How do you guys run electric?

[dshaunt]

I was just wondering how people run power through out their haunts. Mine is extension cords running through pvc pipe above the walls and rooms, I make sure im not putting to much power on one cord or outlet.

Do you think this would be ok, if the fire marshall came back again?

Also does anyone know of a flame retardent I can spray on all the fabric inside?

[UnDeRTaKer313]

ok very good idea with the pvc, that would also help with weather. very smart, i am going to try that out.

we are running electrical cords above the haunt, but with us our building inspector was going to make us take the whole thing down because he said were not technicallly alowed to have a structure in our backyard that is bigger that our actual house lol. so we have to take all the electrical out everynight. However i do have a question for you.
We have no roof on our haunt and we are working completely outdoors. How could we protect our lighting so that we dont have to bring all the lights and fog inside at the end of the night. it takes hours to put up and take down and really sucks after the long night. Also do you all run power from your house or generator. Right now were already at about 15,000 watts, 110 amps and we dont have any outdoor stuff set up. We were blowing the breaker everytime we turned a light on in the house and everytime one of the compressors turned on.
Any ideas?

[Gambit]

I would think that extension cords through PVC is a great idea. Though if you have a large area to haunt and a small amount of extension cords, I would select a generator. Thats if you can get your hands on one cheap and even better if petro is cheap in your area. Back to the PVC, great idea. I will be useing that idea next season.

[UnDeRTaKer313]

WOO go us,
got a 15,000 watt generator, going to be sweet!
borrowing it btw too expensive lol

[DogStar]

We at the CreekShow have never used AC power up to this point. Our lighting bread and butter has been flashlights(creatively hacked to prevent that goofy pattern they always project) and fire(creatively hacked to prevent mass casualties). Fog is always achieved via dry ice, which I actually kind of prefer to electric foggers anyhow. A camp stove keeps plenty of hot water on hand to get the maximum effect from the ice. We have only minimal pneumatic props, most of the scares being the work of our fine actors and operators.

This year I've accquired a number of heavy gauge extension cords, so I'm finally going to break down and wire some of the scenes for a generator. The CreekShow is a hayride that covers a rather large area(the terrain prevents a more efficient hairpin route) so the genny will be mounted on a tiny trailer pulled by a four-wheeler, and the powered scenes arranged far enough apart as to allow the rig plenty of time to travel amongst them as the audience passes the off-grid scenes. This also keeps the down the amount of wattage drawn at any one time, so a smaller genny can be used.

If you want to take on a new challenge in your haunts, try creating one with zero grid power(if you're a maniac, zero power whatsoever). It's a unique experience that can really get the brain juices pumping, and creates a bit of a different atmosphere for the audience as well.