What Is Permanent Outdoor Lighting? A Plain Guide for Homeowners

Most people first hear about it as permanent Christmas lights. That is a fair starting point, but it undersells what the category has become. A full system today can cover the roofline, the soffits, the yard, the entry, the deck and the dock, all working together. Here is what it is, where it goes and who is involved in getting it on your house.

What makes it permanent

Three things separate permanent lighting from a string of lights you put up and take down.

• It is mounted with real hardware. Lights sit in a track or in a purpose built fixture that is fastened to the structure. Nothing is clipped to a gutter or stapled to trim.
• It is built to live outside. The lights, the wiring and the electronics are made for sun, rain and heat every day of the year, where seasonal lights are made for a few weeks.
• It is controlled, where seasonal lights are only switched. Each system connects to a controller, and the controller answers to an app. Color is a setting you change from your phone.

The result is a lighting system that is part of the house, the same way your gutters or your irrigation are part of the house.

Where it goes on a property

Permanent lighting started on the roofline. It now covers most of the places you would want light after dark. Each location does a different job, so it helps to know them by name before you talk to an installer.

A note on that last row. Screen pool enclosures are a Southeast thing, so pool enclosure and lanai lighting from Brighter Nights Lighting Technologies is marketed in Florida, Alabama and the rest of the Southeast. The other systems are available nationwide.

You do not have to do the whole property at once. You can start with the roofline and add landscape lighting or soffit lighting later. If you are weighing roofline against soffit, read soffit lighting vs roofline lighting.

How it differs from hanging seasonal lights

Seasonal lights are a product you buy every few years and a chore you do twice a year. Somebody goes up a ladder in November and again in January. The lights are one color or one fixed pattern. They sit in a bin in the garage the rest of the year.

Permanent lighting is installed once. After that, the work is done from the ground with your phone. The same lights that run Christmas colors in December can be set to a calmer everyday look the rest of the year.

The other difference is daylight. A good permanent install is designed to blend in when it is off. On a BNLT roofline, the track is powder-coated aluminum that comes in 3 foot sections and runs along the roof edge. Soffit fixtures come in bronze, white and black so they can match the eave. The goal is that a visitor in the afternoon sees a clean house and a visitor at night sees a lit one.

There is a full side by side in permanent lighting vs hanging holiday lights if you want to go deeper.

How you control it

Every system has a controller, and the controller is run from an app. With BNLT, control is Bluetooth mesh, so the system runs without Wi-Fi. If you want to reach your lights when you are away from home, an optional Wi-Fi Gateway adds remote access.

When a property has more than one system, they join the same network. You can set the roofline, the landscape and the sconces together or change one area by itself. The longer explanation is in how permanent outdoor lighting works.

Who makes it and who installs it

Two different kinds of companies are involved, and it helps to know which one you are talking to.

A manufacturer designs and builds the product. BNLT is a manufacturer and does not install lighting. The product is sold through distribution nationwide, which means distributors stock it and contractors buy it from them.

An installer is the local contractor who designs the layout for your home, mounts the system and gets you started in the app. With BNLT, those contractors are certified installers. Contractors train through the Masters of Lighting Academy.

For a homeowner the path is short. You fill out one form. BNLT matches you with a certified installer, and you get an estimate for your property. The installer is the company that does the work at your house, and the manufacturer stands behind the product through its warranty. The terms are laid out by component in the permanent lighting warranty explained.

Is it right for your home

Permanent lighting makes sense if any of these sound like you.

• You decorate for the holidays every year and you are done with ladders and storage bins.
• You want the house and yard lit every night, with the option of color when there is a reason for it.
• You have outdoor space that goes unused after dark, such as a deck, a dock or a pool area.
• You would like one app for the whole property instead of a timer here and a switch there.

If you live in a community with an association, check the rules on exterior lighting before you sign anything. The HOA compliance page covers what a review board usually asks for.