In Focus

I am so excited for next year’s holiday light shows! Last year’s went well for being the first time. I learned a lot and figured out what I need to do for next year to keep it running smoothly. One of which is more power. The three boxes I use to plug in everything to control the show can pull up to 20 amps each if they are on the same circuit, and 30 amps if they are on different circuits. That’s if I understand them correctly. Anyway, I believe my breaker box in the garage was 30 amps, so I did have some issues with there not being enough power for all of the boxes at different times during the show. I would occasionally notice a short black out during the show that would last for a few seconds. Then there was the issue of the outlets in the garage. I had three, well four if you count the one on the ceiling. Each outlet was on a different wall, so I was running extension chords across the garage. It was not ideal. I also only had one outdoor outlet on the house in the back and one on the garage that I couldn’t use because of the power issues. So, more extension chords for the static pieces to plug them into the back of the house. Now I have two outdoor outlets in front of the house! I called an electrician to see what could be done to do all this work, and what could be done. I had left the Christmas display up just to show him what was going on and how it all worked. I’m glad I did. We came up with a plan and I was finally able to take the display down about two weeks ago. Surprisingly it only took me a full day to do that. And a few hours untangling the giant knot of extension chords. I did leave some lights up. I made some hearts out of coat hangers and wrapped them in pink lights. That may stay up for a while. Now I have 100 amps in my garage and eight more outlets on the same wall, each on their own circuit. Which will also give me some room to expand and add another box to the show. That may not happen this year, but at least I can do it now. It has been tempting to set up the show again just to test it out, but I know it will be okay. I have been asked if I plan to do a Fourth of July show. I’m on the fence because it doesn’t get dark until late and I wouldn’t be able to have it set up for a long period as trying to mow the grass with all the chords just isn’t possible. I’d say a week? But I do know that there isn’t any local festivities for the Fourth, and with everything going on, who knows what will happen. What do you think I should do? Let me know at trinity@inhnews.com or send me a message at the Hewitt Holiday House Facebook page.