Frequently asked questions

We get lots of great questions; here are the answers to the most frequent:

  • How many lights are in the display

    • The display used to be 25,000 incandescent lights. The new LED ‘Pixels’ are much brighter, and can be any color, so we need far fewer lights (and power) than when we used incandescent lights.

    • As of 2021, the light count is approximately 7,000 pixel bulbs.

  • What is an LED ‘Pixel’?

    • A ‘Pixel’ is a light bulb that contains 3 LED lights

    • The LED lights inside the pixel are colored Red, Green, and Blue (RGB)

    • By controlling the brightness of the 3 colors, you can create any color

      • For instance, purple is a mix of blue and red

  • How much does your power bill go up?

    • The new Pixel LEDs use very little power. The incandescent display of 25,000 lights had power bill go up $50 - $75 a month. The new ‘Pixel’ lights cost less than $15 a month.

  • How do you control the lights & music?

    • The controllers are mix of SanDevices and Falcon

    • The software to program the lights is called XLights

    • The ‘Computer’ to run the show is a $35 Rasberry Pi

    • The computer connects to the control boards over a 1 gigabit network using Cat5e network cable

    • The music comes out of the computer through the speaker jack and into an FM transmitter.

    • The fixtures (arches, trees, roof lights, etc) are custom built

  • How long does it take to do something like this?

    • Work on the show is being done all year long.

      • January – Put away the show and order any new lights

      • January through June – Pick music, test new features

      • June – Receive the lights ordered in January

      • June through August – build new features, controllers, cables

      • Year round - Programming of the music to lights

      • November – Setup!

  • How long does it take to setup or take down the display?

    • Most of the display is mounted on boards and pipes, making for a much easier setup.

    • The entire show can be setup in ~60 hours


  • I want to do this to my house next year. How much should I budget to get started?

    • The software (Xlights) is free

    • We budget ~$0.50 for each 'Pixel', and that includes wires and controllers;

      • For instance, the big mega tree is 1600 lights (16 strands of 100 pixels).

        • The ‘pixels’ themselves would be ~$600

        • The controller for the tree is ~$150

        • Power supply (12 volt 40amp) ~$50

        • Control box, wires, cable ~$100

    • An FM transmitter is ~$100.

  • Do the lights bother you in the house?

    • Nope. The lights are mostly pointed at the street; Besides, we love it!