The whole difference is this: seasonal installation is a cost that comes back every year, and permanent lighting is a cost that comes once. A standard permanent project runs $3,000 to $5,000 for the house; a seasonal package gets requoted every autumn. So the decision depends less on the sticker price than on how many more winters you plan to spend at this address.
Quick reference
- Seasonal — billed annually, install and takedown included. In many packages the lights stay the installer’s property.
- Permanent — $3,000 to $5,000 for a standard project, once. The rail stays on the house.
- The deciding variable — how many years you stay.
- Permanent warranty — 12 years on controllers and pixels, 3 years on light bars.
- The rest of the year — permanent works 365 days; seasonal works about six weeks.
What does a seasonal installer actually charge?
None of the Greater Montréal installers we checked publish their rates — every one of them quotes on request. So the public numbers come from elsewhere, and they should be read as reference points rather than as your price.
One Canadian installer publishes a rate card of $3 to $8 per linear foot of roofline in Canadian dollars, covering lights, installation, takedown and storage, with a first year around $650 to $1,200 for an average home in its market (Metro Vancouver). The same page notes that returning customers pay 30% to 50% less in later years, because only the labour is left to pay for.
A wider North American cost guide updated in January 2025 puts the figure at US$2 to US$5 per foot and a typical project at US$250 to US$650. Both sources describe markets other than ours — we cite them because they are real and checkable, not because they describe Montréal.
The honest way to do the math
Take what you paid last autumn, multiply it by the number of years you expect to stay, and compare that to the permanent project. That’s the entire calculation, and it doesn’t need to be more complicated.
Two things throw it off. The first is assuming the seasonal rate holds — it goes up, not down. The second is treating permanent lighting as a Christmas product, when it lights the architecture the other ten months as well.
What seasonal does better
It asks for no commitment. You can change the look every year, change companies, or stop entirely — and if you’re selling soon, that’s the sensible answer.
It also handles what a rail can’t: the strand in the spruce out front, the wreath, the arch over the walkway. A permanent system outlines the building; it doesn’t decorate the yard.
What permanent fixes and seasonal never will
The ladder in December. The work happens once, in the autumn you install it, and nobody goes back up on the roof after that.
Timing, too. A seasonal crew arrives when it’s in your neighbourhood and comes back when it’s in your neighbourhood again; a permanent system turns red and green on December 1st because you scheduled it, and goes back to warm white on January 2nd with nobody on site. The holiday lighting page shows how that runs from one holiday to the next.
Then there are the other 46 weeks. The same rail carries the warm-white facade light all year, which the exterior lighting page breaks down zone by zone.
The detail installers know
The failure point on a seasonal install is almost never the bulb. It’s the clip. A clip set on a frozen shingle lets go at the first freeze-thaw cycle, one side of the run sags, and that’s the January service call.
Permanent rail is fastened into the overhang rather than hooked over shingles, sealed to IP68 and rated to −40°C. It’s a fastening difference before it’s a lighting difference.
Something else you notice on site: a house that has taken clips every year for a decade often carries marks along the cladding. That doesn’t change anyone’s price, but it’s worth looking at before renewing a seasonal contract for an eleventh season.
Common questions
How many years before permanent costs less? It depends entirely on what you pay each autumn, and nobody can tell you without your invoice. Do the multiplication with your own number — it’s the only version of the calculation that means anything.
Does permanent lighting do red and green like Christmas lights? Yes. Every pixel is addressed separately, so alternating colours, gradients and motion are all available — 16 million colours in total, and a different scene for Halloween or Saint-Jean.
Can you see it during the day? The rail is aluminum, available in over 120 finishes, and mounts under the overhang with no exposed wire. From the street it reads as trim. Daytime examples are in our projects.
Can I keep my seasonal installer for the yard and go permanent on the house? Yes, and plenty of people split it exactly that way: the building on the rail, the trees and ground decorations handled the way they always were.
Should it be unplugged for the winter? No. The system is built to stay powered year-round, snow included. More maintenance questions are answered in the FAQ.
If you’d rather compare against a real number than a regional range, a free on-site estimate gives you the price for your house, anywhere in the service area.