A low bid and ours sit about 15% apart in year one. The difference is what happens next: our returning-client price drops about 15% and stays there — when lights are someone's side gig, the re-hiring lands on you instead, in November, when everyone good is booked. Drag the slider to add what your time is worth, and watch the real cost move.
A side-gig crew is a landscaper, handyman, or other home-services business hanging lights on the side. Every install competes with their core business for crews and attention — Christmas lights are never the focus. The bid looks friendly, but it's often a different crew each season, or none at all, and the re-hiring lands on you.
A new, unknown crew most seasons
This is the whole company, year-round. $1,749* in year one, about 15% less every returning year — design, install, repairs, takedown and storage.
Ten minutes a year after year one
Once your time is worth about $25 an hour, we're the cheaper choice — and for a professional's hours, it isn't close.
Have our quote? Enter it and the page recalculates. $1,749 is typical for a 2-story, 3,000 sq ft home; returning years run about 15% less.
With KY Christmas Lights: a few emails and texts a year — about 10 minutes a season, worth . We handle the rest.
You find out in November — when every established installer is already booked solid. Now you're handing a fresh deposit to whoever's left: no reviews you trust, no insurance you've checked, no idea if they'll even show.The lowest bid is also the biggest gamble — and you re-take it every year you don't have a team. That's the one cost no slider can price.
Not general handyman coverage — insurance written for holiday lighting: roofs, gutters, electrical. Many off-season installers' policies won't pay for Christmas-light damage. Ask any bidder for a COI and watch what happens; ours is available on request.
You're leasing the display, not buying aging strands. A dark section mid-season is our problem — repaired or replaced at our cost, not a box of spares in your garage.
Our software tracks every strand, cut, and clip on your home. Year two goes up exactly like year one — the design survives crew changes, because the record isn't in anyone's head.
All off-season, we're working to improve our Christmas light operations — developing new products, building better software and systems, and training crews — so the short install window never gets improvised.
| Installer | Yr 1 | Yr 2 | Yr 3 | 3-yr cash | Your hours |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The $1,487 competitor | $1,487 | $1,487 | $1,487 | $4,461 | ≈ 12 |
| KY Christmas Lights | $1,749* | $1,487 | $1,487 | $4,723 | ≈ 1 |
Illustrative example. *$1,749 is a typical first-year price for a 2-story, 3,000 sq ft home with full roofline lighting (generally 200 to 250 feet of light) — yours depends on your desired install and other unique property features. Returning clients save about 15% from year two on. The shaded portion of each bar values the hours you'd spend re-hiring and managing a side-gig crew, at the rate you set; year one takes similar time either way. Risk — trusting an unvetted crew each time — isn't priced here. Our price includes design, install, mid-season repairs, takedown and storage; low bids usually don't.