POWER

[mike and patti]

What size service panel do most of you have that are running at least 128 channels and 100,000 lights. Mostly mini lights and maybe 10,000 rope light bulbs

[George Simmons]

I'm running 300+ channels and about 55,000 lights. I've got a dozen 20A circuits in the yard and another 60A in the garage and I don't need anywhere near that much.

[Papa-LF]

mike and patti wrote:

What size service panel do most of you have that are running at least 128 channels and 100,000 lights. Mostly mini lights and maybe 10,000 rope light bulbs

Mike, what you need to do is calculate the amperage draw of those lights. You can find lighting amp draw here http://www.planetchristmas.com/FigurePower.htm

Then take the watt hour usage of your home, from your electric bill, and convert that to amp draw, your power company can help you with this.

Then look at your panel and find out how much power it will handle. An electrician can help you determine if you need to upgrade or just load balance your existing service panel.

For example, I have combined amp draw of 81 amps if everything was on at once. I have 216 channels in my display, and I have a 200 amp service, and my home is heated with natural gas. I have the available circuits in my setup.

Many things to take into consideration.

[mike and patti]

Ok but how many lights are you running?

[-klb-]

Light count is not always the best way to go. The city park and firehouse was at 130,000 lights last year, and is down to 120,000 this year. The area that decreased lights by 11,000 is up about 100% in power draw. The area that increased bulb count by about 1,000 is only drawing 1/5th as much power. Mini vs C7/C9 vs LED makes a huge difference. Those power calc spreadsheets are a great way to start figuring up what your display elements will likely need.