Heat Pumps and Electric Heating - Help, Please - We Are So Confused!

Hi!! I hope somebody can help us understand - the more info we look at, the more confused we get. :wall:

We have a ranch house w/full walk-out basement. The basement is not heated ex. w/wood stove & a fireplace - it's about 1200 sf. down there & separated basically into 4 good sized rooms. 2 bedrooms, 1 laundry/utility/heatpump/bath room and 1 family room. We're trying to figure out how to heat & cool it. We have a Rudd heatpump (3 yrs. old) upstairs. We live in Mid-VA, so it's not terribly cold (low about 20) and it was about 100 today. We do not have access to natural gas, so our choices are electric or propane. I think propane would be cheaper, but it doesn't cool & it is fairly humid down there & with our allergies I'd like to dry it out. The basement does stay pretty cool in the summer as about 1/2 the foundation is underground (house is on a hill). It has to be efficient & not terribly expensive - we could afford about $2-3K for this project.

Any advice on how to heat / cool / dehumidify this space as economically and efficiently as possible would be SOOO appreciated!

Thank you in advance! :D

Bippity

We have a ranch house w/full walk-out basement. The basement is not heated ex. w/wood stove & a fireplace - it's about 1200 sf. down there & separated basically into 4 good sized rooms. 2 bedrooms, 1 laundry/utility/heatpump/bath room and 1 family room.

A couple of claryfying questions.

When you mention "heat pump" in the combination laundry/utility/bathroom, you are speaking of an air handler for the upstairs heat pump?

And you prefer to not use fireplace/wood stove as your primary source of heat for basement? Correct?

What is average temperature of basement rooms in summer?
You definitely want a method of both heating and cooling basement?
Basement is a slab? What is height of your basement ceiling?

The preferred method is a forced air system that will require ductwork to each room. Without knowing whether ductwork is possible for the basement, I doubt that this can be accomplished on the budget you mention. Propane is really too expensive so that leaves an electric heat pump. There are mini split heat pumps that are ductless and can be mounted in an outside wall. I am attaching a website that gives you an idea of their appearance and how they work.

http://www.mini-split.com/

Hope this is helpful.
:)

Thanks, for responding!

Yes, the air handler for the heat pump inside the house in the laundry/bath room. We want to get rid of the wood stove - it's too hot in one room & doesn't make it out to the rest & doesn't cool. :p The average temp in summer is probably about 68-70 - in the winter it gets pretty cold - maybe 45-50ish. We're most interested in heating more than cooling - I think it mainly needs to be dehumidified for cooling to happen. There is ductwork already in place down there, but it's at ceiling level & my hubby says that is a problem since heat rises. And, I'm not sure why, but when we had the main, upstairs heat pump system replaced, they couldn't or didn't or discouraged us from hooking it up to the vents downstairs - I think they said it wouldn't work for some reason. We need it to be usable space in the winter & not so humid all the time (esp. summer) & I don't know how to do it. Maybe we should just call the HVAC people who installed the heatpump a few years ago? I think I remember them suggesting we get electric baseboard heaters, but I'm hesitant 'cause we have a 2 year old.

baseboard heaters can be put in today to be kid safe they cost more thats all

If you use baseboard heaters get the kind where the heating element is inside a tube of liquid. they are alot safer. My friends kid dumped crayons into his and it didn't start a fire. Good around drapes too.