The 1922 colonial I recently moved into has R-19 FG batts between the basement ceiling joists. I have a hot water heating system (gas fired boiler in the basement, radiators throughout). While there are no radiators in the basement, making it technically "unheated" space, the boiler and hot water pipes running across the ceiling give off enough radiant heat to keep it fairly comfortable. My basement is currently "unfinished" with block walls, but it is used frequently for laundry, workshop, and eventually I plan to add a rec room. I am considering ripping down the existing R-19 and using it to supplement my attic, to save money and because frankly I'm not sure what purpose it serves where it is. Does anyone know of any reasons to insulate between the basement and first floor if my intent is to heat the basement (indirectly through the boiler)? Would removing the insulation cause the hot air to travel through the ceiling into the first floor and make the basement colder?

As a somewhat related issue, I saw on a home improvement show that you can save in heating costs by caulking around the hot water pipe penetrations coming from the basement into the first floor. I'm assuming that the only reason for doing this is if you don't want the basement to be heated and you insulated the hot water pipes, otherwise I'm not sure why I would do this. Any thoughts?

Hi wible 1,
I can answer at least one part of your post with some confidence.My basement is similar to yours although I also maintain an office along with the workshop,laundry,and family room.I insulated part of the basement ceiling with R-19 to cut down on noise and gave no thought to energy concerns.
The basement maintains a year round temperature of about 70-80 degrees which I doubt has anything to do with the insulation.In addition,I burn a very modest amount of oil each year,I can't imagine insulating the rest of the basement ceiling would do much for me in that area.
Using foam around the heating pipes that penetrate the first floor is a good idea if you detect drafts from the basement and if you are on a real energy saving trip.You may get some other opinions here but I believe that if you're comfortable,and your fuel consumption is reasonable,leave well enough alone.

[This message has been edited by Matches (edited November 06, 2001).]