Basement staple up with forced air ducts

CapeCod

I have access to the first floor joists from the basement but currently have gas forced air furnace and central air. Would be nice to leave the ducts for the ac even if I eliminate the furnace. Anyone have experience leaving ductwork intact and still installing staple up between available joists?

furnacefigher15

Yes

I have done this, but not as a replacement for heat, but only a supplement to break the chill on the floor.



In that case I used a 6 gallon electric water heater as the heat source, b/c that was all I needed. ( I modified the heater to a low pressure system, and set up controls and pumps like any regular boiler)



I will likely not do this type of job again, as I spent a tremendous amount of time clipping nails and staples that were penetrating into the joist bays.



All in all the design worked as intended, but I lost my shirt on the job.