Photo from Unsplash

Originally Posted On: https://astorialightingco.com/cost-of-permanent-christmas-lights/

 

 

 

 

Permanent Christmas Lighting is installed along and below your roofline. The costs of permanent Christmas lights–bought and installed–is mostly due to three factors:

01

The cost of the lights

02

The housing for the lights–in our case, the powder-coated aluminum track that the lights are installed in

03

The expense of paying a skilled technician to install them

Each of these factors can be measured on a “per linear foot” basis. So, as the amount of linear feet of lighting that you want on your home goes up, the more the total cost of the system will be. The total linear feet will more or less determine how expensive the system will be.

As a ballpark, most of our permanent holiday lighting installations fall between $2,500 and $5,500. We typically charge between $20 and $28 per linear foot, depending on the time of year. Fall is our busiest season, so for the best rates, consider planning your purchase in late winter, spring, or summer.

The square footage of your home can only provide a very rough indication of how much lighting you will need. Because this product gets installed on your roofline, and the amount of roofline on houses of the same square footage can differ dramatically between houses of the same size, the square footage isn’t really helpful in estimating the price. Different styles of houses, houses with two stories and porches and roofs over the garage, and a lot of peaks and other features, will drive up the linear footage and therefore, the cost. Because of this we really need to come out and measure your roofline. We are happy to do this for free! In addition to measuring, we need to figure out where the control system will go, measure for the depth of track that you will need, get a color match of your soffit, and plan how the installation will go.

Occasionally, we will need to make a special type of track for your home, or rent a boom lift to get to particularly high or difficult-to-reach rooflines, or otherwise incur unusual costs. This can result in additional charges, but these are not very common.

When comparing the cost of different types of permanent christmas lights systems, keep in mind these important differences that directly affect the value of the product and thus, the price that it makes sense to pay:



Lifetime of the LEDs

Some manufacturers, like Jellyfish, offer only 30K hour LEDs. Astoria Lighting Co’s system is rated for 50K hours.



True Warm White

To get the accent lighting look that you want, the LEDs need to have a warm white diode. This is visible on the LED as a small, yellow portion. Products like Trimlight, Jellyfish, and Everlight do not offer a true warm white.



Safety certifications

Our lights are UL listed and ETL/CSA certified. This is important for protecting warranties and insurance on your home. Don’t install a product that isn’t UL listed!



Number of LEDs per Light

Each of our lights has 3 RGBW LEDs per light. Other similar products only have 1 LED per light. This means you will not have the brightness you will want. Our lights emit 23 lumens per bulb, vs 7-8 lumens for products such as Trimlight.



WARRANTY

Gemstone Lights offers a 5 year manufacturer warranty. Other products offer either much shorter warranties, like 1 year, or made-up warranties, like 30 years. A 30 year warranty on a product that is only designed to last 10-20 years will leave you with NO warranty when the company goes out of business because they have to replace everyone’s lights for free! Read the fine print on these kinds of warranties.

All of these factors affect the value and so the cost of the system. It doesn’t make sense to pay as much for a system that only has ⅓ of the lighting, for instance.

Our permanent holiday lighting system is a one-time investment that will last for many, many years, with little to no additional cost on your part. It is a luxury product that makes your house look awesome, every night of the year, adds security, and saves you time and money during the holiday season. Like a sprinkler system, you don’t have to have it–you could pull hoses around your yard every day to water–but it makes sense to make the upfront investment that saves so much time and money over the life of the product that it ends up being a great value. However, unlike a sprinkler system, this product is a tremendous amount of fun and it really makes your home stand out from the rest!