South Florida Christmas
expressing the joy of the incarnation and bringing smiles and good cheer to our fellow South Floridians
Luke 2:8-20
A note from our guest book 2009
"I heard about a house that was absolutely beautiful, covered in lights and didn't think it would be this remarkable! God bless. Lots of love. Carla"
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Technical Stuff
How long does it take you to do this?
Our passion for celebrating Christmas and for sharing the joy we have in our hearts over its meaning really is a year long endeavor. We are planning almost year round, working on projects, thinking of new things to do and programming the computer. But to actually put the lights up and the display together takes about a FULL month. We start the day after Halloween and have it all ready to go the first Sunday of Advent (the first Sunday after Thanksgiving which officially begins at sundown on Saturday).
Where do you store everything?
We have a great yard for what we do. We not only have a "double" lot, but a corner lot as well, so we in essence are decorating three yards. In our back yard is a pool and a cabana or pool house. That structure has a large storage area and attic. In addition, we rent a small storage space close to the house for the bulky items (blow molds and inflatables).
RU an engineer, computer expert or do this for a living?
No engineers or computer experts in this house. If it wasn't for Light-O-Rama products, I wouldn't have the slightest clue how to do any of the electronics. And I've had to do a bit of learning along the way.
How many miles/feet of extension cords do you use?
We have 5,048 feet of extension cords in our display. Nearly 1 mile.
How many amps do your lights draw?
If every light was on at once, the control boxes have the ability to draw and are plugged into separate circuits for 210 amps. But one of the advantages of synchronizing your lights to music and of the Light-O-Rama control boxes is all of the lights are rarely on and if they are, it is for a brief second. You also have the ability to regulate the "intensity" of the lights. For example, you can designate a given "burn" at 90% so it would in fact only draw 189 amps with little noticeable difference in how bright the bulbs are.
How much does your power bill increase?
Our power bill in 2008 increased 21% from 1,702 kilowatt hours the previous month to 2,060 kw/hours the first full month of the lights being on. This might be less than you expected.
Another advantage of having a synchronized show to music is instead of a steady burn of the lights all night on most homes, synchronization moderates the amperage/watts used and actually conserves energy because the lights are on and off throughout the show.
How many lights in your display?
For Advent and Christmas 2009 we have approximately 45,000 lights.
How many inflatables (blow up decorations) do you have?
We will have 22 individual inflatables in our 2009 display. We have added three (3) new inflatables this year but had to retire one (1) of our oldest inflatables, which after eight (8) years become very faded and failed to inflate fully.
The inflatables are controlled by the Light-O-Rama boxes as well so they may be activated at will during the day and/or during the synchronized show.
Our passion for celebrating Christmas and for sharing the joy we have in our hearts over its meaning really is a year long endeavor. We are planning almost year round, working on projects, thinking of new things to do and programming the computer. But to actually put the lights up and the display together takes about a FULL month. We start the day after Halloween and have it all ready to go the first Sunday of Advent (the first Sunday after Thanksgiving which officially begins at sundown on Saturday).
Where do you store everything?
We have a great yard for what we do. We not only have a "double" lot, but a corner lot as well, so we in essence are decorating three yards. In our back yard is a pool and a cabana or pool house. That structure has a large storage area and attic. In addition, we rent a small storage space close to the house for the bulky items (blow molds and inflatables).
RU an engineer, computer expert or do this for a living?
No engineers or computer experts in this house. If it wasn't for Light-O-Rama products, I wouldn't have the slightest clue how to do any of the electronics. And I've had to do a bit of learning along the way.
How many miles/feet of extension cords do you use?
We have 5,048 feet of extension cords in our display. Nearly 1 mile.
How many amps do your lights draw?
If every light was on at once, the control boxes have the ability to draw and are plugged into separate circuits for 210 amps. But one of the advantages of synchronizing your lights to music and of the Light-O-Rama control boxes is all of the lights are rarely on and if they are, it is for a brief second. You also have the ability to regulate the "intensity" of the lights. For example, you can designate a given "burn" at 90% so it would in fact only draw 189 amps with little noticeable difference in how bright the bulbs are.
How much does your power bill increase?
Our power bill in 2008 increased 21% from 1,702 kilowatt hours the previous month to 2,060 kw/hours the first full month of the lights being on. This might be less than you expected.
Another advantage of having a synchronized show to music is instead of a steady burn of the lights all night on most homes, synchronization moderates the amperage/watts used and actually conserves energy because the lights are on and off throughout the show.
How many lights in your display?
For Advent and Christmas 2009 we have approximately 45,000 lights.
How many inflatables (blow up decorations) do you have?
We will have 22 individual inflatables in our 2009 display. We have added three (3) new inflatables this year but had to retire one (1) of our oldest inflatables, which after eight (8) years become very faded and failed to inflate fully.
The inflatables are controlled by the Light-O-Rama boxes as well so they may be activated at will during the day and/or during the synchronized show.
Do you have any questions not answered here?
Don't hesitate to ask.
E-mail us at soflochristmas@comcast.net.
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