Are Permanent Christmas Lights Worth It?
The honest answer depends on how long you plan to stay in the house and how much you already spend on lighting every December. Below is the math and the cases where we tell people to skip it.
Any color, from your phone
Warm white every other night
Track hidden in the soffit
What You Stop Paying For
If you hire out Christmas lights every year, you pay design, install, takedown, and storage every single season. A permanent system replaces that recurring cost with one install.
Compare your last few Christmas invoices against a one time system price. The more seasons you plan to stay, the more the math moves toward permanent.
What You Get Beyond December
This is the part homeowners underrate. The system runs as warm white accent lighting every ordinary night, as security lighting on a schedule while you travel, and as color for every holiday and game day.
That is the difference between a seasonal expense and something you use most nights of the year.
Signature Track Or Elite Track
Signature Track Lighting gives you a premium, polished line of light with fixtures set at 12 inch intervals. Elite Track Lighting is our highest density layout, set at 9 inch intervals, so the roofline reads as one continuous glow. Both are app controlled and carry the same warranty.
Want A Price For Your Roofline?
Takes about a minute, no site visit needed. We reply on weekdays, and Monday for anything that comes in over the weekend.
When We Tell People Not To Buy It
If you are selling within a year or two, a permanent system is unlikely to pay you back, and traditional Christmas lights are the better call.
If the roofline is short and you only want one strand of warm white, the value is thinner. And if the budget is tight, the SmartClip LED Lighting option gets you into the category for less rather than stretching for the flagship.
The Costs To Compare Honestly
We offer color-matched track and trackless SmartClip LED Lighting, designed and quoted for your actual roofline.
We offer financing through Wisetack, and financing options depend on credit approval. We also offer a military discount. If you already hold a written estimate from another installer, send it over and we will beat it where we can.
The Part That Decides It Later
Warranty. A system is only worth what the coverage behind it is worth in year five, when a fixture or a controller finally acts up.
Track installs from Capital Pro Lighting carry a 10 year warranty on parts and components, lifetime coverage on the lights, and a 10 year labor warranty. A labor warranty covers the installation work we performed. If a mount, a run, a connection, or a channel we installed fails, we come back out and make it right at no charge for the length of that warranty.
- One install instead of a bill every December
- Used most nights of the year, not only in season
- Warm white daily, color for holidays and game days
- Security lighting on a schedule while you travel
- 10 year parts and components warranty with lifetime coverage on the lights
- Financing through Wisetack, subject to credit approval
Common Questions
How many years before it pays for itself?
That depends on what you currently spend on seasonal lighting. Take your annual install and takedown cost and divide the system price by it. Most people who hire out lights every year land in a handful of seasons.
Does it add value to the house?
We do not make resale claims. What we can say is that the hardware stays with the house and the coverage on track installs is a 10 year warranty on parts and components with lifetime coverage on the lights.
Is the trackless option a waste of money?
No. SmartClip LED Lighting uses the same commercial grade fixtures at the same 12 inch or 9 inch intervals. The difference is the aluminum channel, the daytime look, and the length of the parts warranty.
How much electricity do they use?
They are low voltage LEDs, so running warm white for a few hours a night is a small load. We do not publish a dollar figure because it depends on your rate and your run length.
What if I only want them for Christmas?
Then traditional Christmas light installation is probably the better spend, and we do that locally. Design, install, takedown, and storage are all included.
Can I see one in person?
We have installs across the Capital Region. Call or text (518) 900-1912 and we will point you at the closest one to you.