Gleefully Giving
We hope our Christmas light display brings holiday cheer to you and your family!
If you feel inspired by our lights, please consider donating to our fundraising efforts. One hundred percent of all food, personal care items, and monetary donations go to benefit West Des Moines Human Services. See more information on their mission and how you can help.
In addition to checking out the 70,000 lights in our display, be sure to:
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See if you can spot the Christmas movie references
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Drop a letter to Santa in our Christmas Express Mailbox (letters received by Thursday, December 21 will be mailed a response by the big man himself)
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Take a family photo with Santa and all 9 Reindeer flying overhead
Michael and Logan delivering 2021's donations to West Des Moines Human Services
The display is always growing. Planning starts in summer and actual work begins in late-October. The process can be slow, but after many years, we've come up with creative ways to store and label every part of the display to make it efficient for the next year.
The house features custom commercial grade lights. Over 1,000 feet of lights outline the house with 2,025 C9 LED lights and 168 strobe lights. This photo shows one of the large spools that was used on the house. The light line is cut to length and then each bulb screwed in to create the red, green, and white pattern. Each section is barcoded so we know where it goes next. year.
The yard is home to 40 artificial trees made from conduit, zip ties, and S hooks. Each tree is labeled and stored individually for quick install. Fun fact: between rabbits eating the lights and wind damage, we're estimating to replace about 30 strings of lights this year.
The entire display is powered by dedicated electrical circuits, custom power cords, and controlled by smart outlets. Power cords ruin the precision of the display so every attempt is made to hide or disguise them. They even run through the downspouts to hide.
The power bill is high, but not as bad as you might expect! Because nearly all lights are LED, much less power is used and it only takes about 2,400 watts of power (your microwave is probably 1,100 watts).