Wow! Houston homeowner takes Christmas decorations to new level

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- 'Tis the season to deck the halls and string up the lights. But Don Franck has been preparing his Christmas display all year long. In fact, some say his show is the hottest one in town.

He has a separate breaker devoted to the show at his home in the 15000 block of Viney Creek Drive.

With over 150,000 twinkling lights, and thousands upon thousands of feet of electrical cord, Franck started his over-the-top tradition less than 10 years ago. Since then, it has grown by leaps and bounds.

Franck says, "We make a lot of this stuff. This is PVC pipe wrapped. This big poll is PVC pipe wrapped."

Franck and his wife began stringing up the lights mid-October. During Thanksgiving week, they flipped the switch. When the sun goes down, it's show time.

Franck's dazzling display dances to 17 music tracks and it's controlled by 276 separate channels. Each one is programmed from scratch.

From these 20-foot shooting star towers, spiraling Christmas trees -- even the reindeer grazing on the lawn -- each zone is synchronized and controlled by his computer control room.

Neighbor, Denise Watson says "Every year they add more. I look forward to coming and also bring friends who come to my house to see it."

Music light displays have become popular over the years. So to step up his game, Franck added something different.

It's a wow factor everyone is talking about.

These twin fire cannons shoot about 10 feet into the air. They're not programmed to go off with every song in Franck's library, but when they do, it's a sight to see.

According to Franck, "they just run on starting fluid. We buy starting fluid by the case."

The price tag to run everything is not as expensive as you'd think. Franck tells us it's about $75 more on his electricity bill.

Now the fuel canisters do add up quickly. Franck says they run about 5 times as much as the electric bill. But he doesn't mind at all.

He says, "When you see the kids and see their faces light up, it makes it all worth it."