Start with why LED
Hardware that stays up year round faces a harder test than hardware that lives in a box eleven months a year. That rules out the bulbs that go in a tub in January. The case for LED is heat, power draw and durability, in that order.None of this is a reason to become an expert. But it is worth asking what the channel is, how it mounts and how it is wired, because the answer tells you how carefully somebody works. The people who explain it plainly are usually the ones who install it carefully.
What the track does
The LEDs sit inside a color matched aluminum channel. The channel is the reason the system looks like nothing in daylight, and it is also the reason the light points where it should. It gets painted to your trim color before it goes up, so the daytime house does not change.
The control question
The lights are individually controllable, which is what makes patterns possible. Without individual control the whole house is one shade at a time. With it patterns become possible. The capability matters a handful of nights, and then Christmas arrives.Look at somebody's finished work at noon rather than at nine, because night hides sloppy mounting and daylight does not.
Power, control and the parts you do not see
Behind the visible run there is wiring, a transformer and a control unit. How that wiring is routed says more about the crew than the lights do. It is worth asking and the answer should be specific.
What it means for maintenance
The upside of leaving it up has a matching requirement: it has to be installed well the first time. Careful work stays clean. A sloppy install becomes visible the moment the lights are off. The hardware is only half the purchase. The install is the rest.
Living outside in the Upstate
Permanent hardware faces every kind of day the Upstate has. Summer heat builds up along a sunlit fascia, and heat is what shortens the life of most electronics. Moisture is the other test. The failure points are connections, not diodes.
Dimming
These systems have adjustable brightness, and it changes how the product feels. Full brightness is a holiday setting, and it is far more light than an ordinary evening wants. Most people end up running the everyday setting well below maximum, because a soft glow reads as designed and a bright one reads as decorated.
Where to go next
Reading about channels and diodes is not the same as seeing it on your roofline. The useful step is having somebody look at your house and draw a plan. EverCrest Lighting installs permanent LED lighting for residential and commercial properties throughout Upstate South Carolina and Western
https://evercrestlighting.com/ North Carolina, based in Greenville. Consultations are free. Call (864) 252-1732 or email
[email protected].