What Do Permanent Christmas Lights Cost in Denver?

What "Cost" Actually Means With Permanent Lights

Before we talk numbers, a quick framing thing that trips up almost everyone shopping for the first time: permanent lights have two cost components, and most price ranges you see online mash them together.

The two components are:

• The product — the actual LED bulbs and the rail they live in. This is hardware you buy.
• The installation — the labor, the mounting track, the wiring, the configuration. This is the service you hire.

Trimlight, EverLights, Jellyfish, Gemstone, and Oelo all bundle these together — you can't buy the lights without the install, and you can't see what the install costs separately from the product. That's not necessarily bad; it's just an opaque model.

Govee Permanent Outdoor Lights are sold separately — you buy the product retail from Govee or Amazon, and hire an installer like us for the install. That keeps the two costs visible to you. We'll cover both.

Govee + Professional Install: The Numbers

For a typical Denver Metro home, here's how the math breaks down:

The Govee lights themselves retail for roughly $8 to $15 per linear foot depending on which model (Govee Permanent Outdoor Lights 2, Pro, or Prism) and which kit length (100ft, 150ft, 200ft). A 180-foot two-story home typically buys two 100ft kits or one 200ft kit — roughly $300 to $600 in product cost, purchased direct from Govee or Amazon.

The installation runs $15 to $18 per linear foot, with an $850 minimum that covers our show-up cost on smaller jobs. That price includes the commercial-grade aluminum channel track, all mounting hardware, fully concealed wiring, the Govee app configuration, and a homeowner walkthrough.

For a typical 180-foot two-story Denver home:

Cost Component	Amount
Govee lights (you buy direct)	$400 – $600
Aluminum track install (we provide)	$2,700 – $3,250
Total all-in	$3,100 – $3,850

That's the all-in number for a permanent install that survives Colorado weather, passes HOA review, and lasts the full lifespan of the LEDs (Govee rates them at 50,000 hours — roughly 20 years of nightly use). Get our full quote with measurement: free Denver quote.

How That Compares to Dealer-Locked Systems

For the same 180-foot home, here's roughly what the other major systems cost installed:

• Trimlight — typically $4,500 to $6,000 all-in (their published range is $18-$35/ft)
• EverLights — typically $4,200 to $5,800 all-in
• Jellyfish Lighting — typically $4,500 to $6,500 all-in
• Oelo — typically $5,000 to $8,000+ all-in (premium positioning)
• Gemstone Lights — typically $4,800 to $6,500 all-in

The Govee model comes in 30 to 40% lower for the same size install, with the same architectural daytime look and the same HOA-friendly aluminum channel approach. What you give up is the proprietary product warranty (Govee uses a standard manufacturer warranty rather than a lifetime dealer warranty) and the dealer-bundled service model.

For most Denver Metro homeowners, that's the right trade. For homeowners who want a single vendor responsible for the lights and the service for a decade-plus, Trimlight's lifetime warranty is a real feature worth paying for. See our full breakdown: Govee vs Trimlight comparison.

How That Compares to Seasonal Christmas Light Installers

This is where the math gets interesting. A Denver-area Christmas light installer typically charges $600 to $1,200 per year to put up and take down a seasonal install on a 180-foot home. That's not the cost of the install once — that's every November and again every January, every single year.

Over a 5-year horizon:

Path	Year 1	Years 2-5	5-Year Total
Seasonal installer ($800/yr avg)	$800	$3,200	$4,000
Permanent install (Govee + us)	$3,400	$0	$3,400

The break-even point is roughly year 4 if you're paying mid-range seasonal pricing. After that, every year of permanent lights is essentially free — and you get year-round architectural lighting in the bargain, not just six weeks of Christmas. We did the full math here: permanent lights vs seasonal Christmas lights — the 5-year breakdown.

What Drives the Price Up or Down

Within the $15-$18/ft range, here's what moves the number on your specific quote:

Roofline complexity. A simple ranch with a single front roofline runs at the lower end. A two-story with multiple gables, dormers, and detached structures runs at the upper end because we're doing more channel cuts, more corners, more vertical access work.

Linear feet. Longer runs spread the show-up cost across more footage, which can pull the per-foot rate down slightly. Under our $850 minimum (roughly 50 linear feet), the per-foot rate effectively goes up because we still have to drive out and bring the gear.

Substrate. Standard aluminum or vinyl soffits are the easiest install. Stucco soffits require different fasteners and slightly more time. Wood soffits in older Denver and Englewood homes are usually straightforward but occasionally hit rot pockets that need a quick repair before mounting.

Power access. Govee permanent lights need a single outdoor outlet near where the run starts. If you have one (most Denver Metro homes built since 2000 do), no problem. If you don't, you'll need an electrician to add one — that's not our scope, but it's a typical $200-$400 add depending on your panel access.

HOA submission complexity. For most HOAs, our standard submission packet works as-is. For more rigorous architectural review boards (Castle Pines Village, Tallyn's Reach, Backcountry at Highlands Ranch), we sometimes do an extra round of documentation. That's included in our flat rate — we don't charge extra for HOA support.

What's NOT in Our Quote

Being upfront about this matters. Our quote covers labor and aluminum track. It does not include:

• The Govee lights themselves. You buy direct, you own them, you hold the warranty.
• A new electrical outlet if you don't already have outdoor power near the install point.
• Fascia repairs if your soffit has rot or damage that needs to be fixed before mounting.
• Removal of an existing lighting system (clip-on Christmas lights, Trimlight, etc). We can quote this separately if needed — typically $300-$600.

A Note on the "$Cheap" Quotes You'll See

If you get a quote that's significantly below the $15/ft floor, look carefully at what's actually being installed. The most common gap is the mounting hardware. A $9/ft install almost always means adhesive-mounted clips and a thin plastic rail — the same hardware Govee ships in the retail box. That's not a professional permanent install. It's DIY-grade hardware with someone else's labor.

The aluminum channel itself costs roughly $4-$6 per linear foot in material — so any install priced below $12-$13/ft is almost certainly using cheaper mounting. In Colorado weather, that hardware typically fails within one to two seasons. We've written the full breakdown of what goes wrong: DIY vs professional permanent light installation.

Getting an Exact Quote on Your Home

We give exact quotes in 24 hours (usually same-day). All you need to send us is your address — we'll measure your roofline from satellite imagery, confirm the linear footage, identify your soffit material, and reply with a flat number. No phone calls, no salesperson visits, no pressure.

If you want to compare against another installer's quote, we'll happily walk you through what each line item should look like. The goal isn't to win every quote; it's to make sure you're comparing the same hardware spec across bids.

Get my free Denver quote →