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Man Installs Industrial Power Cable to Power His Griswold-like Christmas Display
Posted by Sean Fallon at 6:15 AM on December 25, 2007
When UK based electrician (go figure) Alex Goodhind found that he couldn't make a cup of tea when his massive Christmas display was turned on, he decided to shell out £700 ($1600) to install a factory-strength 145amp power line to his home. The display took five weeks to put together, and it will run him about $1000 in additional electricity costs over the course of three weeks. Additional pic and info after the break.
I suppose it goes without saying that Goodhind is a big fan of Christmas, electricity, and tea —but the display also has a charitable component which makes it seem far less insane. Each year the display raises nearly $6500 for a local hospice. [Metro via Peculiarosities]
Comments (AU Comments · US Comments)
There are currently no AU comments for this post.
LittleJon
Posted 2:47 PM 24/12/07
What did the "go figure" in this story mean?
LittleJon
Curves
Posted 2:46 PM 24/12/07
We all need hobbies, and if he enjoys this one (and it rakes in cash for hospice, where they do such wonderful work) then so much the better. Peace.
Curves
confab
Posted 2:42 PM 24/12/07
This was a ridiculous story until the part about it raising money for charity, kudos to Goodhind. But how does the display make money? Does he have a tollbooth at the top of the cul-de-sac? The original article is just as incomplete.
confab
Earthslide
Posted 2:36 PM 24/12/07
and the electric bill too.
Earthslide
frgalx9
Posted 2:29 PM 24/12/07
kool kid
frgalx9
Taime
Posted 2:27 PM 24/12/07
Of course he will be a big fan of tea if he is from the UK.
Taime
hbcobra
Posted 4:07 PM 24/12/07
Raise money for charity...and generate excess carbon at the same time.
hbcobra
sp00nix
Posted 3:27 PM 24/12/07
They run at 220, and we are at 110, so maybe they only need half the amperage. That would sum up the same amount of wattage.
sp00nix
phoenix96
Posted 3:10 PM 24/12/07
@mikemacman:
Well, the house in the article is in the UK. Maybe normal power lines are different?
phoenix96
What dreams may come
Posted 3:10 PM 24/12/07
@MIKEMACMAN
remember that in the UK they have 240V service (not 110V), hence a 145 amp line in the UK is about equivalent to a 315 amp line in the US (35kW (!) hasn't the guy heard of LED lights?)
What dreams may come
Bruhaha
Posted 3:01 PM 24/12/07
"Go figure" as in "Surprise!" - he is an electrician!
Or we're you being rhetorical?
Bruhaha
mikemacman
Posted 2:46 PM 24/12/07
"a factory-strength 145amp power line"? Something here doesn't make sense. In the USA, it is standard for a new home to have 150 amp service. Older homes generally have 100 amp service. I think there is something wrong or dramatized in this article.
mikemacman
spaceman37
Posted 4:56 PM 24/12/07
@confab: There is a house like this on Pelham Parkway in the Bronx that raises money for a local church. I think its usually referred to as as the "Christmas House". People just toss money on the lawn. They have CCTV cameras monitoring it all.
Here's a brief YouTube of it:
[www.youtube.com]
spaceman37
dna
Posted 4:31 PM 24/12/07
@KENK
Come on man, it's only up for 3 weeks. Give the guy a break. Al Gore probably wastes more resources during one of his Global Warming seminars.
dna
KenK
Posted 4:27 PM 24/12/07
Ridiculous... maybe it's just the Grinch in me, but if cops can hand out tickets for "wasting finite resources" to speeders doing less than 5 MPH over the speed limit, then they should be able to hand out those same tickets to asshats who layer their houses with this tacky mess. There are a thousand other better ways to help a charity than this monstrosity. His heart is in the right spot, but this is misguided.
KenK
MattressMaven
Posted 4:26 PM 24/12/07
can you see it from space?
MattressMaven
ProtoDAda
Posted 7:35 PM 24/12/07
marry me!
ProtoDAda
Darkest Daze
Posted 7:25 PM 24/12/07
@spaceman37:
I think there's a house in Staten Island also, except they have donation boxes.
Darkest Daze
huygir
Posted 7:24 PM 24/12/07
I'm pretty sure it's "Griswald" with an "a".
I'm in favor... if we had this guy in my neighborhood, by daughter would want to go out every night to ooh and aah. Nice change of pace from every day.
huygir
crazygolucky
Posted 11:12 PM 24/12/07
This guy needs Toshiba's new personal nuclear reactor so he can keep his neighbors awake with lights and the buzzing of electricity all year long!
crazygolucky
Hello_Newman
Posted 11:04 PM 24/12/07
Got to hand it to him, he's not lazy. I can't even keep my extension cords from tangling and five weeks a year setting up, plus storing it the rest of the time...gah! I wonder if you ever sell a house like that, if they try to include the lights as well, be kind of awesome.
Hello_Newman
Sqube
Posted 1:08 AM 25/12/07
@KenK: You had it right. That's just the grinch in you.
I also thought this was damn foolish until the part where it raised money for charity. Makes it cool in my book.
Sqube
confab
Posted 3:42 AM 25/12/07
@spaceman37
Thanks Dr. Spaceman, now I can let this story go!
confab
tekjock
Posted 9:16 PM 25/12/07
I need this on my site, I have a new site [wewishyouatackychristmas.com] you can View, Rate, Comment on and submit pics of tacky Christmas decorations.
I need a 800x600 of this. If anyone can find and submit this I would be grateful.
Thank you
tekjock
tackett
Posted 2:05 PM 24/12/07
RE: MIKEMACMAN
145 amps isn't much for a new house in the US. However, the UK tends to have much older houses than we do here, so it's possible he had really low power capabilities to begin with.
Also, the UK runs on 220v 50Hz, rather than our 110v 60Hz. 145 amps there would be the same as 190 amps here because of the voltage difference.
tackett
sandeep_8g
Posted 12:39 PM 24/12/07
Whats worse is they call the Christmas lights fairy lights.
sandeep_8g
Eric1285
Posted 11:25 AM 24/12/07
That actually looks pretty good compared to some of the ones I've seen.
Eric1285