For contractors
How contractors think about pricing lighting work
Every property is different, so there is no single number that prices a lighting job correctly. But contractors adding a lighting line still need a starting framework, and national industry ranges are a reasonable place to build one from before adjusting for the actual property.
Why there is no fixed price to quote from
Roofline length, home height, existing electrical access, and how much of the run is straightforward fascia versus complicated trim all move the price of a lighting job in different directions. That is true whether you are a homeowner asking what something costs or a contractor building a bid for a client, which is exactly why neither side benefits from a flat number pulled off a chart.
The honest starting point for a contractor is the same one Thraxel uses with its own customers: broad national ranges as a planning tool, then a property-specific number once you have actually walked the job and measured what is actually there.
The ranges worth knowing
National industry estimates commonly put permanent roofline lighting systems between roughly $20 and $50 per linear foot installed. Professional seasonal Christmas lighting typically runs roughly $2 to $6 per linear foot per season, or roughly $500 to $2,500 or more for a typical home per season depending on scope. Landscape fixtures generally run roughly $150 to $400 installed per fixture.
These are national ranges, not a quote for any specific property, and a contractor's own material costs, labor rate and local market will shift where a real bid lands inside or outside that range. Treat them as a sanity check on a bid, not a formula, and expect real jobs to fall outside them occasionally.
- Permanent roofline systems: roughly $20 to $50 per linear foot installed
- Seasonal Christmas lighting: roughly $2 to $6 per linear foot, or roughly $500 to $2,500+ per home per season
- Landscape fixtures: roughly $150 to $400 installed per fixture
What actually moves a bid inside those ranges
Roofline complexity is the biggest swing factor for permanent systems. A straight ranch roofline prices differently than a home with multiple peaks, dormers and varied trim heights, even at the same total linear footage, because the labor and mounting hardware needed per foot goes up with complexity.
For seasonal work, access matters as much as length. A single-story home with easy ladder access prices differently than a two-story colonial requiring extension ladders and more careful fall protection at every point along the run, even before accounting for the lighting product itself.
For landscape fixtures, trenching conditions and how far a run sits from the nearest power source both affect labor time independent of the fixture count.
Where material cost fits into a bid
A contractor's material cost is the other half of any bid, alongside labor. Buying commercial-grade product at dealer pricing through a wholesale account, rather than retail, is what leaves room for a bid that covers labor and margin without pricing yourself out of the ranges clients expect based on general market research.
This is one reason the application process at thraxel.com/shop/ matters practically, not just as a formality: dealer pricing on the wholesale catalog is what makes a competitive bid mathematically possible in the first place, since retail-priced material eats into the same range a contractor is trying to bid inside, leaving little room for a fair labor rate.
Why hedged ranges protect a contractor, not just a homeowner
Quoting a client a specific number before walking the property is a common mistake for a contractor new to lighting. It sets an expectation that then has to be either honored at a loss or renegotiated after the fact, which damages trust either way and rarely ends well for the relationship.
Presenting ranges up front, then following with a walked, property-specific number, protects a contractor the same way it protects Thraxel's own customer-facing quotes. It is honest about what varies, and it avoids a bid that turns out to be wrong once the actual roofline or landscape is measured.
Building your own pricing model
A reasonable starting model for a new lighting contractor: use the national ranges above as a sanity check on early bids, track your own actual material and labor cost per job for a season, and adjust your internal pricing from real numbers rather than the ranges themselves once you have a handful of completed jobs to reference.
Sourcing product through an approved wholesale account is the piece that determines your material cost baseline for that model. That starts with the application at thraxel.com/shop/, reviewed personally and typically answered within about two business days.
Tracking real numbers matters more than getting the first few bids perfect. A contractor who logs actual hours and material spend per linear foot after each job builds a pricing model grounded in their own crew's speed and their own local market, which will eventually be more accurate than any published range, including the ones in this article.
Why permanent and seasonal work price differently as a business line
Permanent installs are a single larger transaction with less repeat labor per client, while seasonal work is a smaller recurring transaction that can turn into an annual relationship if service and takedown are handled well. Both are worth pricing carefully, but a contractor building a business plan around lighting should think about which pattern fits their crew's existing rhythm.
A crew already juggling year-round work in another trade may prefer permanent installs scheduled around existing jobs. A crew with a genuinely open winter may prefer building a recurring seasonal client base instead, since that repeat revenue compounds year over year in a way a single permanent install does not.
