Electrical Considerations

Next, you will need a good supply of power. Mostly, this means good feed coming from an approved electrical panel box. Modifying panel boxes is best left up to licensed electricans instead of doing it yourself (that way you aren't in trouble). Not only will you need enough power to light your display but you will need the standard amount to properly run your home. Try not make your wife mad when you tell her to turn off the TV because you want to add another string of lights on the garage. Currently, we have a panel box in the house and also one in the garage. By sharing the load between the two boxes, we will have more than enough for the display and enough for upgrades for next year. Adding up all the light strings' amperage used when turned on, will give you the total amperage needed to distribute on the breakers in the panel box. For safety sake, try not to exceed 90% of the rated breaker load. Typical breakers for light circuits are 20 Amps. Thats enough for about 50 strings of lights (.33 amps per 100 count light string). Exceeding breaker ratings can be a bad thing and we don't want that at Christmas time. Also by using new LED type lights, you can increase the number of strings on a circuit. LED strings cost a bit more than incandesents but operating costs will be a lot lower in the long run.