Despite the electricity crisis, an illuminated house puts on a show for Christmas south of Toulouse
Every evening at 6:30 p.m., the show starts. Of star wars to the Snow Queen, about ten songs in twenty minutes, with also the Christmas classics. The program changes every day. All of this is perfectly synchronized with the garlands on the roof of the house, at 26, avenue de Rudelle in Muret (Haute-Garonne), south of Toulouse.
A sound and light show simmered by Pedro Estruga, the owner. It’s a bit like the neighborhood Jean-Michel Jarre! With his computer and special software, he combines music with garland games. “Depending on what we see, what we feel, we turn on this or that light, with shimmering colors“explains the pensioner, a big child in front of Christmas. In the sector, the house is very well known, and the curious many. During the school holidays, up to 200 people are on the street to watch the 6:30 p.m. show.
Two months to install the garlands, much more for the show
For twenty years, he devotes his time to perfecting his show and his decoration. A decoration that first started inside, before reaching the garden, then the roof… In the end Pedro and his wife decided to open their exterior to the public, every year during the Christmas period. Today, he works with a friend living near Tarbes (Hautes-Pyrénées) who accompanies him in the manufacture of the equipment.
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It’s necessary two months just to install the garlands, from mid-October, and there are hectometres. So expensive electricity, and the risk of load shedding, that questions spectators like Orianne, Fauga room: “we thought we had to go see it before the power cuts!“. Moreover, Pedro crosses his fingers to be spared by a possible shortage of electricity.
A large material investment… but a rather low electricity bill
Pedro obviously wondered, but he found a solution: “everything is computerized, with electronic cards. We have reduced the power of the cards by 50%, which also reduces our consumption by about 50%. It’s still so pretty! And it allows us to make a gesture for the environment and for the energy crisis“. Note that Pedro had already switched to LED and RGB bulbs, which consume less power a long time ago. Today, he estimates “50 euros per month
But before electricity, there is investment in technology, and more or less sophisticated garlands. If the pensioner does not want to talk about the cost, he still estimates that several thousand euros his expenses ten years, to expand its decoration. Not to mention the time: to create a song synchronized with the garlands, it takes “about a month of work” confesses Pedro, at the rate of three or four hours a day in front of the computer.
And that’s not all. Passionate about model making, the retiree has also installed in his garage (also open to the public) an electric train with a huge decor.
For all this, Pedro asks nothing. He did put a crate in front of his house, to collect a few coins… but everything is reversed at the association Rêvesfor seriously ill children.