Next up - electrical decisions?

[scottmcl]

checklist:
- lights - check
- plan - check (though I know it will change some...)
- Radio figured out - check (need antenna, though)
- Couple controllers - check(ish)
- LOR demo - check
- how much stuff can I put on each channel - uh, what?
- couple different spreadsheets to manage the power load - need a link

So... guess I need to figure out where I am going to put my "base station" so the show can run from a central location each day. Then figure out how I am going to distribute power to those locations. Then figure out how much power I'm pulling on each "channel" so I can start to line those up.

So how do I get started figuring out the electrical pieces? Or is there something else I'm missing that I need to think about?

Thanks!!!



"Other" items for the checklist:
- hot chocolate machine - eh, maybe...
- candy canes - no line on those yet, but neighbor doesn't sell those anymore.
- neighbors roped into doing lights with me - haven't even gone there yet...

[John]

Here is a link to a power calculator. I have never used it since I'm 90% plus all LED. The people that have used it and several others tend to think this one is the best

http://www.quartzhillchristmas.com/12.html

[Jack Stevens]

Scott -

Go take a picture of your house - ok, yeah, you already have that......

Either use the LOR animator and draw your display on it, or just print it out and use ol' fashioned ink and pencil lead, and get an idea what you want to do.....

Then figure out how to break it out into channels, see what you have in inventory to do "the plan" and look at power requirements then.

Don't get hung up in power loads up front - figure out what you want to do first. I know someone who was trying to put the maximum on each channel he could (in FL) - when I asked him how many channels his megatree was going to be, he said he could put 15 amps on each side of the controller. He didn't even think in terms of channels, strictly load....it finally sunk into his head he wasn't required to max out each channel, but really needed to think about making it look good.

[DanoNJ]

I used that spreadsheet last year and found it very helpfull. Not only did I use this for the controllers, I also used it to show total load on each of my circuts.

[walter]

Scott,
I will pull the power for you. You will need at least 3 dedicated circuits for your show. All depends on the load and # of controllers you need.