NEW >
Mini PLUS -
Journal
Progress 2008 -
2007 -
2006
Questions?
-
Why?
Links
- How To
-
Videos
- Press
Questions?
Figures 2007
How long?
I started planning this years display about January 2007 when I hit all the after Christmas sales.
I start putting things out the day after Halloween. It takes a little over 3 weeks to get everything out and hooked up. I spend the last few days testing and troubleshooting.
Each song takes about 10 hours per minute to program. My son synchronized three songs for us this year so that was a huge help.
What do you use to synchronize the lights?
We use software from Light-O-Rama to synchronize the music to the lights. We also use Light-O-Rama control boards to tie the computer into the lights and power.
How much?
I know better than to talk about this but the power bill is less than you might think. Since the lights are not on all the time and because I use a fair amount to LED's the power is less now than when I used to have a static display and leave the lights on for six hours a day.
I do order LED's from Creative Displays during their group buy for Planet Christmas. Go to the Planet Christmas Forums and the LED section and watch for the group buy. Paul from Creative Displays only sells by the case (of 12) and you must pre-pay but the pricing and quality of the product is better than you'll find anywhere.
Light-O-Rama also has a sale in the spring that is worth the wait. Go to their web site and signup to be notified of the sale.
My links page has many other resources for displays, lights and we also have a how-to section for those that like to built.
How many?
The 110,000 PLUS lights
consists of a few major display items:
Three Mega Trees:
"A" Mega tree - 35' tall with 20,100
LED's red, green, blue and white
"B" Mega tree - 25' tall with 10,510
LED's red, green, blue and white
"C" Mega tree - 17' tall with
7,550 LED's red, green, blue and white
Mini tress - 60 each - 42" tall with 300 lights each = 18,000
lights
Merry Christmas sign - blue and red rope light approximately
1,500 lights
8 trees along east side of driveway - white and blue lights
on each = 15,000 lights
Santa riding a Harley on the roof - 1,000 lights
22 rope light snowflakes on the roof - approximately 4,000
lights
11 deer and 22 trees in the forest = 22,700 lights
6 - "Leaping Light Arches" = 9,600 lights
LED icicle lights on the upper and lower roof line = 4,200
lights
C7 white lights on the lower roof line/red on the upper = 398
lights
over 100 strobe lights
37 light control boxes with 592 light channels in use
Over 5 miles of extension cords
200 amps of available power
One man lift - I love my lift!
Figures 2006
How long?
I started planning this years display about a week before Christmas 2005. I started buying lights after Christmas 2005. I began building control boxes in February 2006. I built most of the items during the summer months. I started putting everything out/up on November 1st and I barely finished by November 30th.
How much?
I'm not sure I want to divulge exactly how much I spent doing this but let's just say I spent between $4,000 and $10,000.
How many?
The 100,000 lights
consists of a few major display items:
Mega tree - 30' tall with 15,000 lights of white, red and
blue.
Mini tress - 50 each - 42" tall with 300 lights each = 15,000
lights
8' wreath - 1000 white, 800 red and 800 green lights
Merry Christmas sign - blue and red rope light approximately
1,500 lights
8 trees along east side of driveway - white and blue lights
on each = 15,000 lights
Santa riding a Harley on the roof - 1,000 lights
22 rope light snowflakes on the roof - approximately 4,000
lights
11 deer and 11 trees along the front fence = 10,000 lights
Custom three channel nativity star on the big fir tree with
custom chaser lights - 2,000
50 strobe lights
18 light control boxes with 250 light channels in use
Over 5 miles of extension cords
200 amps of available power
One man lift - couldn't have done it without it!