The short answer: price per linear foot of installed track. Multiply by the linear footage of the house, factor in your material tier, and you have a quote. Most installers in 2026 charge $20–$50 per linear foot depending on region, material grade, and install difficulty.
The pricing formula
Total install price = (linear feet × per-foot rate) + premium tier upgrades + access difficulty adjustments
In practice, installers usually roll the controller, transformer, and install labor into the per-foot rate so they can quote a single number at the kitchen table. The full math becomes:
- Materials cost per foot (LED track, channel, end caps, wiring).
- + Install labor per foot (varies by crew speed and access difficulty).
- + Controller and transformer (often a flat $200–$500 add-on regardless of footage).
- + Margin (target 40–60% gross).
- = Per-foot rate × linear footage.
Typical per-linear-foot rates by region
| Region | Per-foot range | Driver |
|---|---|---|
| Coastal / high-cost | $35–$50 | Labor cost + willingness to pay |
| Major metros (mid-tier) | $28–$40 | Balanced labor + demand |
| Midwest / Sunbelt suburbs | $22–$32 | Lower labor, competitive |
| Rural / low-density | $20–$28 | Lower labor, less competition |
Premium material tier (Starlights with lifetime warranty): add $5–$10/ft.
Trim-only vs whole-home — always offer both
The single biggest pricing mistake is quoting only one tier. Homeowners who would have happily paid $4K for trim-only say no to a $9K whole-home quote, and the deal dies. Always show both:
- Trim-only: front-facing roofline only. 60–120 linear feet. $2,000–$6,000.
- Whole-home: full perimeter + garages + gables. 200–400+ linear feet. $5,000–$15,000+.
Light Launch's customer portal shows both tiers anchored to the rendered photo of the homeowner's actual house. The homeowner picks the one they're comfortable with and pays a deposit on the spot.
What adjusts the base price
Access difficulty
Two-story homes with steep pitches require lift equipment and slower install times. Add 10–20% to the base rate.
Material tier
Premium hardware (Starlights with lifetime warranty) adds $5–$10/ft but reduces future service costs and provides a closing argument competitors can't match.
Controller features
Basic controllers come standard. Color-changing controllers with scenes, app control, music sync, calendar automation: $200–$500 add-on.
Accent runs
Detached garages, gable accents, fence outlines, tree wraps: priced at the same per-foot rate (or slightly higher if install is non-standard).
Target margins
A healthy permanent lighting business runs 40–60% gross margin. The upper end is driven by efficient install crews, premium materials with fewer callbacks, and geographic clustering (installing 3 houses on the same block in one day cuts drive time). New installers typically run 30–40% gross in year 1 and improve as they refine workflow.
Net margin after CAC + overhead + labor burden typically lands at 15–30% for established installers. The single biggest variable is CAC — installers using Light Launch average $32 in install revenue for every $1 spent on mailed design quotes, which pulls net margin toward the upper end.
The fastest quote workflow
- Render the house in Light Launch's Render Agent (~30 seconds).
- Read the auto-calculated linear footage. Light Launch uses Google's Solar API + satellite imagery to estimate front-of-house and whole-home linear feet automatically. No rolling wheel.
- Apply your per-foot rate (set once in account settings). Trim-only and whole-home prices auto-populate.
- Send the customer portal link or mail the postcard. Homeowner sees both prices and pays a deposit through Stripe.
End-to-end, this is about 60 seconds per house from address to deposit-eligible quote. See the complete permanent lighting pricing guide for deeper detail.
Common pricing mistakes
- Quoting flat dollars instead of per-foot. Two houses on the same block can have wildly different linear footage. Flat pricing leaves money on the table.
- Only offering one tier. Always show trim-only and whole-home side by side.
- Pricing too cheap to "win the deal." Underpricing signals low quality. Compete on warranty and proof, not price.
- Skipping the deposit. A 50% deposit filters tire-kickers and funds material orders.
Quote any job in under a minute.
Free rendering, automatic linear-foot calculation, two-tier auto-pricing for every house. $1 per mailed design quote when you're ready.
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