Lots o' Power
It takes a LOT of electricity to run a display this size. All the lights turned on at once uses almost 120 amps of power! Due to this, I have to take power from various places around my house. The 9,000 lights (30 amps) in the front yard are powered by two 14 gauge 100 foot extension cords. Both cords run under my garage door, and one plugs in inside the garage. The other is run through the floor joist above the door to the rest of the basement and plugs in in the basement foyer. Both circuits are used fully by the lights. The lights on the right of the driveway that are not computer controlled this year are run off two circuits in the garage, and turned on and off using X10 modules.
However, this is the last year I'm dealing with this insanity. Next year the controllers will be inside the house and garage, and I'll be running 4 dedicated circuits into the fruit cellar for the controllers mounted there, and possibly one in the garage attic. |
Extension Cords
Since almost every element of the display is controlled separately, I can't just plug all the lights together. Each display element needs its own direct connection to the controller. For example, I have 8 40 foot cords running from the center tree back to the bushes and icicles, where I only needed two in the past. The cost of the extension cords adds up quick, and it will be substantially larger this coming year when I'm running 32 channels in the front yard alone. I'm thinking about using 4-wire 18/20 gauge communications wiring to feed display elements in close groups of 2 or 3 that don't need over 10 amps combined to cut down on the cost some. I'm also hoping to get some epic deals on extension cords after Christmas at Lowe's. (Discounts please, Kyle =D)
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