Why it has to be LED
Hardware that stays up year round has to handle weather that seasonal strands never see. That rules out most of what people picture when they hear Christmas lights. LEDs run cool, draw little power and do not have a filament to break, which is what makes leaving them up a reasonable idea at all.None of this means you need to understand electronics. But it is worth asking what the channel is, how it mounts and how it is wired, since the detail in the answer says a lot. The people who can walk you through it are usually the ones who install it carefully.
The half of the system nobody talks about
Each diode lives in a channel, not clipped to a gutter. The channel is the reason the system looks like nothing in daylight, and it is also what controls the direction of the light. It gets painted to your trim color as part of the order, so the daytime house does not change.
Individual diodes, not a strip
Each LED in the run is addressed on its own. That is the difference between one flat color and a display that can move. The capability sits there unused most of the year, and then it is December.Ask to see a finished install in daylight as well as at night, because the daytime view is where careless work shows up and the night view hides almost everything.
The rest of the system
Behind the visible run there is wiring, a transformer and a control unit. Wire routing is where careful work shows, because a rushed job leaves it visible. Ask where the wire goes and where the controller mounts before the install, not after.
The long view
Permanent means permanent, which cuts both ways. Careful work stays clean. A sloppy install becomes visible the moment the lights are off. That is why the crew matters as much as the product.
Living outside in the Upstate
Nothing about a permanent system is theoretical once August arrives. Sun and heat are the long term stress. Humidity and the storms that come with it are the other half, which puts the seals and the connections under real load. The failure points are connections, not diodes.
Brightness is adjustable, and most people run it low
These systems have adjustable brightness, and it changes how the product feels. At full output it is a display. Turned down, it is just a lit house. Most people settle at a fraction of full output, because a soft glow reads as designed and a bright one reads as decorated.
Getting a design
Reading about channels and diodes is not the same as seeing it on your roofline.
https://jsbin.com/muvabucuxe The useful step is a design drawn for your building. EverCrest Lighting does permanent LED lighting for homes and businesses across Upstate South Carolina and Western North Carolina, based in Greenville. Consultations are free. Call (864) 252-1732 or email
[email protected].