This is just an update to say that I have submitted my order for new lights this year. Most of them will be green LEDs, although I also will be adding a small amount of additional blue and white LEDs as well. Cost of new lights will be around $850 AU.
I expect expenditure for the year will be in the low to mid $1000’s with the possible addition of a DMX controller and necessary extension cords.
The new lights for this year arrived in Australia last week and were picked up today. The order contains 4000 new LEDs – some in white, blue, or red – at a cost of $1220. This bumps this year’s expenditure up to $2375, the highest it has ever been.
The newer lights mean that the Mega Tree will contain double the amount of LEDs this year, and the garden bushes will no longer have clear incandescent mini lights.
The display will begin to be set up in the next day or two. New set up photos will likely be added sometime during October.
Its been a few months since the last post, so it is about time I update all you Christmas light fanatics.
First of all, a new Christmas lights order of about 5,000 LED lights has been placed with a manufacturer in China via Starlight Christmas Superstore. I should be getting these in August or September sometime.
This year I am retiring my current method for computerising lights (Olsen595) for a commercial alternative that can do much more (Light-O-Rama) including control of light brightness and ability to operate higher voltage lights safely. Financially, this single change is the killer this year.
After adjusting the amount of new lights and controllers that I’ll be getting for 2008, the financial requirement now sits at approximately $2200. So far I’ve managed to raise just over $1000.
In other news, the computer page has been modified to display information in a similar fashion to the detail and history pages. However, this text is still based on the 2007 display at this stage.
The website has again been updated with a few more goodies:
I am now at the stage of choosing what is needed for 2008 such as new lights and computer controllers. There will not be too many new lights this year as new computer controlling hardware is necessary which will cost in the thousands. A record breaking $2600 is the estimate upgrading cost for 2008, providing I can pull together enough cash.
I looks as though the origial budget for this year’s display upgrades is not sufficient enough! It appears that the original budgeted $800 is only half of the amount that will be needed. $750 has already been spent on this year’s display, and another 1800 LED lights need to be purchased (LEDs average at $35 per 100 LED globes). This means that the new ‘target’, although not budgeted, is $1500. $750 is required to be raised by October. $100 should be no problem, and one of my sponsors may be able to provide up to $150. This leaves $500 left to raise…
Approximately $180 spent today in preparation for this year’s display. 500 more lights, and all LED. I am now guestimating that this year’s display will contain around about 5800 lights.
The Credit Union Christmas Pageant is only a couple of weeks away, and this means the display will start to be assembled outside very, VERY shortly! Isn’t this exciting?
In the next month or so I’ll need to spend about $200 on Bright LED lighting for the roof and some of the garden – I have decided that I should start making the move to full LED, as the reliability and lifespan of these products is much higher, with the electricity costs lower. I’ll need to get two sets that are 8 metres long ($25) and three sets that are 10 metres long ($35 each).
