We are in the process of buying a home in KS that will need to be renovated; one of the first jobs will be re-wiring the house to modern code. I have a 19 x 40 room that will become the train room. What electrical needs do I need to plan for? I will eventually be running DCC; with an 8 amp power supply; possibly adding a 5 amp booster. Should that be on a separate 20 amp circuit? Separate circuits for lighting and workbench?
Any thoughts, suggestions, or ideas are appreciated. I don’t think I need to reinvent the wheel here. Thanks in advance.
This is all about ratios. If the power supply for your DCC system outputs 18VAC at 5A, the ratio is 6.66:1 (120/18). The primary current will be 5 divided by 6.66 or 0.75A.
When the voltage goes down the current goes up to maintain the relationship in Volt-Amps. The secondary ouptut in VA at 18V X 5A is 90VA, the primary (120 X 0.75) is also 90VA
So you don’t need a 20A circuit. A 15A circuit could supply up to 80A easily when you step the voltage down to 18V.
Talk to an electrician, they’ll be able to tell you what you need. Especially with lighting technologies, the requirements have changed. You may need safety devices as well.
My layout pretty much fills a 36 x 60 basement. With four Digitrax boosters, power supplies for lighting, signals, turnouts, etc. many lighted passenger cars and sound locomotives, my total current is 2.6 amps.
At our club room we had switches for “worklights”, “layout lighting day”, “layout lighting night”, Then switched power outlets all around the room for “accessories”, and one for “track power”. We also had a set of standard electrical plugs that were on a separate breaker circuit for all normal power uses like power tools, vacuums.
We color coded the outlets so that the white ones were track power, black ones accessories, and almond for normal non-switched power.
Now that I think about it, we had one with isolated ground that had an orange outlet.
When I had my house reired and brought up to code almost 20 years ago I planned to fill the basement with trains.
I planned two main circuits (aside from room lights) - one for track power and one for structure lighting, turnout, control panels, etc. So I put in two 30amp, 120V circuits:
In hindsight that was probably overkill. I could have gotten by on two 20A circuits.
Make it code, then go from there. Sounds simple but have seen in the excitement of finally having a place for the layout, mistakes are made. Residencial codes where I am have outlets every 6 feet and 3 feet above the floor in below grade space.
Yes get it done to code, then plus features you want.
At our club your throw a switch to turn on trackpower and some over track lights. That means when you are turning out lights to leave, you also turn off the track power to get those lights to go out.
I believe the plugs under the bench work that might get sodering guns plugged in are also on that circuit. You can figure out what you want to be sure is off when you leave, and put it and a light or three on the switch.
My layout room is not done yet, but I have talked to an electrician, and we have a plan.
My house was originally built with a well. We have since been attached to city water. So I now have a 240 volt 40 amp breaker for the well, a 120 volt 20 amp breaker for the pump, and a 120 volt 15 amp breaker for the softener that are not being used. This simply means my main electrical supply box/service has the capacity to handle the electrical requirements for the layout room.
This is overkill, both the layout and the workbench will have their own 20 amp circuits. The electrician showed me the cost difference from 15 amp to 20 amp is negligible, so we might as well make them 20 amps. The lighting will be on its own 15 amp circuit. The rest of the room will be on another, already existing, 15 amp circuit.
As Ed showed, layouts do not draw much power. A dedicated 20 amp outlet just for the layout is way more than I will ever need, especially with my planned mid-sized layout.
If you have not bought a house yet, I think the main concern is that the existing electrical service box has the capacity for your hobbies.
Consult with a licensed electrician. Make sure everything you do is safe, and as mentioned, to code.
One more thing… my layout is not in a basement… we do not have those down here.
I had my trainroom finished before starting the layout. I’d shoot for a ton of ceiling lights and outlets. As others noted, ensure the area conforms to local codes.
The electrical needs probably will change as your layout grows. I also have DCC and plenty of power to run multiple locos together.
I agree on the outlets. I had the luxury of needing a second breaker panel and put outlets every 8’ and on separate breakers. Now all I need is a power tool and no extension cords and never an overloaded circuit.
i had separate lighting and “wall” outlets when i built my garage. but i also put outlets on the ceiling joists which i plugged hanging florescent lamps into, but also for middle of the garage convenience (e.g. vacuum).
That is pretty much what I did. I installed 16 2x2 LED flat panel light and they are on the existing ceiling light circuit and plenty of capacity to add more if I needed, which my electrician informed me of. I estimated about half of the capacity is used. I basically wired my basement to code and the only 20 amp circuit is to the bathroom which code requires. The train room has 2 15 amp circuits and the back basement den, it’s own 15 amp circuit. Looking at how the rest of the house is wired, this is a little overkill but not major. There is a utility room which has power separate from those 4 new circuits (3 x 15 and 1 x 20) where I can use as a shop area and paint booth.
There are often the Tim the tool man types who go arr arrr arrrr! and install major overkill. Their choice.
Based on my anticipated needs, I’m starting with one DCC booster and may add a 2nd or 3rd if need be. The recommendation I got for a yard, mainline, 15 track staging and branch was to run up to 4 separate power districts with PSX breakers on each to manage power distribution. I don’t expect to need more than 3 boosters but the circuits I have could handle more if needed.
Our trains don’t need much power so beefing up electrical is a waste of resorses. Placement of outlets can be important though. As far as lighting goes what are you using.
The only reason I would go with 20 amps is if a future owner would use the room for a workshop. My radial, table and mitre saws would occasionally trip a 15 amp breaker on startup so I now have 20 amps for those.
14 gauge and 12 gauge wire cost almost the same. 15 amp and 20 amp breakers cost the same. 15 amp outlets are rated for 20 amp pass-through, so the outlets are the same. The main service box has the capacity.
What is the waste of money? He said for the nickel/dime difference, there is no reason not to go with 20 amps. He did say 30 amp would be very different.
The lighting circuit needs to be on a 15 amp breaker, I do not know the why for that.
I found this electrician point of view regarding wiring #12 vs #14:
It was from a 14 vs. 12 gauge house wiring discussion. And a few more.
[quote]
“cost isn’t really much of a factor”
When you wire houses for a living it is a substantial factor. Not just the cost of the wire but make up and trim out takes a LOT longer with #12 wire. We run #12 where required, #14 everywhere else. Anything more is an upcharge. Sometimes the drawings will call for #12 everywhere, when I explain the cost difference during the bidding that usually gets axed pretty quick.
I don’t know about outlets South of the border but our 20 amp outlets are different than the 15 amp ones. If you are paying for 12 gauge wire for 20 amps, the proper outlet makes sense. I stand to be corrected.
