Questions to Ask Before Buying Permanent Lighting

Permanent lighting is fastened to your home and meant to stay for years. That makes it a different purchase than a box of string lights. These are the questions I would ask if I were standing in your driveway with a contractor. They apply to any brand and any installer. Under each one I have added how Brighter Nights Lighting Technologies answers it, so you have something concrete to compare against.

1. How does it mount to my house?

Start here, because the mounting is the part you cannot easily undo. Ask what the lights sit in, what that hardware is made of, how it is fastened and what it is fastened to. Ask what happens at corners, peaks and downspouts. Ask whether any holes are drilled and where.

You are listening for a specific answer. A contractor who has done this many times will describe the track or fixture, the fastener and the surface without thinking about it.

For reference, a BNLT roofline uses powder-coated aluminum track in 3 foot sections with the lights seated in it. Soffit lighting is a different method altogether. Sealed flush-mount fixtures are recessed into the underside of the eave, with no track and no strand. Which one suits your house depends on the eave, and soffit lighting vs roofline lighting walks through that choice.

2. What happens when the Wi-Fi drops?

Some lighting depends on your home internet to do anything. When the router is down or the signal does not reach the far corner of the house, those lights stop responding. Ask the question directly. If my Wi-Fi is down, can I still turn the lights on and change them from my phone?

Then ask the reverse. Can I control them when I am away from home, and what do I need for that?

BNLT control is Bluetooth mesh, so the system runs without Wi-Fi. An optional Wi-Fi Gateway adds remote access for the times you are not at the property. The longer explanation is in permanent lighting without Wi-Fi.

3. How are the connections made?

Outdoor lighting usually fails at a connection before it fails at a light. Water finds joints. So ask how one section joins the next, how the wire from the controller reaches the lights and what keeps water out of each joint.

There are two common answers in the trade, and both can be done well. One is a factory made plug connection that seals when it is pushed together. The other is a field splice, where the installer joins wires on site and seals the joint. Field splices are normal in landscape lighting across the industry. What matters is that the installer uses a waterproof method made for burial or outdoor exposure and can show you one.

As one example, BNLT soffit fixtures use quick-connect waterproof leads with no splicing at the fixture. Whatever system you are looking at, ask the installer to show you a connection in their hand before the job starts.

4. What does the warranty cover, component by component?

A lighting system is several different parts, and they rarely carry the same term. A single number for the whole system should make you ask more questions. Ask for the term on each part, in writing. Ask who you call to make a claim. Ask whether the warranty has to be registered and by when.

Here are the BNLT terms for four of the main parts of a system. Other parts carry their own terms, so ask for each one in writing.

The parts with a 3 year term can be upgraded to 5 years as an option. Ask your installer how that works.

5. Who services it after the install?

The company that makes the product and the company that installs it are often two different businesses. Know which is which before you sign. Then ask the installer these.

• If a light goes out in two years, who do I call first?
• Is there a charge for the visit if the part is under warranty?
• Where do replacement parts come from, and how long do they take to arrive?
• If your company is no longer around, who else can work on this system?

That last one is worth the awkward moment. A system that only one company can get parts for leaves you stuck if that company closes.

Here is how BNLT is set up. BNLT is the manufacturer and does not install. The product is sold through distribution nationwide. Distributors stock it, and contractors order through a stocking distributor. When you fill out the BNLT form, you are matched with a certified installer. Ask that installer how service calls are handled and get the answer in writing.

6. What does it look like in daylight?

Lighting companies show you night photos. You will look at your house in daylight far more hours than you will look at it lit. Ask for daytime photos of finished jobs on homes like yours, taken from the street and from up close. Better yet, ask for an address you can drive past.

Ask what colors the hardware comes in and which one the installer would pick for your trim. Ask where the wire runs and where the controller will sit.

With BNLT, soffit fixtures come in bronze, white and black. Sconces are solid brass in matte black, antique bronze and pure white. In the Southeast, pool enclosure track is powder-coated at the mill with the same aluminum and the same paint as the enclosure structure, so it reads as part of the frame.

A few more worth asking

• How many lights can be set to their own color before a pattern repeats?
• Can I add another area later, such as landscape lighting or a deck, and run it from the same app?
• Will you set up my everyday look with me before you leave?
• Does my association need to approve this, and will you help with the paperwork? The HOA compliance page covers what a review board usually asks for.

Write the answers down. If two installers give you very different answers to the same question, ask each one why. You will learn a lot from how they explain it.