I live in a newer 2-story house in Wisconsin, with basement-located furnace. Single furnace. Not zoned.

Even with all my dampers adjusted using the little turn valves (to direct it up to 2nd floor), all the cold air directed up to the 2nd floor pours down into the half-finished basement. There are no doors to keep it from doing this.

My basement is nice and frigid. It manages to keep the second floor cool enough, I guess.

There are NO cold air return vents in the basement at all. Not in the mechanicals room, nor in the adjoining partially finished part of the basement. There are two small heat vents cut into the ceiling in this basement, which I close off in summer to avoid cooling an already-cool basement.

Other than insulating the ducts, does it make sense to cut a cold air return in the cold air return ductwork in the furnace room? Will this improve the recirculation of cool air up to the upper floors, and improve my efficiency?

Thanks

Scott

Doing so probably won't take the chill off your basement during air-conditioning season, but might reduce your power consumption somewhat. If you do cut in a return, just having it in the furnace room may not help much; it should probably be ducted from the biggest space on the floor if possible.

How is your basement during heating season? It could help even more during that time.

Although it probably won't help your air balance, having a return in the basement can be of great benefit. A lot of builders make the mistake of not having one in the lower level. It helps especially during the cooling season. It moves the moist stale air out and allows fresher air in. Your basement air will feel and smell better if you add a return in the basement.