Basements, Attics and Crawl Spaces - Building Office in Basement, Misc Questions

I am remodeling one of the unfinished rooms in my basement into a home office. I have a few questions about a few items.

1. I am going to insulate the wall that is adjacent to the outside concrete wall.
2. Should I insulate the interior partitions adjacent to the finished basement for noise reduction or not necessary?
3. The A/C Heat ductwork runs in a soffit I am building in the office ceiling. Should I add a vent to the room? The thermostat is upstairs so I wouldnt be able to regulate it but I could add heat/a.c. It is a very small room, will it be too hot/cold with the vent?
4. Should I insulate the ceiling?
5. Should I wrap the ductwork with insulation, I can only get to about 1/2 of the run in the basement so I do not know if some is better than none. If I do wrap it, will it get extremely cold in the winter since it will no longer leak the heat into the room?

Thanks!

I have a basement office and it gets cold during the day. The thermostat is located upstairs and is set to come on at 63 during the day. The basement will be about 5 degrees cooler than teh main floor.

Yes insulate the block wall and insulate the space around teh floor joists. the sideing is nailed to that 2x12 that your floor joist are attached too, no insulation. When I remodeled my basement last year I insulated teh rim joist, block walls down below grade level, installed new windows, and a new furnace. My utility bills dropped $50 a month. And the basement got warmer, warm enough my son moved into it.

Yes install a vent for hvac.
My office is in a room about 24x30 and has three vents and is open to the rest of the basement 24/7/365. No doors. In fact I have been upstaris for 2 1/2 hours now and am just strating to warm up again. I get wrapped up in work and dont stop to add a layer. Its worse on days I dont wear socks. lol

If possible, install a hvac return in addition to your hvac supply. The exchange of air will make a huge difference towards balancing the temp on all levels of your home. On some homes, the stairwell from basement to first floor is completely open. No doors on top or bottom. Sometimes with this style, hvac returns may not be necessary as upstairs returns can often pull the air from basement in order to exchange. Without a return, you can develop positive air pressure in your basement. I would insulate basement ceiling to minimize the noise factor.

One thing to keep in mind... The only room I can condition is a 10'5" x 7'4" room, tiny. I want to be careful that I do not make it too cold nor too hot by insulating and air conditioning/heating.

I do not believe I can add a return as I do not think the ductwork runs over this space, but I will check. I am 99% sure it is fresh air in only.

I do have a stairway leading upstairs but there is a door upstairs (which has to remain as we have a baby in the house and I prefer it over gates). Also, the finished room leading to these stairs in the basement does not have any heating/AC vents.

So to summarize, the recommendations are as follows:

-Insulate exterior wall as I planned
-Insulate ceiling between floor joists
-Install HVAC supply
-If possible, install HVAC return (but not necessary)
-Do not insulate interior walls in office

Should I wrap the ductwork with insulation or not necessary?

So to summarize, the recommendations are as follows:

-Insulate exterior wall as I planned
if you're planning to raise standard 2 x 4 studded walls, make sure wall next to exterior foundation is set in by approx 1", insulating between studs is not a bad idea. After insulation, make sure you staple up a poly vapor barrier prior to sheet rocking
-Insulate ceiling between floor joists
I recommend it
-Install HVAC supply
small room, a supply would be nice
-If possible, install HVAC return (but not necessary)
what is the overall humidity factor in your basement. if slightly cool and moist, a return anywhere in your basement will mix that air with the dryer air in the remainder of your home. if you'd like to put in a return in your office, you can still do so even though the duct doesn't run above the room. run a plenum off the top of the duct, enclose the cavity formed between two of the ceiling joists leading to the finished space, continue the duct down through an enclosed cavity between your wall studs, add a vent on the inside of the conditioned space, next to the floor. supply can come through the ceiling.
-Do not insulate interior walls in office
I recommend insulating interior walls if noise down the road might be a concern. for instance, i insulated interior walls of my furnace room, bedroom, and bathroom for noise reduction purposes only

Should I wrap the ductwork with insulation or not necessary?[/QUOTE]

as for insulating the duct work, it might be overkill, not necessary. probably more so a personal preference.

and, if raising 2 x 4 walls, please make sure you use pressure treated lumber in places where lumber contacts concrete.