[cwmoser]

Well Thanksgiving is over and now the little wifey is hot to trot
with Christmas decorations.

Thought I would pass along a helpful tip: Those pesky lights she
makes me put in the windows but the worst part is having to go
around and plug/unplug them. For a number of years I have been
using those X10 home automation modules for window candles,
for controlling the Christmas Tree, and the Outside Christmas
lights. With appropriate PC software you can turn your lights
on/off all together or independently. I have mine on a "schedule"
where I have them to automatically turn on at a certain time
and off at another time. When Christmas is over, you can utilize
the X10 modules to automatically turn on/off various lights,
lamps, and appliances on a schedule. I have
certain lights that are typically left on by others - especially those
upstairs - and my PC has a all-lights-off schedule at Midnight.

If you are not familiar with X10, here is a description of their
"kit" of parts:
MAX Home Automation Complete System

Carl

 

[Weather Man]

It starts with just one little string of lights...

 

[dugald]

I have told tales here before about my very wealthy friend with the new SL AMGs.
Well, he also has a thing for Xmas decorations and festoons his house with 100,000 lights each year. (Yes that's one hundred thousand and he apparently counts them, by the string I hope.) It takes a 4-man crew with a cherry picker a full week to install or remove them. One bay of his 10- car garage is used to store them.
People come from all around to marvel at the sight. It looks like Disneyland.
He doesn't like LEDs for some reason, so these are all 4 watt incandescent lights. That's 400KW. Imagine his electricity bill come January.

 

[reno4u2]

Bah Humbug!

 

[abiby]

Thankfully SWMBO's Christmas decorating is less robust...

However, the weekend following Thanksgiving is traditionally when they get set up and lit, so I'll undoubtedly be spending most of tomorrow assisting with the install. Thankfully, the forecast is moderate and sunny. :bowdown:

 

[nobby]

That's 400KW. Imagine his electricity bill come January.

It would bankrupt me.

But so would a Happy Meal.