Name: Home battery boosts iconic Christmas lights display
Uploaded: 2025-12-18T03:35:58.897Z
Duration: 3 min 26 s
Description: After nearly 40 years lighting up his Jindabyne home every Christmas, John McLoughlin has flicked the switch on his 2025 display with the help of a new home battery. The 25kWh battery provided by Origin is expected to save John around $2,200 a year on his electricity bill.

After nearly 40 years lighting up his Jindabyne home every Christmas, John McLoughlin has flicked the switch on his 2025 display with the help of a new home battery. The 25kWh battery provided by Origin is expected to save John around $2,200 a year on his electricity bill.

Jindabyne

John and Doreen McLaughlin have decorated their Jindabyne home with Christmas lights for 37 years, drawing crowds and raising funds for local causes. This year, their display is powered by a newly installed 25 kilowatt home battery from Origin, which stores solar energy for use at night and is expected to save the couple around $2,200 annually on electricity bills.

Origin reports that about 1,800 home batteries are being installed daily across Australia, reflecting growing interest in renewable energy solutions. The McLaughlins, with support from Origin, are also fundraising for the Salvation Army this Christmas, continuing their tradition of community support.

Home battery boosts iconic Christmas lights display

5, 4, 3, 2, 1, zero! At Postman John's Place in the New South Wales Snowy Mountains, it's well and truly beginning to look a lot like Christmas. I love Christmas because it brings people together and makes everybody happy. Here on Bent Street in Jindabyne, John McLaughlin and his wife Doreen have been lighting up their house every Christmas for the past 37 years. I've raised a great family here so I love to give back to the community. And this year, with the help of a newly installed 25 kilowatt home battery provided by Origin, John's Christmas light display is more cost effective than ever. John's been a really long-term customer for Origin so we wanted to give him a battery so that he can keep lighting up Jindabyne for years and years to come. Lydia Lobb is customer and community champion at Origin. He's already got solar on his roof so that means that during the day all the power's sorted but at night time when the sun goes away the battery will be nice and full of stored energy and then that can power all these lights that you see around us but also the whole household. As John and Doreen flick the switch on their first ever battery powered light display, Origin says the couple can expect to save around $2,200 on their annual electricity bill. The battery to me is one of the best things that's happened since I've put the lights on. John was in the garage and I was standing out here and I could hear him yelling and he's going up, yes, yes, yes and then he said we're getting the battery. According to Origin around 1,800 batteries a day are being installed in homes across Australia. Little wonder many visitors to John's place tonight are interested in checking out what's powering this incredible display. And she's 100% charged now. Wow that's great. These lights are 10 weeks of work but a year's worth of planning and storage. He raises thousands of dollars for local community events. This year our intention is to get to down. We're really thrilled that John, like us at Origin, is supporting the Salvos this Christmas. It means a great deal to us that we've been able to help so many Australians who are struggling at this time of year. The Salvos, we all know how much work they do and they don't do it just one day, they do it every day. Thank you John for your commitment but your inspiration to all of us. I love how much effort he puts into it and all the crowd that he gets. As soon as they walk through the gate they just turn into big kids. You see their eyes light up. We love you John, keep going. So what does the man himself think of it all? To me it's something I do every year. Every year we've got to make it bigger and better and we will get bigger and better every year thanks to that battery from Origin. I wish everybody to get as much out of this Christmas as I will and that's as much as you can wish anybody.

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