Everything homeowners ask us about permanent outdoor LED lighting — how the systems actually work, what makes Jellyfish and Govee Pro different, what it costs to run, and what to look for before you buy.
Permanent LED lighting is a low-profile aluminum track, tucked under your soffit or trim, holding individually addressable RGBW LED pixels. It replaces seasonal Christmas hangs, dusk-to-dawn floodlights, and rented holiday displays with a single always-installed system that stays invisible during the day and lights up on schedule at night.
Because each pixel is individually addressable, one system covers everything from a soft warm-white front-porch glow to full multi-color scenes, holiday patterns, and gameday animations — all from an app.
This page is our vendor-neutral walkthrough of the technology, the two systems we install (Jellyfish and Govee Pro), how they differ, what installation actually involves, and the questions worth asking before you commit.
A permanent LED system has three parts: a color-matched aluminum track that mounts under your soffit or trim, addressable RGBW LED pixels seated inside that track, and a small controller (installed in your garage or utility area) that talks to the pixels and to your phone.
The track is the part you see. Both Jellyfish and Govee Pro offer color options so it disappears against your fascia in daylight — you shouldn't be looking at a light strip when the sun's up.
The pixels are RGBW. That means every point of light can independently produce millions of colors AND a true white (warm to cool). This is why permanent LED replaces both accent lighting and holiday lighting: one strand does both jobs.
The controller is the brain. It syncs to your local sunrise/sunset, holds your zones and schedules, and receives new patterns from the cloud so the system keeps getting better without you climbing a ladder.
Every bulb has its own tiny chip. That's what lets one section of your roofline show one color while the peaks show another, or an animation to chase around the whole house on New Year's Eve. Non-addressable strips (the ones sold as $30 rope light) can only be one color at a time.
Higher-end systems (Jellyfish) run an extra communication line inside the wiring so a single damaged bulb doesn't take down the strand between it and the controller. Cheaper systems fail in cascade — one bad bulb and everything downstream is dark until service.
The controller connects to Wi-Fi and to a cloud app. Your schedules and scenes live in the cloud so you can change them from anywhere, but the controller itself keeps running if your internet drops. Voice assistants and Control4 talk directly to the controller.
You can split your home into zones — front peaks, garage, back porch, pool cage — and drive different colors, patterns, or schedules to each simultaneously. Zoning is what makes permanent LED look intentional instead of like a strip mall sign.
Our premium tier. Color-matched track in multiple finishes, resilient wiring, Linux-based controller with booster support for large homes, 500+ preset patterns, deepest smart-home integrations, and the longest warranty. Authorized dealer install only.
Learn moreOur budget-friendly tier. Excellent color and pattern quality, strong app, 19″ pixel spacing, cuttable/spliceable runs for peaked rooflines. Available in black or white track (no full color match). Great value when trim color match isn't critical.
Learn moreJellyfish supports 6″, 9″, and 16″ pixel spacing. Tighter spacing = smoother color transitions and richer patterns. Govee Pro is 19″. We recommend spacing based on your home's viewing distance.
Both systems can pull low-voltage landscape lighting (path lights, uplights, tree lights) into the same controller — everything runs on one schedule and one app.
We visit your home, measure rooflines, discuss trim color and viewing angles, and confirm which system fits. You get a fixed quote — not a range.
Track color, controller, and any boosters are ordered in your home's spec. We book your install date.
Two-person crew on-site. Track is fastened under soffit, wiring is hidden, controller is mounted in your garage, penetrations are sealed. Cleaned up daily.
We pair the app to your phone, configure zones, set your first schedules, save presets, and stay until you're confident using it.
First-year callbacks are on us. We come out for anything the system isn't doing the way you expected.
Under one watt per bulb on full white. A typical home's system on white draws less than a slow cooker; on colored scenes it draws even less because RGB LEDs only fire the subpixels needed.
No. Track is fastened into fascia, not shingles. Penetrations are pre-drilled and sealed. Compared to annual staple/clip cycles from seasonal hangs, permanent LED is dramatically gentler on the house.
Yes. Presets exist for 2700K, 3000K, 3500K, 4000K, and 5000K so you can match existing porch lights. Many homeowners run warm white 90% of the year and only use color for holidays.
The controller keeps running your saved schedules locally. You just lose remote/voice control until you're back online.
Yes — that's most of our installs. Track can be added to almost any home with a soffit or trim board that gives us a mounting surface.
Most homeowners pay off a permanent LED install in 3–5 years of what they would have spent on seasonal hang/takedown, and then have accent light every night for the next decade.
Tell us about your property. We'll follow up within one business day.
