Tis the season where families deck out their houses with Christmas lights and decorations to welcome the holiday season. According to businesswoman Jeanette Settembre, “homeowners shell out an average of $404 for getting Christmas lights installed throughout their house. This family from New York, however, has spent over $65,000 to decorate for the holidays. Their efforts are noticed, however, as homeowner Tim Gay and his family currently hold the Guinness World Record for most Christmas lights on the exterior of the house.

According to the Guinness World Record book, 687,000 Christmas lights were counted shining bright around Gay’s residence. In an interview with The Albany Times Union, Gay states that “going all out for Christmas was a tradition inherited by my mother”. He explains, “I grew up in a family of eight children and she made the holidays magical for the whole family. From Thanksgiving to New Years, it was like Grand Central Station in our house. It was very special to us.”

In fact, this is not the first time Gay has been acquainted with this award. According to reporter Sarah Wolpoff, this Lagrangeville family has set the record twice previously. In 2012, 346,283 Christmas lights were counted on the property which was the most record for the time. By 2014, Gay practically doubled his purchase of Christmas lights with 601,736 lights. Thus, Gay has broken his own record twice and remains to be the most passionate person about the holidays.

Gay reports his house is greeted by thousands of guests during December. Ever since, Gay’s annual light display serves as a charity event for the Fire Department Community fund as well as those less fortunate. On average, $500,000 is collected for these fundraisers. Reporters and bloggers at Tremg recommend that money be put towards the family’s electric bill too!