Permanent Lighting · Muskoka
Permanent Holiday Lighting in Muskoka
In Muskoka permanent lighting solves three problems at once: nobody has to climb a snowy roof, the cottage can be lit from the city, and the schedule can be set once to respect the township's eleven o'clock rule.
Permanent lighting is a row of individually addressable LED pixels in a low-profile aluminum channel fixed under the soffit or tight to the fascia below the eavestrough. Colour-matched to the trim, it almost disappears by day. At night it lights the roofline from below in any colour and brightness, controlled from a phone app, with schedules that run whether or not anyone is at the property.
Why it suits Muskoka
- Snow. With about 91 cm of snow in an average December and 87 cm in January, seasonal lights on a cottage roof are buried, slid off or left up until spring. A channel under the soffit sits out of all of it.
- Steel roofs. The slide off a steel roof will strip anything on the roof edge. Under the soffit, permanent lighting is never in its path.
- Absentee owners. Switch the cottage to warm white before you leave the city on a Friday, to Christmas colours for the holidays, off when you go home.
- All year. Warm white for summer evenings on the dock side, orange for Thanksgiving weekend, red and white for Canada Day.
Dark-sky settings
Because the lights sit under the soffit and point down and out at the wall, they light the house rather than the sky. The schedule is set to end by 11 p.m. wherever the township requires lights off from eleven to sunrise, as Muskoka Lakes does for festive and, on waterfront properties, architectural lighting. Brightness is kept modest, and warm white is set warm. Whether your township treats a permanent system as festive or architectural lighting is its decision; the settings are made to satisfy either.
Remote control needs a connection
App control from the city needs internet at the property. If the cottage has none over the winter, the controller runs on its own schedule instead, set at install, and changes wait for the next visit. The quote will say which you have.
Installation
The channel is fixed with corrosion-resistant screws into solid backing, the cable routed to a controller indoors or in a garage or shed near an existing outlet. Household wiring is not altered; if a new outlet is needed, that is a licensed electrical contractor's job. Most installs are done in spring, summer or early fall, when the roof is clear and the road is open.
Is it right for your property?
Permanent lighting makes most sense where the owner will use it through the year, the soffit and fascia are sound, and the roofline is long enough to show it off. It makes less sense on a small seasonal cottage closed from Thanksgiving to May, where nobody would see it, or on a log or shake building where the channel has nothing tidy to sit against. The quote will say which you have.
Frequently asked questions
Can I control it from Toronto?
Yes, if the property has internet through the winter. Without it, the system runs on a schedule set at install, which is how many cottages are run anyway.
Does permanent lighting meet the dark-sky by-laws?
It is mounted to light the house, not the sky, and it can be scheduled to switch off by 11 p.m. Each township is the authority on how its by-law applies, and the settings are made to suit the strictest reading.
When is the best time to install it?
Spring through early fall, when roofs are clear and roads are open. A system installed in September is ready for Thanksgiving and Christmas.
Request a Quote
Call 249-475-1601 or send the form and we will get back to you within one business day.
Serving Muskoka and surrounding areas. Contact us for a no-obligation quote specific to your property.