Holiday Lights Contest: Elgin home wins editors' pick in Fox Valley

Michael Angel of 2195 South St. in Elgin has been chosen by editors as the Fox Valley winner of the Daily Herald Holiday Lights contest.

Angel's display contains more than 30,000 lights and 96 channels of computer animation.

The overall contest winner, chosen by online voting, is Dante Fiandaca of Algonquin.

Q. How long have you been decorating your house like this?

A. I have been decorating for a total of 22 years. This is the fourth year at my current house. I have been doing the lights synchronized to music since 2006.

Q. What inspired you to go all out with your decorations?

A. It all started with a few extra strands of lights one year and my mom told me to go put them outside. I also got some inspiration from one of my uncles who used to put up quite a few lights when I was younger. I also used to get some inspiration from some other big displays that used to be in my hometown.

Q. How many hours does it take to put up the display?

A. It takes about 70-80 hours to put the stuff up in the yard. With many other hours spent doing the programing and building new displays in the offseason.

Q. How much does your electric bill spike in December?

A. About $75, not nearly as much as people think. We use mostly LED lights and since the lights are going to the music there are many times that the lights are not all on at the same time, so that saves a lot of power.

Q. What do your neighbors think of your display?

A. They all really enjoy it. I have had many of them stop by and thank me for doing the display.