Insulating cellar ceiling?

[Bluesman]

Greetings ~

I have a 100 year old colonial in the northeast with an oil burner and fhw. In the winter my kitchen gets very cold. The heating design was terrible, with only a small baseboard heater along an outside wall. (all other rooms have big radiators.)

Would insulating the ceiling in the cellar help? The cellar does not get ridiculously cold, but for $75 worth of insulation and a staple gun, it would be apretty cheap fix.

Also, is there anything I can do to get more heat into the kitchen short of putting in a new radiator?

Thanks,

Bluesman

[Speedy Jim]

If the temp diff from kitchen to cellar is ~10 deg, insulation will have almost zero effect on heat loss. A small fan blowing across the baseboard fin-tube may extract more BTU's.

Jim

[George E. Cawthon]

You bet, and make sure that the area next to any outside wall/foundation is well insulated at the floor/wall joint. It may not fix the problem but it will certainly help. You might look at increasing the window insulation by adding inside plastic layers, double pane windows, or storm windows.

There is no simple way to add heat. Easiest would be to add another electric baseboard heater. Or, find a way of blowing air into the kitchen from other rooms, thus increasing air circulation.

[psmith]