Layout in an attic question

Rob,

Thanks for the video, but this system only works if you have a ridge vent at the top of the roof...which I do not.

Bill

You don't have to all the way to the ridge, just to your false attic ceiling and boxed in side vents chamber. The more important part is the availability of several styles of the foam rafter vents to assist you in reaching your goal.

"I'm worried about the winter.  I'm in New Jersey, and it gets cold in the attic during the winter months.  Obviously I could use a space heater but then I need to worry about ice dams forming on the roof.  My roof does not have a ridge vent, but rather the attic is cooled by a vent on either side of the house.  I have devised a plan to put a false sealing in the attic and box in the side vents so that I'm creating a cool zone between the false ceiling and the roof, in an effort to avoid ice dams"

    I wouldn't try to re-invent the wheel. An attic train room needs about the same heating and cooling as any other habitable room. I don't know the specifics for your area but if you talk to local contractors and building suppliers they'll be able to tell you what the normal solution is for your locality. An appropriate building code book might be a good place to start too? .......DaveB

Install collar beams to create a space under the ridge["false ceiling"] for air to flow from the louvered gabled end vents at the ends out the through the rafter vents and eaves[ Rob's idea].Install ample insulation over the vents in the rafter spaces and between the collar beams. If you have knee walls [or install them] insulate them.

I don't have the computer skill to draw an illustration. But here is a photo of my attic ceiling which has collar beams installed  to equal the cu.ft.size of the gable end vents[ I also installed a ridge vent when reroofing for hail damage this year.

Think about lighting. My attic room is on the upstairs HVAC system and returns through and open door to a intake vent right outside. 

I just realized that I don't have photos of my ceiling, just one my wife took to show what she refers to as "the mess". But you can at least see the narrow ceiling created by the collar joists and the beginning of flourescent lights running end to end.

I built a 9' x 16' room in my attic and maybe some of my pics will help. I cool my room with a 6,000 btu window AC and I heat with an electric heater. I live in North Carolina and even in extreme temps the room is very comfortable. Oh yeah, wrap the outside of the room in reflective foil to keep radiant heat out.

I have an attic layout in the San Francisco Bay Area.  We almost never get any freezing weather.  

My home has forced hot air heat.  It is easy just to tap one of the forced air vents for heat.  The vents run though the attic.  

I don't even do that most of the time.  I just open the pull down ladder and the hot air from the rest of the house just rises into the attic and quickly makes it comfortable.  

This area doesn't need air conditioning.

NH Joe 

Bill,

I have a 20’ X 20’ attic layout in southeast PA.  I used foam roof baffles, collar beams and insulation.  I have both a ridge vent and gable end vents (actually the gable end vent in the train room is a Broan 353 fan with a Broan 433 shutter).

There is no good way for me to install AC so it gets way too hot in the summer.  When I use the attic gable fan it gets kind of bearable.

In winter, when not being used, the train room is usually a good bit warmer than outside.  Before I operate the trains, I open the train room door and use a portable fan to blow house air into the room.  Also use a 1350 watt portable electric heater.  I haven’t had any problems with ice dams. 

You asked about how cold is too cold an environment for electric trains to live in.  There are several strings and as many opinions on the forum about attic train storage.  I haven’t had any problems with keeping trains in the attic (no train problems due to living in a cold / hot attic).  Although I don’t keep my prewar stuff in the attic.

I built the platform about one foot off the floor to maximize the layout size.  That makes it difficult to run any wiring under the platform so if I had it to do over I would make it a few inches higher and sacrifice some layout size.

Bob

Precisely what I did in my attic.  I have construction photos at home and will post some later.

I just added one A/C vent to the train room. On the hottest days it's less than 90F up there. May seem hot, but we've run many times at the County Fair at temps well above that. With nothing but insulation, it has stayed above 50F even on the coldest days last winter. I do have a very small electric heater that easily keeps the temp above 60F.

I have mine in the attic area above the garage.  When I build the house 7 years ago I had it insulated, and heating and cooling install.  At one time it was going to be a bunk house or media room.  LOL  As the kids move out we ended up with three empty bedrooms, so it became the train room. The room was unfinished except for being insulated and heat/ air system. The insulation installer put the foam channels going from the eve vents to the attic space above the room.  

Since the space was like a "a" frame I put up knee walls at 4 foot on the sides and put doors into the space to store boxes. 

A lot depends on how much work you want to put into improving the attic space with insulation and finishing.

My general thoughts are: better to have a good small layout in a comfortable clean living space, than to have a larger layout in a space that is subject to temperature extremes, dirt, moisture, etc. Those issues will be an ongoing problem.