TRAIN ROOM TEMPERATURE

My basement is heated/air conditioned but it has unfinished, bare, concrete and brick walls with no insulation. Temperature is pretty constant year round in the 60-70 degree range. I'd guess that a room temperature 45 degrees when not in use should be fine. Basically keep everything above freezing and you should be good.

I think moisture is more of a problem than cold.

Keep in mind the amount of energy it takes to get the room back up to temperature, takes a lot of energy to get it back to high 60's.

@E-UNIT-79 posted:

I think moisture is more of a problem than cold.

I agree, and would be concerned about condensation resulting from large fluctuations in temperature.

I believe it is very good for trains and layouts to keep things dry. A good dehumidifier helps in that regard. Arnold

If cold bothered electronics, I don't think my car or truck would run here in WNY for the next five months.

@Hummer posted:

Hello, I just need some train room advice on controlling the temperature in my train room.  With the cost of propane starting to rise, I'm trying to reduce the cost of heat.  How cold is too cold for the train room?  I was thinking of keeping the temperature at 45 degrees when not in use.  Is that too cold for the electronics?  Any wisdom to share would be greatly appreciated!

Absolutely no issue with electronics.  Before you affect anything electronic, your lubrication might be an issue.

I've started my car at -20F, and the only issue was the slow cranking because the battery didn't put out as much power and the oil was like lard!   However, it started, and all was well after it warmed up.  Never gave the electronics a thought.

Most components are rated at least -25C to +70C, and industrial ratings are typically -40C to +85C or even +105C.

I’d agree with Jim, …you’d spend more money trying to get the room back up to an enjoyable temperature…..45 degrees inside a house is just plain miserable ….let alone outside,….and then you got to make everything acclimate itself back to room temperature,…..a violent shift in temperatures would certainly invite moisture to form in things you don’t want it to…..I’d re-think what you’re planning,…I use propane to heat my train room, just had to kick it on for the first time this season yesterday,……but it’s one of those things where my train room is my retreat from the daily grind,….so ima be as snug as a bug in a rug,….😉

Pat

Just my opinion and experience; DRY is much more important than temperature. During the winter months, we always had the thermostat set at 55/60 degrees for the upstairs layout. During the summer, the thermostat was set at about 80 to 84 degrees. During operating sessions, the thermostat was obviously adjusted for more comfortable levels.

I like to keep temperature and humidity the same all year. I keep it at 69 degrees with 40-45% humidity. I just turned on the heat and the dehumidifier off until next spring. I have been happy with doing it that way for 17 years. We have 2400 square feet downstairs. I haven't seen any signs of rust on wheels, track, etc. No signs of dampness on wood walls or floors. Knock on wood. Dave

Warm air holds more moisture than cold air. So when the air temperature goes down, the humidity goes up. When the temperature hits the dew point, these will be water on cold surfaces. Ideally the humidity is kept below 40 % RH. Steel will not rust due to humidity under this condition. To keep the RH below 40 % requires a combination of heat and dehumidifying.  

My train room is a separate bldg. I have always kept it at 50 degrees, then when I go out there, I throw some wood in the wood stove and it’s up to temp. In no time. Never had any issues with my trains. I went with 50 so that there is no popping of screw holes with the drywall.

@JDFonz posted:

My train room is a separate bldg. I have always kept it at 50 degrees, then when I go out there, I throw some wood in the wood stove and it’s up to temp. In no time. Never had any issues with my trains. I went with 50 so that there is no popping of screw holes with the drywall.

Not to hijack the OP, but do you have (extra) dust issues with the wood stove ?   My train room has a wood stove but I yet to use it as the basement is ok ,so far, but we are facing our first winter in this house.

I keep my train room at 68 deg. when unoccupied and 72 when occupied. I keep my cigars in the same room and use a pellet stove for heat. Its important to maintain temperature control because I have more money invested in cigars than trains. No dust issues at all.

WELL....... According to NASA's web site, supposedly The command module traveled around the dark side of the Moon several times and survived a sustained temperature of 374 degrees below zero  during the Apollo 11 moon mission. The space craft's systems  survived. Everyone made it back.Nick

If your tracks are soldered heat is a problem.... individual track sections ,you are good, expansion.

I live in a house built in 1936. This is a Michigan Historic Home because it was built for Chrysler Employees. They built 275 homes and they ran a bus from my subdivision to the factory in Detroit.

Living in an old house can make for challenging air-conditioning & heating issues. This time a year we have the daytime temperature at 68°F & at night 63°F (Auto Thermostat)

I also have a dehumidifier in the train room, which is in the basement. My layout has been in this room for 26 years with no issues related to heat.

Hope this helps: Gary

I have two dehumidifiers in my basement, it's around 1000 sq/ft.  I also have a 12,000 BTU mini-split heat pump for climate control.  The combination allows me to keep the humidity and temperature at comfortable levels.

I agree with those that say humidity is your enemy. My train room (garage loft) has little heat gain with no windows on the south side. Last year, I put in a mini-split, but it doesn't run much on milder days, so I added a de-humidifier. Max humidity 60%.

I’m down in the basement a lot, so it’s kept at 70 year-round, and a dehumidifier.

@Oman posted:

I agree with those that say humidity is your enemy. My train room (garage loft) has little heat gain with no windows on the south side. Last year, I put in a mini-split, but it doesn't run much on milder days, so I added a de-humidifier. Max humidity 60%.

I try to keep the humidity to no more than 45% at any time.  Normally, I can stabilize at 40% most of the year.

One thing to consider: If you layout is in the basement and you keep it cool down there. Your main floor heat has to work harder because some of that cold may rise up into the floor and possibly the lower part of the main floor rooms. While my parents lived in Wisconsin, we had a basement that was probably kept around 55 degrees or so. It was nice to know the cold wasn't coming up to the main floor and the main floor heaters trying to keep it warm.

The only way to get my basement down below 55 degrees is to open the door and window in the winter!   Without any heat, it's typically in the low 60's in the winter, then I kick on the heat and get it back up to 68-70.  Besides, does it really matter if your main floor heat had to run a little longer to add warmth to the basement?  The heat has to come from somewhere, and you still have to pay for it.

Humidity is always the first concern when electronics-laden model trains are concerned. Keep the room temperature at whatever range is comfortable for you, and keep the humidity level at between 50-60% (in most cases). If the air is too dry, it can often cause some human discomfort. If it is kept too moist, your trains won't like it over the long run.

@gunrunnerjohn posted:

I try to keep the humidity to no more than 45% at any time.  Normally, I can stabilize at 40% most of the year.

I'd like to get below 50%, but can't get there until the heating season. I have 3 commercial sensors (UBIBOT), one of which is in the train room. The other 2, also in AC conditioned space hover around 60%, so I'm inclined to believe them. Today the train room is 36% RH and it's 44F outside and 65F in the train room.

@Allan Miller posted:

Humidity is always the first concern when electronics-laden model trains are concerned. Keep the room temperature at whatever range is comfortable for you, and keep the humidity level at between 50-60% (in most cases). If the air is too dry, it can often cause some human discomfort. If it is kept too moist, your trains won't like it over the long run.

IMO, you want to keep it at or below 50%.  I start smelling that "musty basement smell" if it gets up to 60%.  I set my dehumidifiers at 45% in the summer and 40% in the winter.  Obviously most of the time in the winter, they don't run at all.

@gunrunnerjohn posted:

IMO, you want to keep it at or below 50%.  I start smelling that "musty basement smell" if it gets up to 60%.  I set my dehumidifiers at 45% in the summer and 40% in the winter.  Obviously most of the time in the winter, they don't run at all.

Just curious, are they portable?  Do you have them drain into a floor drain or a sump pit?

@Tony H posted:

Just curious, are they portable?  Do you have them drain into a floor drain or a sump pit?

I have a floating slab in the basement, so one drains into that in the back room.  The one in the main train room drains into the sump pit.  I've only heard the sump pump run twice since we bought this place in 2017, both times right after many inches of rain.  Since it's a walk-out basement, I suspect I have less of a water issue than folks with a true basement.

use family room for train layout - basements are rare here in Texas.  Upside is no moisture problem and room temp set at 68 degrees.

Trestle-  I don’t really have any problem with dust, as the entire bldg. is dry walled and has linoleum on the floor.

joel

I keep the thermostat at 68 in the finished side of our basement with forced hot water baseboard radiators. The boiler is in the unfinished side where my shop is and that keeps things comfortable. We had a wet summer this year and the humidity did get to 60%. If that were every year I would consider a de-humidifier. I also keep vinyl records in my basement and play them often. (My cartridge is more expensive than all of my train stuff combined, including the layout in progress.) This time of year the humidity drops below 40% and I start noticing static down there which can detract from playback if the static is bad enough. I've even tried running a humidifier in the winter.

I do have a sump pit in the basement, and my dehumidifier drains into it.

I keep my train room as cold as I can make it - the colder the air the more impressive the exhaust plumes from my live steam O gauge trains!

I keep the thermostat set so that the temperature never goes below 60 during winter, nor above 80 in summer.

All I can say with authority is that an MPC-era auto rack will soften and your cars' tires will start to sink into the plastic and leave divots at about 120.  Found that out the hard way when I had my garage layout during a really hot summer.

@Number 90 posted:

I keep the thermostat set so that the temperature never goes below 60 during winter, nor above 80 in summer.

Hmm...  I like mine to be 68 in the winter and maybe mid 70's in the summer.

Don't have basements here, I get uncomfortable when the RH goes over 10%!

I am temperature and humidity controlled. Temps are between 68 and 70 degrees. I keep the humidity at 45% to 50%.

Donald

How about my new locomotive I ordered that's probably sitting in a sweltering hot container off the coast for a few weeks waiting its' turn to be offloaded.  Must be like an oven.

In my attic train room, temperature can be in the low 100s in summer and close to freezing in the winter.  Only problem I ever had was some bulging B unit grills on cold days.  The metal grills have a lower coefficient of thermal expansion than the plastic shell so on a few cold days, the shell shrunk more than the grill.  I solved the problem by loosening the tabs that hold the grill in place (they were originally too tight and did not allow any movement).