Nagel Family Website

Blog changes

Hi, and thanks for stopping by! We've made some big changes to the blog - including shutting it down! With social networking and micro-blogging these days, there's no need for us to blog. So check out the latest on our homepage, and thanks for visiting.

The top questions I get when people see my Christmas lights are:

1. How did you do that?
2. Why?
3. What’s Your Electric Bill?

Well, I’ve gone over #1… #2 is because it’s fun, and the kids like it.

#3 may surprise you. Last year, my display added $5 to my bill. This year, I’m estimating an increase of a whopping $11.25, if that! Why so little?

Using a Kill-o-Watt ($30 from ThinkGeek), I’ve determined all my lights on is about 550 watts. 3 hours / night (7 to 10), about 45 nights, at $0.151939 per KwH (my average cost) is 74.25 KwH or $11.28. And that’s if all my lights are on at the same time, which if you’ve seen my lights, you know they’re not on all the time.

The electric bill will barely budge… but I’ll blow my budget in extension cords.

This entry was posted by Eric on Tuesday, November 6th, 2007 at 5:39 pm and is filed under Christmas. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

Come join us on Friday, November 23rd as we turn our lights on for the 2007 Christmas season!

We’re going to flip the switch at 7pm – come join us for cookies & hot chocolate and sing along with the music! We have about 75% more lights this year (about 4,000 total lights), and twice as many songs (40 now).

More updates as we get closer… hope you can make it – but if not, video will be posted again this year.

This entry was posted by Eric on Monday, November 5th, 2007 at 9:27 pm and is filed under Christmas. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

Yeah, I’m starting to put up the Christmas lights today. Why so early? Because I have a lot to put up: 2,300 last year, and yesterday we bought 1,650 more, so we’re up to 3,950 so far. But there’s room for more: each of the 6 outlets on the Mr. Christmas can power up to 1,200 miniature lights for a total of 7,200 lights. I think I’m going to have to start counting how many lights are on a circuit, as some may be getting close.

The thing is, the extension cords cost more than the lights do! Getting lights all over the house is a pain, and breaking up the display into 6 zones so they dance w/ the music takes a ton of extension cords. Yesterday, I spent over $100 in extension cords alone!

I’m still looking for the trees to put on the front lawn. I think I may have to build them myself, as I’m not spending $80 for a little 4-foot tree… not when I need 3 of them.

I think next year (2008) will be the year I upgrade the main system. I found one that’ll let me really customize things, have more channels to work with, custom software – the works. And I could use it for other holidays (they have a SD card with a “Haunted House” pre-programmed).

Well, the coffee is ready, and I’m going to try to run this morning… it’s been a while, and the Turkey Trot is coming up soon.

This entry was posted by Eric on Saturday, November 3rd, 2007 at 6:57 am and is filed under Christmas. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

I started the first step in planning our 2007 Christmas lights – drawing up the concepts. Maybe I’m brilliant, or lazy, but I just take a picture of the house, print it in grayscale & draft mode, so it’s really light, then use a pencil to draw in the lights. It’s not pretty:

When I’m done drawing in the lights, I try to think of how the 6 channels in my Mr. Christmas can control the lights. I label them A-F and identify what channels A-F will control on the house.

As you can see, this year the goal is to go UP. Last year, we had plenty of lights flashing on the first floor, but this year, I want to highlight the very top of the house. Still working on a way to get up there, without falling down!

This entry was posted by Eric on Saturday, September 15th, 2007 at 4:17 pm and is filed under Christmas. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

Merry Christmas (in July)!

The countdown has begun… while Christmas may seem to be 5 months away, to me, it’s much closer. That’s because I have to improve upon the lights & sound show from last year with even more lights and various effects this year.

Lasers have been suggested, but are out of the question due to the need for 1) a smoke machine 2) dry ice or 3) a constant flurry of snow (real or fake). There is a particular item I’m hoping to acquire, but (of course) they don’t make it any more, so I’m looking on eBay. It’s hush-hush until I win one, and it arrives & verified to work.

One of the things I really want to do this year is transmit the music via FM radio. I’m still using Mr. Christmas‘s “The Lights and Sounds of Christmas”, so I’m quite limited. However, this evening, I opened up the box and found the lines that transmit the audio to the speaker, and hooked up an external speaker to it. I hope this is the first stop in being able to hook up an FM transmitter.

Oh, and more lights. I’m gonna max this thing out. That requires a dedicated circuit, which luckily I upgraded my electrical service this year, so a quick rewiring of a switch and we should be OK.

Next year, I hope to full upgrade the system with one of Showtime Product’s “Light-o-rama” kits. However, since my budget this year isn’t $5,000, this will have to wait.

One thing we learned was we have to go higher up on the house… I’m not a fan of heights, but if it pleases the neighbors, I’ll be hanging off the gutters. The light-up inflatables have been retired, and I was going to get rid of the candy canes, until in a conversation with Andy last night, had an idea how to secure them without strapping them to the porch.

So sure, it appears as though Christmas is 5 months away, but I want to run the lights starting Thanksgiving night (tradition), and I need enough time to get them up, so I should start right after Halloween. Really, I only have 3 months left!

This entry was posted by Eric on Wednesday, July 25th, 2007 at 9:00 am and is filed under Christmas. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Photos are being posted as the day goes on (as I have to clear out my camera): Christmas photos.

This entry was posted by Eric on Monday, December 25th, 2006 at 8:54 am and is filed under Christmas, Family, Photos. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.