Measure the roofline, pick whose lights go up, and get a quote you can send tonight, plus what the job leaves you after the lights and your time.
HomeGuide's cost guide, checked November 2026, puts professional installation at $5 to $12 per linear foot. A basic roofline outline runs $250 to $1,500, and a full package of rooflines, windows, garage and landscaping runs $750 to $5,000. Angi's 2026 figures, from 2,242 projects its pros reported, give a national average of $444, with most homeowners paying $220 to $684.
The two guides measure different jobs. HomeGuide's per-foot range is the installed price with the installer's lights. Angi lists three ways installers bill the labour: a minimum of $150 to $300 a job, $2 to $5 a linear foot, or $60 to $100 an hour. The gap between those ranges is mostly the lights, which is why the calculator asks whose lights go up.
By house size, Angi's 2026 table runs from $200 to $450 for a one-storey home with 100 to 150 feet of lights, $350 to $800 for a two-storey home with 150 to 250 feet, and $700 to $1,500 for a three-storey home with 250 to 400 feet. HomeGuide's ranges by storey are $250 to $2,400 for one, $500 to $3,600 for two and $750 to $5,000 for three.
Install price is linear feet times your price per foot. A second storey adds 25% and a third adds 50%. Those two percentages are our assumption, set to pay for the longer ladder and the slower, more careful work, so change them if your market prices height differently. If the result comes in under your minimum, the minimum is the price.
Takedown and storage go on top. HomeGuide prices removal on its own at $100 to $400 when it is not already in the package, and says many installers come back two to four weeks after New Year's Day. The default $150 sits near the bottom of that range.
Left after the lights is the quote minus the cost of the lights used on this job. When you supply them, their cost is spread over the seasons you reuse them, because commercial line comes down in January and goes back up the next November. When the customer supplies the lights, your material cost is zero and your per-foot price drops to match.
Pay per crew hour divides what is left by every hour you and a helper spend installing, taking down and driving. Season profit multiplies the per-home figure by the homes you book, then takes off your season costs. The default $540 is a year of general liability insurance at Insureon's median of $45 a month, checked November 2026.
The default $2.06 a foot comes from published supplier prices, checked November 2026. At Christmas Designers a 1,000-foot spool of C9 SPT-1 cord with 12-inch socket spacing is $429, about $0.43 a foot. One Pro Christmas C9 LED bulb per socket, at $36.95 for a pack of 25, is about $1.48 a foot. One all-in-one clip per foot, at $15.26 per 100 from Christmas Light Source, adds about $0.15.
So the lights for a 100-foot roofline cost about $206 before plugs and timers, and the same bulb packs list from $24.00 at higher quantities. Christmas Designers rates one run of its 18-gauge line for 250 C9 LED bulbs or 250 feet, whichever comes first, so a larger house needs a second run fed from a second outdoor outlet.
Supplying the lights is how most installers work. The customer pays the installed price, the installer takes the lights down in January and stores them, and the same line goes up again the following year. That is what lets the per-foot price sit at $5 to $12 while the hardware lasts several seasons.
The ladder is the danger in this job. The CDC's National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health counted 161 workplace deaths and 22,710 workplace injuries from ladders in 2020, and says about 40% of ladder injuries start with an extension ladder sliding out at the base. Its advice is to set extension ladders at about 75 degrees. OSHA says falls from ladders make up nearly a third of fall deaths in construction each year.
Price the second and third storey high enough to do them safely: a ladder rated for your weight plus your tools, a second person footing it, and no roof work in rain, ice or wind. A 28-foot Type IA fiberglass extension ladder such as the Werner D6228-2 lists at $469 at Zoro, checked November 2026.
Keep the electrical side to plugging into outdoor outlets that already exist. If an outlet keeps tripping, has no GFCI protection or a customer wants a new circuit, that is work for a licensed electrician, and you tell the customer so. General liability insurance pays for damage you cause, such as a cracked gutter or a ladder through a window. Insureon's customers pay a median of $45 a month, and $265 to $3,030 a year.
Installs run from early November into the first weeks of December, and takedowns cluster in January. HomeGuide says most professionals recommend removing lights by mid-January. That leaves about six weekends plus weekday afternoons for installs, so your calendar sets the number of homes more than demand does.
Set the crew hours from your first real job. Time it from arrival to clean-up, add the drive, and count both people if two of you are working. If the pay per hour comes out under what your day job pays, raise the per-foot price or the minimum before you book the second house.
The customers who pay for lights also pay for gutter cleaning and window cleaning, and the same ladder does all three. Our window cleaning guide covers turning December light customers into spring window customers.
When you supply commercial LED lights, HomeGuide puts installed prices at $5 to $12 per linear foot, or $250 to $1,500 for a basic roofline. When the customer supplies the lights, Angi lists labour at $2 to $5 a foot, $60 to $100 an hour or a $150 to $300 minimum. Add takedown, which HomeGuide prices at $100 to $400.
Use $5 to $12 a foot when your lights go up and $2 to $5 a foot for hanging the customer's own, per HomeGuide and Angi. Price a second or third storey higher for the longer ladder and slower work, and set a minimum so a short run still pays for the trip and the set-up.
Angi's 2026 national average is $444, based on 2,242 projects, and most homeowners pay $220 to $684. By house size, Angi averages $250 for a one-storey home with 100 to 150 feet of lights, $450 for a two-storey home and $900 for a three-storey home with 250 to 400 feet.
HomeGuide prices permanent lighting at $20 to $40 per linear foot, or $2,000 to $8,000 for 100 to 200 feet. It is a different trade from seasonal clip-on lights: the lights are fixed to the house for year-round use and wired to a controller, and the power connection is a job for a licensed electrician.
Customers and homeowners' associations often ask for proof of general liability insurance, and one cracked gutter or broken window can cost more than the job paid. Insureon's small-business customers pay a median of $45 a month for general liability, with annual premiums from $265 to $3,030.