Blog · Waterloo

Permanent or seasonal lights on a Waterloo house: what five winters actually involve

Over five years, seasonal lights mean five November installs and five January takedowns on a Waterloo roof, while permanent lighting means one install in any dry month and then an app; permanent usually wins on newer multi-peak houses in Laurelwood, Eastbridge and Beechwood and on rentals, and seasonal usually wins in the MacGregor-Albert heritage district and on houses you will not own for long.

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

Which is better over five years, permanent or seasonal lights?

On a Waterloo two-storey or split-level you plan to keep, permanent lighting is usually the better long-term choice, because it removes ten trips up a ladder in the worst months of the year and lights the house for every season, not just one. Seasonal lights remain the right choice on a heritage house where a fixed track raises a permit question, on a house you expect to sell soon, and for owners who change the look every year. The money comparison depends on your roofline, so it lives in the cost guide rather than here. This post compares everything else.

What does five years of seasonal lights involve?

Ten visits to the roof, half of them in January. Each fall the lights are installed: measured or pulled from labelled storage, clipped to the shingle edge or eavestrough lip, connected, tested and put on a timer. Each winter they come down, are tested and go back into storage. Over five winters that is:

• Five November installs, booked into a window that closes when the snow stays. Waterloo averages about three days in November when the temperature never rises above freezing and fourteen in December, so the calendar is tight.
• Five January takedowns, in the snowiest month of the year. Environment Canada's 1981 to 2010 normals for the Waterloo Wellington station average about 44 cm of snow in January, almost 21 days that stay below freezing and snow on the ground on nearly 27 days.
• Service calls when a run goes dark after a storm.
• String replacement as seasonal strings wear out from handling, sun and cold.
• Storage in your garage or off-site.

None of that is unreasonable. It is simply recurring, and every one of those roof visits is ladder work that Ontario's construction regulation treats seriously above three metres, which covers most two-storey eaves in the city.

What does five years of permanent lighting involve?

One install, then an app. A slim track is fixed under the soffit or along the eavestrough line, holding LED nodes that can each show any colour, with a power supply and controller usually in the garage. It can go in during any month the roof is dry, including spring and summer when calendars are open. After that, December is warm white or multicolour, Halloween is orange, a game night is the team colours, and the rest of the year is soft downlighting under the soffit that makes the house look finished after dark. Over five years the roof is climbed only if something needs repair.

How does each handle Waterloo's wind and ice?

Permanent track handles it better because of where it sits. The prevailing winter winds in Waterloo come from the west and southwest, averaging about 15 km/h through December and January, and the open west side of the city near Laurel Creek feels them most. A seasonal string clipped to a gutter lip is exposed to that wind all season, and a single loose clip becomes a flapping run by the first storm, which is why seasonal installs here are clipped tight and checked before the crew leaves. Ice in an eavestrough can also lift or bury clips.

A track under the soffit sits behind the drip edge, out of sliding snow and above gutter ice. Ask any installer to confirm that placement on your house and that the nodes and connections are sealed for outdoor use.

Which Waterloo houses suit permanent lighting?

• Newer two-storeys with several peaks. The garage and porch gables of Laurelwood and Eastbridge, with aluminum fascia and vinyl soffit, are the cleanest fit. Every peak is traced once.
• Split-levels. In Beechwood a split-level has two or three roof planes at different heights. Seasonally each is its own run every year; permanently, each is done once.
• Rentals. A large share of housing near the universities is rented. Tenants stringing lights with cords through a window is exactly what the Electrical Safety Authority warns against. A permanent system on a proper outlet, controlled by the owner, removes that risk.

Which houses should stay seasonal?

Houses in the MacGregor Albert Heritage Conservation District, between Seagram Drive, Bricker Avenue, Ezra Avenue, King Street and Caroline Street. The City of Waterloo requires a heritage permit there for most exterior changes, including altering details such as trim and brackets, and a track fastened to the house is a fixture. Clip-on seasonal lights change nothing and come off in January, which is why they are how those Edwardian porches are lit. If you want permanent lighting on a district house, the City's heritage staff are asked before anything is quoted. More on that area on the Uptown and MacGregor-Albert page.

Condo and townhouse owners are a separate case: roofs and soffits are usually common elements, so the board decides and contracts either kind of lighting.

What about the electricity for lights that run all year?

It is small, but it is year-round, so look at the wattage and the schedule. Ontario Energy Board prices from November 1, 2026 put time-of-use off-peak at 9.1 cents per kWh on weekdays from 7 p.m. and all weekend. A system drawing 40 watts of warm-white accent light from 7 to 11 p.m. uses 0.16 kWh, about 1.5 cents a night at that price. If you are on the ultra-low overnight plan, its weekday on-peak from 4 to 9 p.m. is 37.7 cents, so set the schedule to start after 9 on weeknights or run a dimmer scene before then. The controller remembers.

Five questions that settle it for your house

1. Will you own the house in five years?
2. Is it in the MacGregor-Albert district, a condo, or a rental?
3. How many separate peaks and roof levels face the street?
4. Would you use the lights outside December?
5. Is there a GFCI-protected outdoor outlet where the power supply would go, or does an electrician need to add one?

If the answers lean one way, the decision is mostly made. Details of each option are on the permanent lighting and seasonal installation pages, and photos of the house sent through the quote form get both priced side by side.

Sources

• Climate normals - Environment and Climate Change Canada
• Check if you need a heritage permit - City of Waterloo
• Electricity rates - Ontario Energy Board
• Holiday safety - Electrical Safety Authority
• O. Reg. 213/91: Construction Projects - Ontario e-Laws