep. Just got it last night. 

Next step?  What am I checking with it?
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:shrug: walk around and point it at electrical equipment, etc? I would assume that the source of the excess heat would be warmer than the basement as a whole, so look for "hot spots".

It won't register air temperatures, so if some areas are warmer than others, you'd need a conventional thermometer to check that.

 
Flash1 said:
Someone else asked this but was never answered........ Is your dryer venting into the basement and not outside? That would do it in a heartbeat
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No, it is a good question but it is properly vented to outside. 

 
maybe check that vent and see if it is plugged up with lint or not actually venting gas out right like it should be its like when you want to let one fly and really stink up the joint but you are backed up and instead your stomach just hurts that is the intestine version of what very well might be the problem in your basement slash portal to hell take that to the bank brochacho 

 
i am still strong on hobos take that to the bank boxcarmigos

 
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it’s the effin humidifier you chode.  not the heat it is putting out, as it removes moisture, the heat in the room will increase to match outside temps, in order to minimize humidity.  simply astrohydraulic physics.  it’s like when a banana turns brown or honey stops coagulating.

 
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If the basement is 85 degrees, something down there is putting out so much heat you wouldnt need a fancy gadget to find it.  

If something isnt obviously pouring out heat, then you need to get some geologists over there pronto

 
I think you just need to stop running the dehumidifier for a few days and see if it gets better, and then WA LA.

 
You shouldn't need to be running the dehumidifier all that much unless there is a bunch of rain. If you have to run the dehumidifier constantly, then you either have a serious drainage/water penetration issue in your basement or you have a serious airflow issue in your house/basement that is allowing warm air in somehow and it's not being dealt with properly because your HVAC isn't creating airflow in your basement.

If it's dry outside, turn th dehumidifier off. If it gets cooler in the basement and there is no moisture, you're golden. If there is moisture but it gets cooler, then you have a water penetration issue most likely. If there is moisture and it doesn't get cooler, you may have an air penetration or airflow issue.

ETA: For $10, you can buy a cheap device to measure relative humidity. Link It will be accurate enough for your needs. You should be in the 40-60% range ideally. If you are a higher or lower than that, it could be an indication of some definite issues. If you turn off the dehumidifier and it stays in that 40-60% range, maybe leave it off unless you have reason to run it.

 
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Some more info: Dehumidifiers work on essentially the same concept of an AC unit. It sucks the hot moist air in and runs it over cold coils to cool the air. This condenses the water and drips it into the pan. On the way out, the air passes through the section of the unit where the heat exchang happens to chill the refrigerant which warms the air up to about 15-25 degrees warmer than the surrounding air. This had the added benefit of sending hot dry air out to mix with the other air which further drops relative humidity.

So if your dehumidifer is running constantly and you have no airflow from your HVAC system down there, then you are constantly running a device in your basement that is exhausting air that is 15-25 degrees warmer than the rest of the air down there.

If your dehumidifier is constantly running, you either have your humidity level set way too low, your unit is way too small for the space, a combo of the two, or you have a really really bad moisture problem that the dehumidifier is only masking.

 
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