Permanent or Seasonal Christmas Lights for a Hamilton County House

There are two ways to put light on a roofline for the holidays. A seasonal install goes up in November and comes down in January. Permanent lighting is mounted into the eave once and stays there all year. Jingle & Glow Co installs both across Hamilton County, so this is how we would think it through with you at your house.

What each one is

A seasonal install is professional grade bulbs and wiring, leased to you for the season and cut to length in your driveway to fit your roofline. We maintain it while it is up, take it down in January, and if you would rather not keep boxes in the garage, your set can stay in our facility until next year. Because the strands are cut to your measurements, they go back the same way every year.

Permanent lighting is a run of individually controlled fixtures mounted into the eave of the house. It sits in a channel that follows the eave, so in daylight you see a slim line matched to your trim rather than a row of bulbs. Warm white is the everyday setting on most houses. Color is set from your phone for a holiday, a game day or a birthday, and set back the next morning.

The house decides most of it

On a two story house with steep peaks, permanent lighting has its strongest case. That is the house where the annual install and takedown take the most work, and permanent lighting means no install to book in November and no takedown in January.

On a ranch with one clean roofline, a seasonal install is straightforward, so the money argument for permanent lighting is weaker. There it comes down to whether you want lighting on the front of the house for the rest of the year as well.

What permanent lighting does not cover

Permanent lighting covers the roofline. It does not light trees, garland or the entry. Trunk wraps, canopy lighting, shrub washes and a lit front door are what give a front yard depth instead of one line across the roof, and they are still seasonal work. Some houses run permanent lighting on the roof and still have us do the trees and the front door each season.

How it looks when it is off

A seasonal display comes down in January, so there is nothing on the house for the rest of the year. A permanent system is on the house in July too, which is why the daytime look matters most when you compare systems. Anything that looks like a strand of bulbs in July is going to look like one every July.

Timing

Seasonal installs run from the start of November through the middle of December. Book in September or October if you want a choice of install dates, and so the measuring visit happens in daylight. Permanent lighting is installed once and then it stays, so there is no install window to book around in later years.

Questions that settle it

• How tall and steep is the roofline, and how much of it do you want lit?
• Do you want lighting on the front of the house outside December?
• Are the trees, garland and entry part of the picture?
• Would you rather not store anything between seasons?

What happens next

Either way it starts with a visit. One of the owners measures your house, looks at how the eave is built, and presents the proposal at your house. Nothing is ordered and nothing is cut until you say yes. Read more about permanent lighting and seasonal Christmas light installation, see the answers to common questions, or request an estimate.