A good reminder - also, you should have some carbon monoxide detectors. 

When we built our new home, I planned to use the basement for a large train layout.  It has a full inground basement (I live in Tornado Country!);  and although not required by our rural building codes the contractor installed two "day light" windows for egress in case of fire.  The house/basement is hard wired with a smoke alarm system with battery back up.  I have a hard wired CO2 detector near the furnace/water heater.  A-B-C fire extinguishers in the basement, kitchen and garage. 

The electrical circuits for the future layout were installed when the house was built by a licensed electrician.  Basement outlets are GFI protected.  I have an independent 20 AMP circuit with a cut off switch at the basement enterance, and computer quality surge protector, for my DCC system.

It didn't cost that much extra to plan ahead for safety.

Another important thing to check for when you Have a concrete Floor on ground or Basement under ground is Radon Gas Radon Gas is a radio active gas that can accumulate in basements and ground floor homes other than Hardwood floors with the open vented two foot crawl space under homes. Radon is estimated to cause about 21,000 lung cancer deaths per year, according to EPA's 2003 Assessment of Risks from Radon in Homes.

Go to the following site for all the facts. Watch the short video at the site 'What is Radon" it could meen the difference between life and a slow dreadful death for the whole family

http://www.epa.gov/radon/

Dan

Good ideas! Since my train room is in my basement, I bought one of those battery backup emergency lights for if the power goes out.  Since I have many visitors to the railroad, I want to make sure that they can safely exit if there is a power failure.  The unit cost around $40. at the home supply center.

Rick 

 I know that the main focus is on power-outtages and fire right now, but How about electricity, that scilent killer in the walls? Even though the DC power-packs of yester year brought the voltage to a (realitively) safe, non-fry range, new DCC and regular wall-outlets are extremely dangerous. How about a circut-breaker that will kill power to the whole room, so if your buddy forgets to cut the power with the electrical work, he won't fry like inmates sentanced to the electric chair.

  Also, assuming those who have them, your basements are essentially for the most part water-proof. That means water can't get in, or out. If a pipe bursts, the basement will flood, and you'll have live wires in water. Not a good combo. How about drains, and GFI type plugs? That'll save you from major damage. (unless we have a repeat of Katrina in the Gulf)

CSX railfan wrote:

Even though the DC power-packs of yester year brought the voltage to a (realitively) safe, non-fry range, new DCC and regular wall-outlets are extremely dangerous. How about a circut-breaker that will kill power to the whole room.

CSX, DCC voltage is not dangerous to the best of my knowledge.

Household AC current from your wall receptacle is a killer if you run it through yourself to ground under the right conditions.

A train room breaker panel is a great idea, or at least a switch that cuts power to the outlets in the room is a good substitute for a dedicated panel.

Where I am floor drains are required in basements and ground fault protected receptacles are required in bathrooms, and some laundry rooms as well as outdoors within so many feet/inches of the grade.

GFI outlets might be over the top in the train room.  If the basement floods what protection would there be on the hardwired furnace feed which is not GFI protected?

A receptacle under water will likely trip the circuit breaker anyway, IMO.

We should probably be using Arc Fault breakers on everything these days, but who can afford that?  Arcing is responsible for the majority of electrical fires if I am not mistaken.  If I am, somebody will correct me. [grin]

You are soooo right about smoke alarms. Too many people pay way too little attention to them. I am in the process of walling off the basement for my new railroad. When we built the house the basement had no interior walls and hence building code required only a single smoke detector. My changes have resulted in 3 separate rooms in the basement so I hardwired in 2 additional detectors. When I did my research into smoke alarms I discovered there are two basic detection methods utilized - particle detection and ion detection. Each has its pros and cons. Fortunately dual detection mode smoke alarms are readily available. Naturally that is what I installed in my new rooms and retrofitted the existing contractor installed unit. Next, I suppose I should replace the main floor detectors also to better protect my family but first things first - my trains will be safe!

FYI... Here in Michigan (and I believe in the IBC) GFI's are required in any room with a ground contact concrete floor (basements, garages, enclosed patios), all bathrooms, all exterior plugs, and any plug within 3' of a water source regardless of what room it is in. GFI's are a good idea on any circuit other than hi-amp motor circuits (sump pumps, garage door openers, etc.)

Because codes differ from place to place and country to country you should consult an electrician to determine what is minimum code for your area and then consider going beyond that in some cases.

It's funny.  One would think a sump pump would be a prime place to want GFI protection seeing as it is often submerged in water, AC powered and likely to be running when there is a flood.

No GFI on a sump pump. Makes one go hmmmph doesn't it? Actually, there is a good reason. The sump pump (specifically the plug) is not intended to be home owner serviced. This is the reason code also requires the sump pump be on a dedicated circuit and only a single plug in the sump pump wall box. The intent is the home owner will not be able to plug anything else into the circuit the pump is on hence no opportunity for danger to the home owner. The pump itself is completely sealed so it itself does not pose a threat.

I should add a disclaimer that I am not a licensed electrician and it is illegal in the US for any homeowner to modify their house wiring without a permit which then will trigger the corresponding post-inspection which will necessitate that everything was done to code. In Michigan a home owner who is not a licensed electrician is allowed to pull a permit and make wiring modifications to their own home but not to other people's homes. I am fortunate that a very good friend of mine is a licensed electrician and he guides me along the way. So far he is batting 1000 as my electrical work has passed inspection on 3 different occasions so far (two outbuildings and the basement). Questions like "why doesn't the sump pump have a GFI" are exactly the kind of questions I ask of him and his answers are where my information for the comments on this post come from.