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They are awesome units.  We've had our Mitsubishi units for two years now and love them, extremely quiet and efficient.  We have four head units, two on each floor and they work great.  The tech had to run a vacuum pump for six hours to reach the proper amount of vacuum.  It was a good and much needed break for him because it took them a day and a half to drill the holes through the red brick on the exterior of the house.  Then they had to deal with the tops of the sill plates above the windows.  And of all things it was 90 degrees that week.  Burned up 2 masonry whole saws in the process!

Looking forward to seeing your progress on the layout!

Had a similar plan to add one of those units to my basement when we bought our house in 2016.  It’s a walkout finished basement containing my woodworking shop, theatre room and an area for the train layout.  It has no a/c and the only heat is a wood burning stove.

Decided to wait a year for my bank account to recover after buying the house.  In the meantime, started to track how many days I would need a/c and heat with a digital thermometer that records history.  Figured that info would help in buying an appropriate size unit.

Now going on three years and have had no days that I needed a/c.  The heat is only justifiable  during an average of 14 weeks.  So far, on occasional fire in the wood burning stove or an electric space heater is all that is needed to make it comfortable.  The highest recorded temp was 74 and the lowest was 59.  Current temp is 68. Hard to justify the expense for a nice split unit so far. Besides, the wife likes the excuse to have an occasional fire while watching a movie on the projector.

We did buy a dehumidifier that I run occasionally during the humid Virginia summers. Highest recorded humidity so far has been 64 percent.  Prior owners did a nice job of sealing the basement and adding a good layer of spray foam  insulation in the walls.

Last edited by jstraw124

Alex, track is next.  My daughter threw a monkey wrench into my layout construction, she showed up with a couple of kids!  We're making room for them, so in addition to doing the heat and A/C, we're also finishing the 3rd floor loft.  Life occasionally intervenes when you're making other plans.

jstraw124 posted:
Now going on three years and have had no days that I needed a/c.  The heat is only justifiable  during an average of 14 weeks.  So far, on occasional fire in the wood burning stove or an electric space heater is all that is needed to make it comfortable.  The highest recorded temp was 74 and the lowest was 59.  Current temp is 68.

My situation is a bit different.  Since we were installing the loft climate control, the add-on to do the basement was less than if I were buying the whole system just for that area.  Also, closing off the basement vents will allow the main system to better distribute even heat to the upstairs.  I suspect that sometime in my future I'll be replacing the sliding door with something that holds the heat in better, that's in the future...

Last edited by gunrunnerjohn
gunrunnerjohn posted:

Alex, track is next.  My daughter threw a monkey wrench into my layout construction, she showed up with a couple of kids!  We're making room for them, so in addition to doing the heat and A/C, we're also finishing the 3rd floor loft.  Life occasionally intervenes when you're making other plans.

jstraw124 posted:
Now going on three years and have had no days that I needed a/c.  The heat is only justifiable  during an average of 14 weeks.  So far, on occasional fire in the wood burning stove or an electric space heater is all that is needed to make it comfortable.  The highest recorded temp was 74 and the lowest was 59.  Current temp is 68.

My situation is a bit different.  Since we were installing the loft climate control, the add-on to do the basement was less than if I were buying the whole system just for that area.  Also, closing off the basement vents will allow the main system to better distribute even heat to the upstairs.  I suspect that sometime in my future I'll be replacing the sliding door with something that holds the heat in better, that's in the future...

John I hear ya LOL , I’m just Breaking your Chops lol. I’ve been trying for the last two years, and I get get to first base. 

Alex 

gunrunnerjohn posted:

Us "old guys" are more reliable, that's why they want to hire us.

You can't beat experience, plain and simple. Most managers forget things like that. I myself often get the "are you sure about that" question from my boss. I can do stuff blindfolded while he and some others can get what it is when I show them.

Monkey wrenches always happen John, Alex & Mark. Maybe we should toss darts at the dart board and play those numbers in the lottery, lol.

gunrunnerjohn posted:

Alex, track is next.  My daughter threw a monkey wrench into my layout construction, she showed up with a couple of kids!  We're making room for them, so in addition to doing the heat and A/C, we're also finishing the 3rd floor loft.  Life occasionally intervenes when you're making other plans.

jstraw124 posted:
Now going on three years and have had no days that I needed a/c.  The heat is only justifiable  during an average of 14 weeks.  So far, on occasional fire in the wood burning stove or an electric space heater is all that is needed to make it comfortable.  The highest recorded temp was 74 and the lowest was 59.  Current temp is 68.

My situation is a bit different.  Since we were installing the loft climate control, the add-on to do the basement was less than if I were buying the whole system just for that area.  Also, closing off the basement vents will allow the main system to better distribute even heat to the upstairs.  I suspect that sometime in my future I'll be replacing the sliding door with something that holds the heat in better, that's in the future...

Be sure to check out the various methods of insulating that slider before deciding to replace. There are a lot of options.

Dave NYC Hudson PRR K4 posted:
gunrunnerjohn posted:

Us "old guys" are more reliable, that's why they want to hire us.

You can't beat experience, plain and simple. Most managers forget things like that. I myself often get the "are you sure about that" question from my boss. I can do stuff blindfolded while he and some others can get what it is when I show them.

Monkey wrenches always happen John, Alex & Mark. Maybe we should toss darts at the dart board and play those numbers in the lottery, lol.

John and Dave, That is exactly why they hired me.  The trouble was the pace for tech support was too taxing for me.  My blood pressure went up every day.  If I hadn't already been on anti-anxiety medication, I probably wouldn't have lasted as long as I did.    At least I can better appreciate what the person on the other end of the phone has to deal with when I call for tech support or customer service, now!  

Mark Boyce posted:
Dave NYC Hudson PRR K4 posted:
gunrunnerjohn posted:

Us "old guys" are more reliable, that's why they want to hire us.

You can't beat experience, plain and simple. Most managers forget things like that. I myself often get the "are you sure about that" question from my boss. I can do stuff blindfolded while he and some others can get what it is when I show them.

Monkey wrenches always happen John, Alex & Mark. Maybe we should toss darts at the dart board and play those numbers in the lottery, lol.

John and Dave, That is exactly why they hired me.  The trouble was the pace for tech support was too taxing for me.  My blood pressure went up every day.  If I hadn't already been on anti-anxiety medication, I probably wouldn't have lasted as long as I did.    At least I can better appreciate what the person on the other end of the phone has to deal with when I call for tech support or customer service, now!  

One of the guys who worked with me was in our CS. A nice short old guy who would have his ear to the phone and be understanding, concerned for the customer's needs, willing to do whatever was humanly possible, and communicate to the highest degree. They don't make guys like him anymore(or they're really hard to find nowadays). He was a lesson in excellence of job knowledge and implementation. That's why whenever I call up a place, I think of him on the other end and I am calm and rational.

To add to the contractor/ train guy stories.

About 20 +  years ago I was doing a big renovation of a large house on the north shore of Long Island. I met the GC there to go over the project. The house was nothing remarkable except for the NYC skyline views from the pool deck. As we got down to the basement I came across a closed door. I asked what was behind it and the contractor wasn't sure. We opened it and turned on the lights and a huge O gauge layout with all the bells and whistles was sitting there. My jaw hit the floor and before the job was done I had trains running on the layout and helped the non-train savvy new owner understand how it all worked. The layout could run 4 trains simultaneously with automatic block control.  I wish I had taken some photos but we weren't carrying cameras around with us yet. 

John- best of luck settling in your daughter and grand kids.

Great use of the double slip switches John.  They will provide immediate access of your yard to which ever right a way you choose.  Without them, the service they perform would take quite a few additional turnouts, push back into the grade and require a much longer  piece of real estate.  Very efficient design, looking great!

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OGR Publishing, Inc., 1310 Eastside Centre Ct, Suite 6, Mountain Home, AR 72653
800-980-OGRR (6477)
www.ogaugerr.com

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