https://aebuildingsystems.com/cold-air-on-a-calm-day-the-convection-current-problem-nobody-talks-about-blog/ High Performance Building Materials Thu, 12 Mar 2026 15:34:10 +0000 hourly 1 https://aebuildingsystems.com/cold-air-on-a-calm-day-the-convection-current-problem-nobody-talks-about-blog/#comment-9173 Thu, 12 Mar 2026 15:34:10 +0000 https://aebuildingsystems.com/?p=4730#comment-9173 Great article. You could add in one more step towards excellent building-science and a warm basement by stating : After achieving a super tight house with excellent low u value windows and big insulation including the concrete foundation, a destratifing fan from ceiling to the basement floor with a constant low flow of air can actually reverse the old fashion cold basement /warm upstairs physics by sending the hot upper air to the basement floor and use the stairs as a conduit to return that air up to the upstairs.
My emperical evidence shows my basement staying as warm as the upstairs however if my housemate closes the basement door to the staircase ( because they are unaware of the airflow needed) the basement gets noticeably colder after a several hours than the upstairs temperature.
– This destratifing fan was originally designed into my 1981 house designed by SERI (NREL). For retrofitting another house I recommend drilling a couple big one-foot diameter holes in the upper floors (hidden as much as possible) and running a large cavity to the basement floor outfitted with a. 10” or 12 ” Acinfinity high efficiency fan set to medium speed which uses about 78 watts. You can have a comfortable basement.

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