Blog · Muskoka

Lighting the cottage for the holidays from the city: a Muskoka owner's checklist

To have a Muskoka cottage lit for the holidays while you are in the city, book the install for late October or early November, confirm the outdoor outlets stay live all winter, put every circuit on a timer or remote controller that ends by eleven, arrange a check visit for after a thaw, and plan for takedown when the roof allows rather than on a date.

Last updated October 28, 2026 · Reviewed by the Muskoka Christmas Lights team

When does a cottage install need to happen?

Late October to mid-November, earlier than in the city. Environment and Climate Change Canada's 1981 to 2010 normals for the Muskoka A station put about 40 cm of snow on the District in November and 91 cm in December. November's mean daily low is already -3.2 °C, and by the end of an average December there are about 26 cm of snow on the ground. Lights installed in the first half of November go onto a dry roof. Lights booked for December may not go up at all on a cottage roof, and the road in may be a separate question.

Book in October, agree the runs from photos, and let the installer go in while you are away. The cottage holiday lighting service is built around exactly that.

What does the installer need from you?

Photos. Each side of the cottage, the roof, the outdoor outlets, and any trees you want lit.
Access. Gate codes, a lockbox if anything inside is needed, and who plows the road.
Power. Confirmation that the outdoor outlets stay live with the power on through the winter. If they are off at the panel, the lights are dark.
Dates. When you want the lights on, whether that is all season or only the week you are up.
Roof type. On steel roofs, which shed snow in sheets, lights go on the fascia or under the soffit, not on the roof edge.

After the install you get photos by day and at dusk, so you can see what the neighbours across the bay will see.

How do the lights switch on and off with nobody there?

On an outdoor-rated timer, or on a smart controller you switch from your phone if the cottage has internet through the winter. The Electrical Safety Authority advises turning holiday lights off when you leave the house or go to bed. At a cottage nobody is at, the honest way to follow that is a short schedule: on at dusk, off by eleven, and, if you prefer, on only for the dates you are there. In the Township of Muskoka Lakes, the eleven o'clock switch-off is also the law for festive lighting, which must be off from 11 p.m. to sunrise, with bulbs of 10 watts or 70 lumens or less. The Port Carling page has more on those rules.

What happens if a GFCI trips at an empty cottage?

The lights stay off until someone resets it. Both ESA and Health Canada advise plugging outdoor lights into a ground fault circuit interrupter, and that protection is not optional. A GFCI does its job by cutting power when it senses a fault, and moisture from a January thaw or drifting snow at a connection can trip it. With a remote controller you will see the lights have gone dark; with a plain timer you may not know until someone drives past.

Three things reduce the odds. Connections are lifted off the ground and sealed against blowing snow, as ESA advises. No more than three strings are joined end to end, and long cottage eaves are split into separate circuits, so one fault does not darken the whole lake side. And a check visit is booked for after a thaw or a storm, with photos sent once the lights are back on.

What does it cost to run lights at an empty cottage?

Cents a night. Take a cottage roofline drawing 150 watts, lit from 5 to 11 p.m., at the Ontario Energy Board's prices from 1 November 2026.

150 W, 5 to 11 p.m.	Weekday night	Weekend night
Time-of-Use	about 11.1 ¢	about 8.2 ¢
Ultra-Low Overnight	about 27.0 ¢	about 8.2 ¢

On Time-of-Use a weekday evening is two hours on-peak at 18.9 ¢/kWh and four hours off-peak at 9.1 ¢. On Ultra-Low Overnight it is four hours at the 37.7 ¢ weekday rate from 4 to 9 p.m. and two at 14.6 ¢. Weekends are 9.1 ¢ on either plan. The ULO plan's 3.7 ¢ overnight price starts at 11 p.m., when the lights are already off. A 50-night season on TOU comes to roughly 515 ¢ for the commodity, before your distributor's delivery charges and HST. Your bill comes from Lakeland Power, Elexicon Energy, Hydro One or another distributor depending on where the cottage is, but the commodity prices are the same.

When can the lights come down?

When the roof allows, which on a cottage is often not January. January is the coldest month in the airport normals, with a mean low of -15.8 °C and about 37 cm of snow on the ground by month end. A town house in Bracebridge can usually be cleared in January; a cottage roof under half a metre of snow often waits for a thaw. Certified, outdoor-rated LED on a GFCI outlet is made to be outdoors and is safe to leave in place, switched off. What should not happen is a timer still switching lights on in March at an empty cottage, so the schedule is ended on the date you choose. The takedown and storage page covers the rest.

Is there a way to skip the roof altogether?

Yes: permanent lighting under the soffit. It goes up once, in spring to early fall, stays out of the snow slide, and is switched from an app if there is internet at the cottage. Many owners who have waited for a thaw to get their lights down move the roofline to permanent lighting and keep seasonal lights only for trees and the porch, which can be reached from the ground.

The checklist

Book in October.
Send photos of each side, the roof, the outlets and the trees.
Confirm the outdoor outlets stay live and GFCI-protected all winter.
Arrange gate codes, keys and plowing.
Choose a timer or a remote controller, ending by eleven.
Book a check visit for after a thaw.
Agree takedown by roof condition, not by date.

Send the photos and your dates and the written quote will cover the install, the schedule, check visits and takedown.

Sources

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