If you're wondering how your neighbor got such a lovely glow under their roof eaves, it's probably a set of permanent outdoor lights. The name suggests exactly what they are: a type of string lights designed to stay up year-round, instead of coming down after the holiday season. Permanent is subjective in the sense that you can choose to anchor these to your home with screws or just stick them on with adhesive, depending on your home's design and how much drilling you want to do. But either way, the intention is that you install them once and can use them all year.
These lights are similar to smart lights in that you control and customize them with an app to display relevant colors for whatever you want: Halloween, Christmas, Valentine's Day, or even your favorite sports team on game day. No more hauling the orange lights up and down for Halloween and replacing them with your Christmas string lights, only to have to take them down at the start of the new year. You'll install these once and should be done for at least a few years, depending on your installation style.
Unlike traditional string lights, they're not installed on the outside of your roof and eaves, but underneath, so they're hidden when not in use (and HOAs are happier with them year-round)! Our favorite options are from Govee ($440, 100 ft) and Eufy ($350, 100 ft), both of which make great sets you can cut and splice to fit your home perfectly. Lepro ($190, 100 ft) is an affordable option we like, though it has a more annoying app. (Lepro also offers a 50-foot version, but it isn't as weatherproof as the longer set).
The tricky thing is that these lights don't always work for every style of home. Read on to find out if your home is a fit, what you should look for in a good permanent outdoor light set, and what sets we recommend (or don't recommend) and why. Looking for more lighting and outdoor smart home ideas? Don't miss our guides to the Best Smart Christmas Lights, Best Smart Lights, Best Smart Outdoor Security Cameras, and Best Smart Locks.
What Are Permanent Outdoor Lights?
Permanent outdoor lights are exactly what they sound like: outdoor lights meant to be permanently affixed to your home, so you don't have to go up and down a ladder every Halloween and Christmas season. They're similar to smart Christmas lights like those from Twinkly ($61) and Philips Hue ($220), and other smart lighting options like Philips Hue's smart bulbs ($99), in that they connect to an app and have custom color control.
The lights we recommend below are all DIY-friendly, but you can also hire a pro installer to put these on your home for you, and there are some options out there that are pro-installed only. Hiring an installer is recommended if you have harder-to-reach eaves or a trickier home design, but as these lights aren't cheap, it'll add to the cost. Still, it's something to consider, and part of what makes these lights different than a simple string light.
What Your Home Will Need
The most important thing to check is if your home is even compatible with permanent outdoor string lights. If your home has any of these features, installation should work for you:
- An accessible roof or roof eaves, often found on one-story or two-story homes
- An outdoor ceiling, like a porch roof
- Flat, smooth materials, including glass, cement, wood, or metal, under the eaves (or other spots on your home's exterior that would make sense for lights to live permanently, like a porch covering, pergola, or other exterior features)
- An outdoor outlet, ideally at least partially covered to safely power these lights and protect the control box
Most one- and two-story homes are designed in a way that will work with permanent outdoor lights, since they typically have roof eaves that are accessible on both levels. Govee, for example, claims its permanent outdoor lights ($440) will work on everything from cottages and tiny houses to large homes and even mansions. (I'm sad to report that no, I did not have a mansion available for our testing.) Eufy (another set we recommend!) warns that paint could be a deterrent for secure adhesion of its permanent outdoor lights ($500).
Most permanent outdoor lights come with multiple options for attaching them to your home, ranging from sticky tabs to more permanent options with screws, though some brands may require you to buy anchors separately. Some of our testers used sticky options with success, while others chose to use the included screws to ensure the lights wouldn't move. It depends on your home style and your own comfort for what style you'd like to use. We've tested sticky adhesion for a little over a month so far in the Midwestern US with great success, but obviously tape isn't as permanent as drilled anchors.
Here are the home styles for which installation of permanent lights will be a struggle:
- Homes and properties with a stucco exterior
- Homes with no roof eaves of any kind
- Homes with cross-style eaves that don't allow for flat adhesion
- Three-story homes with no eaves on the lower levels
- Townhomes and condominiums that don't allow for permanent changes, or have roof styles to fit these light styles
I live in a three-story townhouse covered in stucco, which disqualifies me from installing most permanent outdoor lights. The stucco makes it impossible to stick anything to it, and I have an HOA that forbids “permanent changes” to my exterior, so they frown upon me drilling. And, most importantly, I don't have the right eave design with my townhouse to hide the strip of lights when they're off.
But that doesn't mean I have zero options (more on what I can do instead below). Still, if you want the full-home look, you'll need a home with a more standard roof or roof-like securing options.
What to Look for in Permanent Outdoor Lights
Most permanent outdoor lights look pretty similar, with puck lights on a string. How different can they be, right? Well, we've found a couple features that really make a set stand out.
Cut-and-splice abilities. WIRED reviewer Kat Merck has tried two different sets of permanent lights on her home, and she's found the ability to cut and splice the lights together a key feature. Especially since many homes have varied architectural features like peaks, gables, and sections without eaves, the ability to cut, shorten, or extend the lights as needed for even spacing can turn these into a perfect fit. Our favorite sets from Govee ($440, 100 ft) and Eufy ($500, 100 ft) both include this ability.
Weatherproofing. Every model needs a weatherproof rating to survive outside, so if you don't see one, don't buy it. There's usually a lower rating for the control box compared to the rest of the lights, so be sure you can put that somewhere that's a little less exposed to the elements. (As mentioned above, make sure you have an outdoor outlet, and check if there's only one on a certain side of your home in case it limits your installation options.)
A range of installation options. You'll want a set that comes with plenty of options for your own installation, including adhesive and drilled mounting options. What you need will vary based on your home design and materials; e.g., you'll want adhesive for homes you can't drill into. WIRED reviewer Kat Merck, who tested a couple different permanent lights, especially liked sets that had holders you screw onto your home that the puck-style permanent lights can slide onto.
Controls for individual lights. This should be a no-brainer, but some cheaper lights won't give you this ability or have more roadblocks for customized control. Make sure you'll have easy individual controls or you might find yourself frustrated with the design results of these lights. It's similar to design controls that you'd see on smart bulbs and smart string lights.
A great app. This goes hand in hand with the need for individual light control—a good app determines whether that and other features are accessible. Govee and Eufy, two of our favorite permanent outdoor lights we've tried, both have good apps that are easy to use and come with preloaded designs. These tech companies make more than just outdoor lights and make other favorite gear of ours, so they're a good brand to trust to make a usable product and app. We also like Lepro's more affordable lights, though the app had some extra hoops to jump through to get to controls, while Lumary's app was a brutal experience for our tester.
Our Favorite Permanent Outdoor Lights
We've tested a handful of permanent lights on different homes, and have a few clear favorites. These options are all ones we recommend, provided your home exterior meets the constraints mentioned above.
This model from Govee has been one of our top picks in our smart Christmas lights review for a reason, and it's still one of our favorite models at this price point for everything you'll get with it. WIRED reviewer Simon Hill tested the 100-foot string that came with six sections, plus an extension code. He used adhesive and screw clips to secure the light pucks and cables, and found installation easy. This is a set that you can cut and splice, but he says that isn't a task for the faint of heart. It has an IP67 rating, and an IP65 rating for the control box. The busy companion app has everything you could want within it: color controls, tons of Scenes (Govee's lighting effects), scheduling abilities, and even a music sync option (though that felt a little gimmicky). There's Matter support, and Govee can connect to Alexa and Google's ecosystems for voice control. Simon says he'd like these lights to be closer together and the design to be a little more subtle, as you can see the cords pretty easily.
WIRED reviewer Kat Merck has tested two different sets of permanent outdoor lights on her home, and Eufy's S4, incorporating RGB with both warm and cool whites, is by far her favorite. She's found the app incredibly easy to navigate and find the features she wants, from preset holiday scenes (120!) and colors to schedules and brightness adjustments. There's even an AI feature that lets you create customized light shows based on moods and scenarios. They were relatively easy to install on her home, which has nonstandard architectural features, as this set has extensions and can be cut and spliced. She says the lights aren't quite as bright as the Lumary Max set below, but the brightness is adjustable. There's also a radar motion sensor included, which she's still testing. The Eufy S4 set also works with the Matter protocol, so it will work with Apple, Google, and Alexa's smart home ecosystems. It's got a waterproof rating of IP67 like the Govee set above.
Lepro's E1 AI lights are a solid, affordable option, but you will have to get around the app's AI to really get the most out of it. WIRED reviewer Martin Cizmar says these were easy to install with adhesive strips and occasional screws (the set included both) onto his porch roof, though he wishes he had installed them pointing out toward the street instead of down onto his porch so that they'd be more visible. He says they're plenty bright, but make sure to point them outward from your home to get the best effect from the street. The app has plenty of good controls, but you'll have to get around the AI mode first, which it will prompt you to use. Martin says he clicks through all of the AI steps and then can access regular controls afterward to control these lights like a smart bulb. You'll also get different weatherproofing based on which size you get: While the 150-foot version has an IP65 rating for the lights and an IP67 for the power adapter, the 50-foot and 100-foot models have an IP65 rating for the light kits but no weatherproofing for the power adapter, so it needs to be in an enclosed outlet. If you're using an outdoor outlet with no protection from the weather, then upgrade to the 150-foot size.
Options If You Can’t Install Permanent Outdoor Lights
Not every home is a good fit for these types of lights. I haven't yet found a permanent light set that works with my home, so here's what I've used instead, along with what I'm testing next as a potential solution.
These lights are photographed on a tree, but they have a weatherproof rating of IP44 (for both the lights and the power supply) to be used outside. I love how much you can customize these lights. You'll use the app to take a photo of however you've set up your lights, whether that's around the tree, around your balcony's railing, or along the front of your house, and then you'll be able to customize the lights and pattern based on how you arranged it. There are tons of fun light designs already in the app, and you can make your own. It's a good option if you can only do string lights but want smart capabilities. These lights are also compatible with Amazon’s, Google’s, and Apple’s ecosystems.
GE Cync's outdoor light strip is what I'm testing next for this story, along with the brand's smart eave lights ($143). Since I have a balcony on my second floor with a metal railing, I love the idea of adhering an outdoor light strip to it to get the bright lighting effect you'd see with permanent lights. They're waterproof with a rating of IP65, and look like a fun idea for anyone else with a balcony home design. This guide will be updated soon with my testing notes.
Permanent Outdoor Lights We Don’t Recommend
Lumary Outdoor Permanent Lights Max ($270 for 105 ft.): Lumary's lights were frustrating and limiting for our tester. The instructions suggest installation from the left, which adds difficulty if you don’t have a power outlet on that side of your house. (Lumary confirmed this wasn't required, but the directions made it seem mandatory.) The installation instructions also assume that your eaves are flat. WIRED reviewer Kat Merck, who tested this set, has eaves with cross-beams, which complicated spacing, and unlike other kits, Lumary’s doesn’t accommodate nonstandard architectural elements like peaks, gables, or sections without eaves. Further, the Lumary app is geared toward all Lumary smart light products (of which there are legion), so basic functions for the permanent lights—like timers and saving custom scenes—are deeply buried and not intuitive to use. Worse, when she tried to add the lights to the Lumary app on another phone, the lights’ power box stopped working and had to be replaced. She liked how bright the lights were, and the fact there’s a physical remote, but the app, power box shutdown, and architectural limitations compared with other sets make this one we’d skip.
FAQs
What Are the Cons of Permanent Christmas Lights?
The only real downside to permanent Christmas lights, or permanent outdoor lights of any kind, is the cost. These sets usually cost significantly more than a light string, even the smart ones. That's because they're designed to last longer on your home, and the more expensive sets allow you to cut and splice the cords to perfectly fit your home instead of dangling strings and extra lights. It's an investment, but one you can enjoy year-round.
Are Permanent Outdoor Lights Worth It?
Yes, because you'll install them once and be good to go with every holiday in your future: Christmas! Halloween! Your fave sports team headed to a big championship match! Your kid's graduation (or your own)! Similar to how smart bulbs can give you so many options inside your home, the possibilities are endless and something you'll be able to use and enjoy year-round.
How Does WIRED Test Permanent Outdoor Lights? What Happens When We’re Done Testing?
WIRED tests permanent outdoor lights on the homes of our reviewers. We've tested these lights on three different homes in separate areas with serious weather: Washington state, Missouri, and Scotland. We install these on the homes themselves and leave them up for at least a few weeks, if not months and years (depending on performance), to see how they hold up. Our picks remain on our homes for long-term testing, as these lights are supposed to be permanent, and used sets are safely disposed of.
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