Around 2015, I was excited to be able to have scenes completed in order to make running of trains more interesting and fun. However, in my excitement, I over-built and did not think about how many amps light bulbs and various electronic signs use. It becomes quite a bit at 2-3 watts per bulb (I know about LEDs and their tremendous energy efficiency, and that transition would have to wait for me to reach retirement or find the fountain of youth).
After consulting a wire gauge vs. length chart on the internet, I now am faced with having to re-wire many of my buildings. Per the chart, I should be using 18-gauge wire for my runs from distribution point (transformer-fed terminal strips) to buildings. I am wondering though, considering the many bulbs in my tall buidings, at what point is optimal point for replacing the 22-gauge wire with the 18-gauge? Unless I want to re-wire the buildings, I am going to make the transition at the point where the wire leads leave the building and/or the terminal clip-ons of the building. What have others done?
BTW: I am looking at this from a semi-prototypical viewpoint; there will be the power stations (transformers), distribution stations (terminal strips fed from transformers); and sub-stations = terminal strips that supply regional zones on my layout (need at least 6 of these).
) with custom tall buildings that I've assembled, an 8-story building uses about 60 watts. You can see how the wattages add up real fast. As I prefer dimmer than brighter building lights, I set transformers to about 10-12 volts. There are many buildings per zone on my layout, and powering all building bulbs at 10-12 volts, I have measured a total power draw of around 1600 watts (some of this requirement is from the various blinking signs and street lights). Factoring in wire runs from terminal strips to the buildings, I can imagine the heat and in-efficiency of the existing wiring. So in addition to replacing 20-22 gauge wire runs with 18 gauge, with 16 gauge from transformers to power terminal strips, I am taking buildings apart and removing bulbs as there's no reason for example to light 10 floors on a 10-story building (at least not for me; and pictues of real cities show some floors lit and others dark).