How Much Would It Cost to Light Up the Griswold Home in ‘Christmas Vacation’? Fans Did the Math

In one of the most memorable scenes from National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, Clark Griswold (Chevy Chase) lights up his house and the entire neighborhood with an impressive holiday display, determined that the Griswolds will have the “best looking house in town.”

And it is impressive. As Clark proudly explains, it is “250 strands of light…100 individual bulbs per strand…for a grand total of 25,000 imported Italian twinkle lights.”

The result is a blinding and glorious explosion of holiday excess that floods the street with light, briefly overwhelms the local power grid, and perfectly encapsulates Clark’s unwavering optimism and escalating obsession to have a merry Christmas.

But how much did Clark’s suburban supernova of Christmas lights cost?

Well, it is difficult to nail down pricing, but according to old records and assorted lighting blogs, a 35-light set of Christmas tree lights would cost $10.00. This means that for standard lights, it would have cost Clark over $7k. But he bought imported Italian lights, which are more expensive. Also, he had a mix of lights from over the years, many of which were stored from decades past. So, all that considered, let’s give Clark the benefit of the doubt and say it cost him about $6000 to cover his house, with an additional $200 the freestanding reindeer light frames.

As for the electricity, let’s remember that Clark Griswold did not use LED lights; he used traditional, power-hungry incandescent “imported Italian twinkle lights,” which is why his display drew so much energy, causing neighborhood blackouts. This will result in a massive electric bill.

To figure out the cost, we will factor in the type of lights he used, as well as his location, and the date from when he hung the lights, which was December 14 or 15, according to the Advent calendar.

So, how much did it cost for Clark to have the brightest house on the block?

According to Commonwealth Edison, if Clark powered his incandescent holiday lights for eight hours a day for the entire month of December, his electricity bill for the display alone, adjusted to 2025 rates, would total $9,356.97. However, since he only had the lights up from December 15 through January 1 — giving him the benefit of the doubt that the lights would be taken down right after New Year’s — that cost drops to $4,527.56 in 2025 pricing, or $1,781.54 in 1989

So the grand total for Clark Griswold’s Christmas display for 15 days worth of lights (for eight hours a day), using imported Italian lights from various years, and the faux reindeer frames, the total comes to: $10,727.56 for 2025, or $7,981.54 if adjusted for 1989.

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