Permanent Christmas lights cost calculator
Track or no track, priced per foot with peaks, jumps and storeys by the same engine GlowBid runs on real quotes. Then see the same roof as seasonal lights and as a five-season lease.
Seasonal versus permanent over 5 years
The same roof, four ways to sell it. The permanent row uses the rates you typed above. The seasonal rows use GlowBid's default Seasonal C9 rates with your tax and deposit, and no controller or transformer. Lease seasons after the first repeat only the recurring part of the price, so a minimum-job top-up in season one does not repeat.
Enter at least one run above to see the comparison.
What this calculator does, and does not
It prices a permanent lighting install the way GlowBid prices one: feet by run type times your rate, flat charges per peak and per jump, percent premiums for pitch and storeys, add-ons, then the minimum job, tax and deposit. The five-year table reprices the same roof on GlowBid's seasonal defaults. It does not measure the house and it does not know your costs.
Photo-based measurements are estimates. Every GlowBid quote carries a source tag and a confidence level on each run and recommends on-site verification for full accuracy. The safety buffer applies to materials footage only, never to the price, and it is the installer's choice.
Questions installers ask
- How much do permanent Christmas lights cost per foot?
- GlowBid's default rate card starts permanent track at $25 per foot on the roofline and ridge line and $28 on peaks, and no-track at $20 and $23. A 150 ft roofline with two 12 ft peaks on one storey prices at $4,522.80 on track before add-ons and tax. Installers set their own rates; type yours over the defaults.
- What is the difference between track and no track?
- Track is an aluminum channel screwed under the eave that hides the nodes and gives a clean line from the street; no-track clips each node to the fascia with no channel. Track costs more in material and labour, so the default per-foot rate is $5 higher. Some homeowners want the hidden look, some want the lower number.
- Why charge per jump and per peak on top of the foot rate?
- A peak is slow: pitch changes, two cuts, a ladder move. A jump is unlit cord that still has to be routed and hidden. A flat charge per peak and per jump covers that time without inflating the per-foot rate for the easy straight runs. GlowBid's default for both is $0 so you decide; many installers use $25 to $75.
- Is permanent cheaper than seasonal over five years?
- Usually the seasonal side costs less in year one and more by year five, but it depends on your rates. The table above prices the same roof on GlowBid's default Seasonal C9 rates five times, and as a five-season lease on flat, declining and escalator schedules. Change any rate on this page and the permanent column moves; the seasonal side uses the defaults.
- Does the calculator include the controller and transformer?
- Yes, as add-ons with a quantity. The Wi-Fi controller carries GlowBid's default price of $250; the transformer has no default because the size depends on the run length and the product, so enter your own cost. Leave a quantity at zero to leave the add-on off the quote. Add-ons are charged once and never take a premium.