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Permanent lighting on a Muskoka cottage: what to ask before you buy

Permanent lighting suits a Muskoka cottage when it is mounted under the soffit, out of the snow slide, on sound trim, with an internet connection or a fixed schedule for control from the city and an 11 p.m. switch-off; it is installed at $28 to $32 per linear foot.

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

Is permanent lighting worth it on a Muskoka cottage?

It is when the cottage is used through the year, the soffit and fascia are sound, and the owner is tired of sending someone up a snowy roof. Muskoka's winter is the reason. Environment and Climate Change Canada's 1981 to 2010 normals for the Muskoka A station at the airport put about 338 cm of snow on the District in an average year: roughly 40 cm in November, 91 cm in December and 87 cm in January. A seasonal string on a cottage roof spends the holidays buried, slid off, or waiting for a thaw to come down. A channel fixed under the soffit is out of all of it.

It is less worth it on a small three-season cottage closed from Thanksgiving to May, where nobody would see it, or on a log or cedar-shake building where the channel has nothing tidy to sit against. The permanent lighting page describes the system; this post is about deciding.

What does it cost?

$28 to $32 per linear foot installed. Installs booked through this site are done by JD Home Solutions, owner-operated by Jake Daoust. To price your own cottage, measure the eaves you want lit: the lake side is the usual starting point, then the road side and any garage or bunkie you want to match. Multiply the feet by $28 and by $32. A new outdoor outlet, if one is needed for the controller, is a licensed electrical contractor's work and is priced by them.

Set that against what a seasonal arrangement costs you each year: an install, a takedown that on a cottage roof may need a second trip after a thaw, and any check visits. Multiply by the winters you expect to keep the place.

How does it handle a steel roof?

Better than anything on the roof edge, because it is not on the roof edge. Many Muskoka cottages have steel roofs, which shed snow fast and all at once. With 91 cm of December snow in an average year, the slide off a steel roof strips clips and strings from the eave. A permanent channel fixed to the underside of the soffit, or to the fascia below the eavestrough, is sheltered by the roof overhang and never sits in the path of the slide. On asphalt shingle the same mounting keeps it out of the ice that builds at the eave.

Freezing rain is the other Muskoka hazard: the airport normals count about ten days a year with freezing rain or drizzle. An iced roof is not climbed. With permanent lighting, nobody has to.

Can you control it from the city?

Yes, if the cottage has an internet connection through the winter. Then the app switches it to warm white before you drive up on a Friday, to Christmas colours for the holidays, and off when you go home. Without a winter connection, the controller runs on a schedule set at install, and changes wait for the next visit. Plenty of cottages run that way and it works well; the point is to know which you have before you buy, because remote control is one of the main reasons owners choose it.

Does it meet the dark-sky by-laws?

It can be set to. In the Township of Muskoka Lakes, festive lighting bulbs must be 10 watts or less, or 70 lumens or less, and off from 11 p.m. to sunrise, and on waterfront residential properties architectural and landscape lighting is off over the same hours. Lake of Bays' Dark Sky By-law 2013-131 exempts low-wattage Christmas lighting from its aim-down rule. Whether a township treats a permanent system as festive or architectural lighting is its decision. Mounted under the soffit, the lights wash the wall and roofline rather than the sky, and the schedule ends at eleven every night, which satisfies either reading in Port Carling and the rest of Muskoka Lakes.

What should you ask before you buy?

Where will it be mounted? Under the soffit, or on the fascia below the eavestrough. Not on the roof edge, and not on top of the eavestrough.
What is the rated temperature range? The airport's January mean low is -15.8 °C, and colder nights are routine. Get the rating and the warranty in writing.
Is it certified? Health Canada advises a Canadian certification mark such as CSA, cUL or cETL on lighting products. Look for it on the controller and power supply.
What does warm white look like? It is the setting you will use most and the one that reads well across a lake. Ask to see it at night.
How is it controlled without internet? And can the schedule be set to end at 11 p.m. automatically?
Who fixes a failed light, and how fast can they reach the property? Distance and winter access matter more here than in town.
Is the outlet GFCI-protected and on all winter? The Electrical Safety Authority advises GFCI protection outdoors, and a cottage with the outlets off at the panel has dark lights.

When should it be installed?

Spring through early fall, when roofs are clear and roads are open. A system installed in September is ready for Thanksgiving and Christmas. A late-fall install is possible on a clear roof, but in a District that averages 40 cm of snow in November, the window is short. That timing is the reverse of seasonal lights, which are installed in late October and November; see Christmas light installation for that calendar.

What does it cost to run?

Cents a night. From 1 November 2026 the Ontario Energy Board's Time-of-Use off-peak price is 9.1 ¢/kWh on weekday evenings after 7 p.m. and all weekend, so every 100 watts lit for an hour off-peak costs about 0.9 ¢. On Ultra-Low Overnight, weekday hours from 4 to 9 p.m. cost 37.7 ¢/kWh, so a dusk start is worth setting. Lights that switch off at eleven never reach the 3.7 ¢ overnight period, which starts at the same hour.

The short version

Under the soffit, out of the slide, certified, on a schedule that ends by eleven, with a clear answer on remote control and on who fixes it. Send the measurements and photos of the lake side for a written quote.

Sources

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Call 249-475-1601 or send the form and we will get back to you within one business day.