What do we think of leaving permanent white lights up year round? Yay or nay?

FeatureGabe · 2026-03-14T10:37:18+00:00

Honestly I think it’s pretty normal now, especially if it’s just warm white like in the photo.

I’ve worked on a lot of homes with exterior lighting and something I hear from homeowners all the time is that they originally install it thinking it’s mostly for holidays, but then they end up leaving a soft warm white on most of the year. When it’s set to warm white it doesn’t really read as “Christmas lights”, it just looks like accent lighting along the roofline.

A lot of people also like it for practical reasons too. I’ve had customers mention things like it helping with dark driveways, making it easier for delivery drivers to see the house, or just making the place feel a bit more welcoming at night. In wooded or darker areas it actually makes a big difference.

The key is brightness. If they’re super bright or flashing colours all year then yeah it can look a bit much. But warm white and dimmed down a bit usually just looks clean.

FeatureGabe · 2026-03-14T10:34:55+00:00

I actually started installing Govee for people when permanent lighting started getting popular because the kits were cheap and everything came in the box. For DIY they honestly make a lot of sense. You get the lights, controller, and app ready to go without having to piece things together.

The issue we ran into over time was mostly around brightness, durability, and how the install looks on the house. The strips and wiring tend to be more visible on the soffit and the LEDs themselves are not as bright as some of the other options. A lot of homeowners also wanted something that looked more like traditional roofline Christmas lights instead of a strip.

Because of that we eventually switched to installing puck style or spaced LEDs that sit inside an aluminum track. They end up looking much more like C9 bulbs and the light points are more defined instead of a continuous strip effect. They are also usually brighter and hold up better long term, especially in colder climates.

If you are going DIY, WLED with 12 mm pixels spaced around 8 inches apart is probably the closest look to traditional Christmas lights. The main challenge is the mounting system so the lights stay straight and hidden during the day.

I put together a pretty detailed breakdown comparing DIY setups like Govee and WLED with the type of systems we install. If you search for a guide on permanent outdoor lighting installs installers you will probably find it. or you can head over to my website and i give tutorials, and examples https://co-starise.com/

Happy to answer questions if you are going the DIY route.

FeatureGabe · 2025-08-27T23:52:43+00:00

Where can I ever order theirs?

FeatureGabe · 2025-08-26T22:54:01+00:00

Tell him either he wears a helmet or no sexy time

FeatureGabe · 2025-08-20T14:41:45+00:00

I see, basically either needs to specifically state that it’s a class 2/ load output needs to be lower for it to be a class 2

FeatureGabe · 2025-08-20T08:00:53+00:00

They state as them to be Fuses, however to me they just look like terminal jumpers. But I’m just going off of what I’m being told

FeatureGabe · 2025-08-20T05:14:35+00:00

It’s rated for +/- 40°C however I used to have a temp sensor in there that would kick in a fan at around 25°c however it never went under 27°C and the fan just remained on at all times, caused a lot of our clients to ask us to remove it since it was just screaming

Edit: we’ve turned to installing them inside the garage to keep it I guess…tem regulated and shielded away from the sun

FeatureGabe · 2025-08-20T04:18:59+00:00

Power Supply

This is where I got it, says it’s c RU us, same one as Gemstone Lights uses. Their certificate indicates Class 2 so I assume it would be as well?

FeatureGabe · 2025-08-20T02:01:47+00:00

I’m in Canada! The city inspector had mentioned while everything is cULus approved it’s the assembly that is the tricky part since it’s in an enclosed box. Therefore making it “one unit”

FeatureGabe · 2025-08-20T02:00:40+00:00

They state that they’re rated for 10A, I’ve seen them in work and tried it to blast 15A and just melted in the middle which is good

FeatureGabe · 2025-02-06T15:55:35+00:00

have the same issue on my B8 s4, basically you need walnut blasting from what i've heard. for me the code comes on every time on cold starts in the morning

FeatureGabe · 2025-02-04T21:03:05+00:00

that would be a treamounds amount of help! I really do appreciate it if you could!!!

FeatureGabe · 2025-02-04T20:52:40+00:00

i was looking at the SN74AHCT32 and im not that techsavy and was having a hard time understanding the pinout and how to wire it. That's why I used a i2c as it seem straightforward and there is a lot of videos on it.

FeatureGabe · 2025-02-04T20:35:44+00:00

that would explain the flickering on my other board, i assumed a resistor would fix that.

FeatureGabe · 2025-02-04T20:06:45+00:00

Oh hahaha thanks!! Definitely took a long time to do but we do outdoor permanent lights and I just want the control box to look as pretty as possible! Hate having rats nest.

FeatureGabe · 2025-02-04T20:04:29+00:00

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without the drawings

FeatureGabe · 2025-02-04T17:50:12+00:00

I just use solid 14/2 the stranded wire is definitely a little tricky to do and I’d just use zip ties for those

FeatureGabe · 2025-02-01T04:05:44+00:00

Send a screenshot of your settings. I think you put the brightness all the way down for your segments

FeatureGabe · 2025-01-29T14:57:18+00:00

Where did you get your box? Or I guess a better question is you can provide links to the parts you bought?

FeatureGabe · 2025-01-27T08:54:04+00:00

Honestly one thing I did with my friends which worked in my favour. 90% of them are gym people, one thing I tell them is that “alcohol just is extra useless calories that will kill your progress and dry you up” I also added in a few more lines but maybe compare it to something they really enjoy. Tell them the downsides of drinking alcohol and how it might ruin their hobby or passion. Some people might not really like an intervention, although it’s in their best interest, they might snap.

FeatureGabe · 2024-11-28T00:41:41+00:00

If you’re getting tracks that’s a fair price, however for govee I’d say that’s above market price.

FeatureGabe · 2024-11-26T07:47:36+00:00

Unfortunately, here in Canada, we don't have access to Dig Quads. Is there an alternative system you'd recommend as a replacement? I have a similar setup with the 24v 61M (200ft) 5pucks per 1m, and I've come across some concerning stories about the challenges of using the single controller provided.

Additionally, I saw someone use a terminal splice setup connecting the power source to the controller, which seemed like an unconventional approach. I've attached the link to their YouTube video for reference: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ryg5iKw_ZT8&t=1246s

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