Newbie questions about LOR electrical

[Guest guest]

I have never done anything like this before.....animation that is. But I have been placing tens of thousands of lights on my home every year. I have never had a problem with electricity. And I do want any problems when I get LOR. About two or three yearsago I even managed to get my entire display yo run through one outlet using a large high capacity multi outlet timer. Every light on and opff atthe same time....loved it.

So here's the first question.....

I was planning on buying up to 5 LOR controllers and I was wondering what power will it take to supply these?

Now 95% of the channels will only have a maximum of 2 strands of 100 count mini lights that you could buy from any store during the holidays. Will each controller pull 30 amps of power? I hope not.......I mean if I have only 16 strands on 16 channels how much power is that really going to pull?



Thanks

[Guest guest]

Most 100 count, incandescent lights pull .34 amps. (Some Target brands pull .2)

So, each channel would have .68 amps each. Based on the 95% number, this means 76 of your channels are going to pull .68 amps, each. That's 51amps.

.68 * 8 = 5.44 (That's a side of a controller.)
.68 * 16 = 10.88 (That's one controller.)


Thus, 4 of your 5 controllers you could run on their own 15 amp circuit.

There is a spreadsheet floating around out there that can help you. (Anyone want to jump in with the link?)

[Guest guest]

I think you are talking about RickWilliams--it might be on his website (www.quartzhillchristmas.com, or you could PM him...

[Guest guest]

Welome to computer control..
The controllers use only a small amount of power themselves.
The suprise your going to get though is your power bill.
In 2004 our electric bill was $150 higher than normal for December.
In 2005 our electric bill was $210 higher than normal for December.
Those were the last two years for our static display of 18,000 and 25,000 lights.
For 2006 we went computer controlled LOR 64 Chennels. Our electric bill for December 2006 was $75 dollars over the norm, and we used over 20,000 lights.
:]WooHooo

[Guest guest]

The electric bill was the easy part....

...my credit card bill for the controllers and new lights... That's the hard part!!!

[Guest guest]

As a first year person last year to LOR here is my suggestion. Once you start this is so addicting you will want more and more. Right guys? If you can I would add whatever electric you can for your power for the future. I realize this might not be what you want to hear, but I promise you once you get the swing of it, it takes control over you. Before you know it the after Christmas sales will be your friend and you will be buying thousands of lights every year.

The controllers are only at max amperage if you have the channels maxed out with lights. Definately calculate the amps of your current plan. You should be able to get more than one controller on a circuit if you are not pulling much with the lights. You also need to think about how often or for how long all channels will be on. If you run all controllers on a single circuit it could cause a problem. If you have 2-3 circuits total to use, that may be the way to go. Are you running all animation or will there be some static stuff? If you plan on that being on the same line as your LOR then that may require additional power.

[Guest guest]

lkcubsrule wrote:

I think you are talking about RickWilliams--it might be on his website (http://www.quartzhillchristmas.com, or you could PM him...

Make sure you remove the comma at the end of the link!:}

[Guest guest]

http://www.quartzhillchristmas.com/12.html

http://planetchristmas.mywowbb.com/forum25/7065.html

These have the controller load calculaters designed by Rick Williams

Hope this helps Ricky

[Guest guest]

Thanks for the info. I'm gonna have to try these calculator boards. If I can do that right....lol.....I really want to get away from making electrical upgrades to my house. This is because there is a possiblity that I may move. I don't want to invest thousands of dollars then have to do it again at my new place a month later. I have a couple circuits free, not sure exactly how many. I looked at them last christmas.



As for what my display will include.....I will have the animation at set times through out the night and then in between will be a static display. But during the static display I would like my entire display to fade through colors maybe every 3-5 minutes.......does that make sense?

[Guest guest]

You can do computer control without making major electrical upgrades to your home. The idea is to piggy back circuits that are little used during the times your display will be lit. Say for instance, a spare bedroom will have a 15amp circuit you can plug an extension cord into and run to a controller. Using Don's calculations and your claim of 2 strings per channel you will have about 11 amps on a controller when all are lit. That gives you a 4 amp buffer (hint: you can still turn the lights on in the spare bedroom) If you "borrow" enough of these circuits from your existing electrical service and plan it well you'll have more than enough without the upgrades.

jeff

[Guest guest]

jeffmill wrote:

You can do computer control without making major electrical upgrades to your home. The idea is to piggy back circuits that are little used during the times your display will be lit. Say for instance, a spare bedroom will have a 15amp circuit you can plug an extension cord into and run to a controller. Using Don's calculations and your claim of 2 strings per channel you will have about 11 amps on a controller when all are lit. That gives you a 4 amp buffer (hint: you can still turn the lights on in the spare bedroom) If you "borrow" enough of these circuits from your existing electrical service and plan it well you'll have more than enough without the upgrades.

jeff

Just to elaborate on what Jeff said. You really should try and use GFI protected circuits. I have run cords from my bathroom GFIs and from the kitchen. The previous owner installed 4, 15 amp GFIs above the counter top. If you need more you can get GFI adapters from Home Depot or lowes. Thay will plug into an ordinary outlet and give you one GFI. You can take that with you if you move. AI

[Guest guest]

DStack, I won't be able to get away with it this coming season, by my modest 32 channel setup for 2006 ran from a single 15amp plug on my front porch. I had 9 reindeer with minis, 7 mini trees, 8 candy canes, 3 spiral trees, and 4 lighted arches. Along my front roof line I had strands of C-7s and icicle lights. Never tripped a breaker, never tripped the GFCI. Then again, I never turned every channel on every controller (four) at full power at the same time. I never measured, but estimate my maximum draw while running the sequences was only a 14amp peak. I noticed no net increase in my utility bill, probably because I kept more house lights OFF while the show ran.

[Guest guest]

I use one of these to monitor what I use
Last year I had over 80a static
I had 2 dedicated circuits that were run off a 40a hard wired timer
Then 2 other circuits that took almost the rest of the load

Using this meter I was able to add items up to the load that I wanted to run on a ciruit: MAX (I used) 2100w on a 20a (2400w) circuit

This year I am adding a LOT more circuits & lights

[Guest guest]

David Balch wrote:

I use one of these to monitor what I use
Last year I had over 80a static
I had 2 dedicated circuits that were run off a 40a hard wired timer
Then 2 other circuits that took almost the rest of the load

Using this meter I was able to add items up to the load that I wanted to run on a ciruit: MAX (I used) 2100w on a 20a (2400w) circuit

This year I am adding a LOT more circuits & lights

Where can I get one of these "Kill a Watts"

Thanks Ricky

[Guest guest]

There are multiple sites online that sell them. A good price is around $25 or so shipped.. If you search for Kill A Watt
When I was part of a Saltwater aquarium club I ordered 4 dozen for members of the club. Price was around $21 when ordering that many. That was about 2 years ago, but I think the price is about the same

[Guest guest]

Thanks David. One Question - Dose this device measure how much a device is using at the present moment or dose it show how much energy it has used since you first pluged it in.

Ricky

[Guest guest]

Here's a Place you can order it from for $20.99 + Free Shipping

http://www.deal2buy.com/load/m.php?id=meritline&sku=kilwateldet

[Guest guest]

Hi-

Anyone know how much a fog machine pulls? (amps)

[Guest guest]

Go to www.cheaplights.com

They list the amperage, etc. of all the products they carry. They have a variety of fog machines, snow machines, and much more.

[Guest guest]

It depends on the size. They are rated by Watts. Watts/ voltage(120) = Amps