Questions to ask about Christmas lights...

I wanted to give some Christmas lights tips for those of you that are going to be using a company or service to install your lights.

These are just some good questions to ask and some things you need to know to make sure you are comparing apples to apples with your estimates.

First of all, make sure your getting LED lights. That goes without saying. Don’t even touch incandescent, make sure they are LED.
Also make sure that they are commercial grade, custom fit lights. You don’t want a company going to Walmart or Home Depot to buy your lights, they won’t last!

Secondly, you want to know what “model” they are offering. By “model” I mean if they offer a lease model or a purchase model. Most companies that do Christmas lights offer one or the other, and you need to know what your looking at when comparing these estimates.

We strictly offer the purchase model, so that is where I will start.

Pros of the purchase model:
-You own the lights. Since they are custom fit you can take them with you when you move, or you can leave them with the new homeowner. You can also decide to put them up yourself if you would like.
-The price drops significantly after the first year because you are only paying for the installation of the lights.

Cons of the purchase model:
-You pay more upfront the first year because you are buying the lights.
-You own the lights…meaning after the warranty is up, you will have to pay for any replacement materials.

Pros of the lease model:
-You never own the lights! Its up to the company to make sure your lights are fully functional from year to year.
-If you are the type that like change, you can typically make changes in color or design with minimal or no change is cost.

Cons of the lease model:
-You end up paying a lot more in the long run. The lease will likely be cheaper than the purchase model the first year, but if you look three or five years out, you’ll pay quite a bit more out of pocket with the lease.

Bottom line, this is all a matter of preference. We aren’t trying to tell you that one is better than the other. The purchase model works great for us, but I personally know other companies that strictly lease and they love it.

What we ARE telling you is to ask questions, understand your estimates, and compare apples to apples!