Permanent Props
The house has 4 peaks which have LED light strips installed in aluminum channels with plastic diffusers to help with the harshness of the LEDs. We also have these installed around our garage doors starting in 2023. Each strip is a home-run to the main Falcon F16v3 controller box installed in our garage, which is the main controller for the light show and is the backbone of the whole system. These are the only permanent fixtures on the house.
Ground Props
Matrix
In 2021 we setup a new 6’x6’ matrix with a total of 1,296 pixels. Each pixel is spaced 2” apart in a 36×36 pixel grid. Mounting is handled using 1/2” black iron pipes for the sides and top support as well as mid-matrix cross supports. The sides are slid over some rebar which is hammered into the ground and then the top is strapped down to fence stakes in 4 places securing it, even in windy conditions. The matrix itself is built using plastic netting called PixNode™️ Net purchased from HolidayCoro.com. The LEDs are square pixels purchased from the same website and are connected to a 4-String Differential SmartReceiver Board from PixelController.com.
Poles
For 2021 we added a total of 12 ground poles with 25 pixels each. The poles are each 3’ in height and mounted slightly above the ground with 6 poles on each side of the matrix. These are ran through another 4-String Differential SmartReceiver Board that is housed in the same control box as the one used for the matrix.
Arches
We added 2 arches in 2021 along the road that span a little over 6 feet in width each and stand about 3’ tall at the highest point. These are connected to the same board as the poles.
Mini Trees
In 2020 we started our show with a trio of mini trees. In 2021 we moved these trees to the right side of the driveway by the house. These are all 3 of different heights (large, medium, and small) and were purchased from boscoyostudio.com.
Spotlights
We have 3 spotlights aimed at the house. These are 50 watt 12v RGB pixel spotlights that provide a nice wash of color on the house. You can find them at HolidayCoro.com.
Singing Light Bulbs
In 2023 we added 3 four foot tall singing light bulbs to the show. These were purchased from HolidayCoro.com and are connected to a differential receiver board in the auxiliary control box that sits behind the matrix. These have 200 pixels per prop and required power injection in 2 locations per prop. This is ran to a power injection lead in the same aux control box.
Dumb Lights
We have some green and white LED lights that plug into a standard wall outlet on the tree by the street. The neighborhood has themes for different parts of it and almost everyone matches colors for that area. We chose not to have them in 2021 since we didn’t have an easy way of turning them off and didn’t want them to distract from the show. In 2022 we added a controller that lets us turn them off and on as we please so they can be integrated into the show. This is being controlled with a DMX capable controller board that has AC relay switches that we can address through XLights.
Giant C9 Bulbs
In 2024 we purchased nine 3 foot tall plastic C9 bulbs from Home Depot. These come as battery operated so we modified them to string in some LED strip lights giving us control over the color. These are now lining the driveway giving some added height and size to the right side of the house. These were such a fun project that add some cool visual interest and balance that was needed with the size of our driveway.
Entryway Arch
Also new for 2024 is a high density arch prop above our entryway. This was purchased from HolidayCoro.com and includes multiple arches and 3 small singing bulbs. This was added as a way to fill in some of the space around the entryway that was just blank wall before. These also necessitated purchasing a second controller box for the system as we ran out of space on the original box by adding too many lights!