Manny Duarte, 55, of Middletown, won’t be surprised if he has to pay an extra $500 on his next electric bill.
Duarte hasn’t looked at his electric this holiday season, he said, since powering up the 24,000 LED lights for his holiday light show on display in his front yard (103 Cazier Drive, Middletown), which the public is free to view daily from 5 to 11 p.m., until the final day on Sunday, Jan 1.
His estimated $20,000 light display is so elaborate he uses multiple controllers to operate it, along with software to program his flashing lights so they can be in sync with music. Whether on foot or cruising by in cars, folks within a few blocks of his house can listen to holiday tunes over the radio by tuning into 97.7 FM.
Duarte has 12 songs in his holiday show, including The Weeknd’s “Blinding Lights,” Kelly Clarkson’s “Underneath the Tree,” Carrie Underwood’s “Away in a Manger” and Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas is You.”
Although the Delaware dad hasn’t seen his light bill this month, he estimates it’ll cost triple what he spent on it last holiday season. That’s back when his electric bill increased by $135 after he introduced his first holiday display, which only featured 7,000 lights.