Home › Learn › Homeowner guides
By Austen Stucki, Brighter Nights Lighting Technologies · Updated 8 October 2026
A permanent lighting system has four parts. Lights, something that holds them in place, a controller and an app. You pick a color in the app and the system changes the lights. Once it is set up, you change the look from your phone.
You do not need to understand electronics to own one of these systems. It does help to know what each part is called and what it does, because that is how you follow an installer’s design and how you describe a problem if one ever comes up. Here it is in plain words.
| Part | What it is | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Lights | Color changing LEDs. On a roofline they come as a strand. In the yard they are bulbs inside fixtures. | Make the light, in whatever color they are told |
| Track or fixtures | The hardware fastened to the house or set in the ground | Holds the lights in position, protects them and keeps the install tidy in daylight |
| Controller | A small weather rated box wired to the lights | Receives instructions and passes them to the lights |
| App | Software on your phone | Where you pick colors and choose which areas to change |
There is also wiring between the parts and a connection to house power. Your installer sizes and places those. You will rarely think about them again.
What holds the lights depends on where they go.
On a roofline, the lights ride in a track along the roof edge. On a roofline from Brighter Nights Lighting Technologies (BNLT), the track is powder-coated aluminum in 3 foot sections, and the lights sit 12 inches apart along the strand. The track gives the installer a straight, clean line to follow and gives the lights a home that is fastened to the structure.
In a soffit there is no track and no strand. BNLT soffit lighting uses sealed flush-mount fixtures recessed into the underside of the eave. Each one connects with quick-connect waterproof leads, so there is no splicing at the fixture.
In the yard and on the walls, the lights are bulbs inside fixtures. Landscape lighting covers up lights, pathway lights and similar fixtures. A BNLT sconce is a solid brass wall fixture that takes two bulbs.
Different hardware, same idea. Something solid holds a light in the right spot and keeps weather away from the connection.
A color changing LED is really several small LEDs in one package. The basic set is red, green and blue. Mix those three at different strengths and you get the range of colors you see on a screen. Run all three together and you get white.
Some lights add a fourth LED that only makes white. That is called RGBW. The BNLT sconce bulb is RGBW, and it can be tuned from a warm 2000K white to a cool 7500K white. A dedicated white matters most in the places where you want a soft everyday glow more often than a color.
The electronics in the system do the mixing. When you pick a color in the app, the system sets how hard to drive each small LED.
Something has to carry your instruction from the phone to the lights. With BNLT that is Bluetooth mesh.
Bluetooth mesh is a version of Bluetooth made for many devices on one network.
The practical result is that the system runs without Wi-Fi. When a property has more than one controller, they sit on the same network, and you can run everything together or one area at a time.
What the optional Wi-Fi Gateway adds. Bluetooth is a local signal, so by itself it works when you are at the property. If you want to change the lights from work or from vacation, an optional Wi-Fi Gateway adds remote access. It is an add-on to the mesh. The system does not need it to run. There is more in permanent lighting without Wi-Fi.
Colors are chosen in the app. You can pick one color for the whole property or a different color for one area. A holiday, a game or a party is a reason to change it. The rest of the year you leave it on the everyday look you like.
Ask your installer to set up the first everyday look with you on the day of the install, which is the best time to ask for what you want. After that you can change it whenever you like.
If you want the lights to come on and go off at set times, ask your installer how that is handled on your system and what it needs to run when your phone is not nearby.
Very little, and that is the point. Here is what owning a system looks like.
There are no bulbs to hang and nothing to store. If something does stop working, start with the installer who put the system in, and ask at the install who handles service. Coverage is by component and depends on registering the system within 60 days, so do that the week it goes in. The details are in the permanent lighting warranty explained.
You do not assemble any of it yourself. BNLT manufactures the system and sells it through distribution nationwide. A certified installer designs the layout for your home, mounts it and connects it. Ask yours to walk you through the app before leaving. If you are still getting familiar with the category, start with what permanent outdoor lighting is.
Fill out one form and get matched with a certified installer and an estimate for your property.
Permanent lighting without Wi-FiWhat Bluetooth mesh does and when a gateway is worth addingWhat is permanent outdoor lightingWhere it goes on a property and who installs itQuestions to ask before buying permanent lightingWhat to ask any installer or brand before you signOutdoor sconce lighting guideWhere wall fixtures belong and what to look for in one
Access Level
Choose your account type to continue.
Welcome to Brighter Nights
Ask the Light Genie any lighting question you have
Design, control & warranty in one place
Quote jobs & install faster than ever
Territory insights & inventory intel
We are working on the site right now and adding a bunch of new features. If you run into any issue, please let us know. We are responding in real time.
When you close this, look for Report an issue in the menu bar. You can report a problem or suggest a change any time. We are here to support you.
