7 Things To Check Before You Buy Any Permanent Lighting System

1. How does the channel handle your architecture

Ask to see the system on a home with a roofline like yours. Complex rooflines, multiple gables, dormers, stone returns and low soffits all behave differently. A system that photographs well on a simple two storey box may look very different on your house.

2. Weather rating and materials

Look for an IP68 rating on the bulbs and ask what the channel is made from. Georgia gives you summer heat, heavy rain, and the occasional ice night, and the system has to sit through all of it permanently. Ask specifically what happens at the connections, because that is where cheaper systems fail first.

3. Bulb shape

Round or flat. This sounds like a detail and it is actually the most visible difference between systems at night. Ask to see both from an angle, not straight on, and at distance rather than from the driveway.

4. Spacing options

Six, nine or twelve inch spacing changes both the look and the cost. Tighter spacing gives a denser, more continuous line and suits close viewing. Wider spacing suits long runs and larger properties. A supplier who only offers one spacing is fitting your house to their product.

5. What the app actually does

Ask to hold the phone. Can you set a schedule, save a scene, assign zones, enter a custom RGB value, and create a calendar event for a specific date? Does it work with Alexa and Google Home? A system with limited software becomes a system you stop adjusting.

6. Running cost

Ask for the wattage per bulb and multiply it out. At under a watt per bulb, running the whole roofline every evening is genuinely negligible. Higher draw systems quietly discourage you from using the thing you paid for.

7. Read the warranty wording

A lifetime warranty on the product is meaningful. Ask what is covered, what is excluded, who performs the labour, and what happens if the installing dealer stops trading. Get it in writing before you commit rather than after.

And one more thing

Ask who is doing the installation. Some suppliers subcontract to whoever is available. Colour matching, placement and weatherproofing are judgement calls, and they are the difference between a system that lasts and one that does not.