Guide · Christmas Lighting
What Professional Christmas Light Installation Actually Costs
Here’s what professional Christmas lighting costs in our corner of Ontario — our actual prices, what a full-service package should include, and how the math compares to doing it yourself.
The short answer
Professional installers price by the linear foot — the total run of rooflines, peaks, and features being lit. Our rate is $8 per linear foot, all-inclusive. Most of our installs land between $800 and $3,500 — with the average around $1,500 — depending on the size of the home and how much of it you light.
What "all-inclusive" should mean
The price-per-foot number only means something if you know what’s in it. A true full-service package includes all six of these:
- Design — a plan for your specific roofline, not a spool of lights stapled on.
- The lights themselves — commercial-grade LED, custom-cut to your home. You don’t buy or own anything.
- Installation — including all the ladder work, done insured. Ours also includes the timer that runs the display (a digital one with battery backup, so an outage doesn’t wipe the schedule) and a test of the GFCI outlet it plugs into.
- In-season maintenance — a bulb out or a strand down in the wind gets fixed free. Ours within 48 hours.
- Takedown — everything comes off after the season, once the weather allows.
- Storage — the lights live at the installer’s shop until next season, not in your garage.
When comparing quotes, ask specifically about maintenance and storage — that’s where cheaper quotes usually quietly cut.
Comparing quotes: price is only part of it
Price matters, but it’s only part of the picture. What you’re really choosing is how the season feels: a design you’ve seen on your own home before anything goes up, lights that come on and go off by themselves, a strand that comes down in the wind fixed within 48 hours, and everything taken down and stored after the season without you lifting a finger. When you compare quotes, compare that part too — who designs it, who fixes it mid-season and how fast, and who takes it down and stores it.
The DIY math
Buying comparable commercial-grade C9 LED product for a whole house — bulbs, wire, clips, timers — typically runs several hundred dollars up front, and the store-shelf versions are dimmer and less weather-hardy than commercial supply. Then add a weekend on a ladder in November, the same again once the season’s over, a repair trip every time a strand quits, and a bin in the garage all year. DIY saves real money if you enjoy the project; if you don’t, the pro premium mostly buys back your weekends and keeps you off a frozen ladder.
How to book smart
- Book in early fall. Calendars fill fast after the first snow, so booking in October is how a first-year client gets a November install date they actually want — that’s availability, not a discount. Returning Nord clients get something extra: 20% off ("Early Elf") for letting the install happen in October.
- Installed doesn’t mean lit. Lights can go up in mild October weather and stay dark until you’re ready — the neighbours never know.
- Changing the design costs nothing. With custom-fit lighting, you can pick new colours and patterns next season at no extra cost — ask your installer to confirm the same.
- Check insurance. Roofline work is ladder work. Any installer on your property should carry real liability coverage — we carry $2 million in liability insurance.
Frequently asked questions
Is $8 per linear foot per year, or once?
Per season — it’s a service, not a purchase. The price covers the full cycle from design to storage, every year.
What about wreaths, garland, and trees?
Quoted as add-ons on top of the roofline footage. Trees vary a lot — a quick photo is usually enough for a firm number.
Do you keep the lights, or does the installer?
In most full-service models the installer supplies, removes, and stores the lights as part of the price, so you never handle bins or ladders. Ask, because some cheaper quotes assume you buy and store the product yourself.
Do you install permanent lights or Govee-style kits?
No. Nord only does seasonal Christmas lighting — put up for the season and taken down after it — because we’re here for the traditional holiday look. Permanent and app-controlled systems are a different product, usually bought outright once, so they don’t compare directly with the per-season prices on this page.
When should Christmas lights be booked?
Book in early fall. Returning Nord clients get 20% off for letting the install happen in October; first-year clients who book early are securing a November date before the prime dates fill. Lights can go up unlit well before December, and calendars fill quickly after the first snowfall.
Does any of it give back?
Ours does: 5% of every Nord Christmas lighting sale goes to The Lighthouse in Orillia, which provides shelter and support for neighbours in need.