Has anyone ever considered using a radiant cove heater for supplemental heat in their train room? I understand it heats the objects in the room thus heating the air. My concern is heating the layout itself could cause damage.
Thanks
A radiant heater doesn't really produce heat, you feel the heat when you stand in front of it. It uses infrared radiation to do it. Just like the sun does.
Not sure if it would heat objects. As a rule it would not be aimed at the layout, but at where you would be standing.
I've used a small space heater when i needed it, then, after ripping down part of the basement ceiling drywall, I found that a damper had been closed in the duct for the train room, opened it & now i have plenty of heat.
Gord
Brought to you by the letters C.P.R. as well as D&H!
K1a - all the way
I use an electric room heater like this one. It's under the front of my layout and heats all of my trailer.
Dr. Frankendiesel aka Scott Running BearSpace Mouse for president!15 year veteran fire fighterCollector of Apple //e'sRunning Bear EnterprisesHistory Channel Club life member.beatus homo qui invenit sapientiam
betamax A radiant heater doesn't really produce heat, you feel the heat when you stand in front of it. It uses infrared radiation to do it. Just like the sun does. Not sure if it would heat objects. As a rule it would not be aimed at the layout, but at where you would be standing.
Actually it does - it heats the air, the objects, and you. Radiant, as in radiator, as in hot water (hydronic) heating systems. Most radiant heating systems actually use a combination of radiant and convective principals to heat a space. It is in many cases the best kind of heat, most fuel efficient, and most comfortable.
I design such systems as part of my work as a residential designer and historic restoration consultant and my own home is heated with hot water baseboard heat - a system I designed and installed myself.
As for train rooms, I simply would not build a layout in a space that was not fully climate controlled. My train room, a 22' x 40' room above my detached garage, is fully insulated and has propane forced hot air heat and central A/C.
Sheldon
In the winter the creature comfort is 72-75 degrees so,the heat for my layout would be the same.
Like Sheldon I wouldn't want to build a layout without climate control either.
Larry
Conductor.
Summerset Ry.
"Stay Alert, Don't get hurt Safety First!"
I use little portable electric heaters where needed in the train room.
In the winter it gets down to 45 to 50 degrees but once I turn on the layout room lights in prepping for an OPs Session the 8000 watts of florescent lights heats up the 2000 sq ft nicely.
Once the Operators (15 or so) arrive the room will up to 70 degrees in no time!
Why spend money on heating the room when I don't have to and besides the Operators give off enough heat for FREE - in more ways than one! ;-)
BOB H - Clarion, PA
Before everyone gets all "het up" about converting to "infra-red" heaters, remember that ALL heat is infra-red! Yes, even the heat produced by your furnace. Infra-red radiation heats the air flowing around the heat exchange unit. The sun's heat is produced by the infra-red portion of the light spectrum given off by the giant hydrogen fusion bomb that is our Sun. So don't waste money (that could be better spent on train stuff) on these expensive gimmicky heaters. The little electric heaters that cmrproducts uses work the same way and are certainly much less expensive.
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Gary M. Collins gmcrailgNOSPAM@gmail.com
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"Common Sense, Ain't!" -- G. M. Collins
http://fhn.site90.net
Agree with others. I have a brand new forced air furnace lurking in my basement. The old one went Kaput! The furnace keeps the bathroom, and the basement train room very nice year round, air in the summer, heat in the winter. Also does a great job of keeping the house, which is three levels, very nice also, at least that is what my wife says.
Bob
Years ago I used to have a couple electric (Radient) heaters I plugged in and turned on when I worked down cellar in the train room. They did OK if I was just sitting at the work bench, but anywhere else I was always cold as the basement would get down to 50° on a cold day. When I built another room onto the area the train is in, I decided to heat the space. I finally decided on a vented Gas Heater. It is more efficient than my old main furnace and keeps me very comfortable when I am down there in the winter. It also uses a pilot light and so keeps just a touch of heat in the rooms when I am not down there (about 5° rise). If it is below zero ° outside, I usually keep the heat turned up just a bit to keep the room temp from swinging a lot. It was a bit more expensive than just buying a cheap portable heater, but is cheaper to operate and does a great job.
As others have said, I too like a climate controlled layout room. I also run a humidifier in the Winter and a dehumidifier in the Summer.
73
Ray Seneca Lake, Ontario, and Western R.R. (S.L.O.&W.) in HO
We'll get there sooner or later!
What worked for me was putting 12" of bat insulation in the basement ceiling and then sheet rocking the whole thing. There are no windows in the train room or workshop. I have only one set of vents for the whole basement and it only varies 10' from summer to winter. I do occaisionally run the dehumidifier in the workshop on the most humid days in the summer.
Jay
C-415 Build: https://imageshack.com/a/tShC/1
Other builds: https://imageshack.com/my/albums
TA462 BRAKIE: In the winter the creature comfort is 72-75 degrees so,the heat for my layout would be the same. Like Sheldon I wouldn't want to build a layout without climate control either. Careful Larry, last time someone brought up the temperature people keep their houses/trailers at all heck broke loose, lolol.
BRAKIE: In the winter the creature comfort is 72-75 degrees so,the heat for my layout would be the same. Like Sheldon I wouldn't want to build a layout without climate control either.
Careful Larry, last time someone brought up the temperature people keep their houses/trailers at all heck broke loose, lolol.
Let it break loose, we heat our 3750 sq ft house to above 72 degrees as well - it's my money and my business. And I cool it down to about 74-75 in the summer. And I heat and cool the unfinished basement as well since that is where my train workshop is. Gee, that makes the house 5050 sq ft.
And in the coldest and hotest months, I run the heat/cooling in the train room (above the detached garage) even when I'm not up there - but I do set it back a little.
I wouldn't suggest it.
I once had a friend who had it. If we are talking the same electric radiant heating that units are hung up by the ceiling.
First it was expensive. He kept the house at 50*-55* as that was all he could resonably afford.
Second, I NEVER did feel "warm" from it. It's supposed to heat the people and objects, but I found that not to be true, even at 50*. {at one time I had to keep propane heat at 50-55* until I knew what my winter budget for heat was...I felt warmer with the propane!!}
Third, the only time I felt heat from it was if I stood by the panel and then it felt hot on my face, but that was it.
I would stick with conventional methods of adding heat. Either electric baseboard {if you can afford it}, or propane or Nat. Gas wall heaters to supplement the train room's heat.
Just my
-G .
Just my thoughts, ideas, opinions and experiences. Others may vary.
HO and N Scale.
After long and careful thought, they have convinced me. I have come to the conclusion that they are right. The aliens did it.
CR&T in construction is in a room beside the furnace room. After 35 years, the furnace was replaced with today's efficiency standards + stainless steel chimney liners. This sure solves any heating problem.
Conemaugh Road & Traction circa 1956