"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
