Hire a Christmas light installer or hang them yourself? The real cost of each
What hanging your own Christmas lights costs against hiring a professional installer, on a small, typical and large house — plus the ladder risk, the time, and what an installer's price includes.
The lights themselves are cheap. The ladder, the weekend in November, the dead strand you find at dusk and the take-down in January are where the cost is. Here is each side priced on three houses, and an honest look at when doing it yourself makes sense.
Doing it yourself
HomeAdvisor's 2025 cost guide puts the lights at roughly $0.50–$2 a foot to buy, depending on the bulbs. For the 180 feet of roof edge on a typical house, plus about 10% for corners and the run to the outlet, that is about $99–$396 in lights, plus clips, a timer and outdoor extension cords. You own them for several seasons, and you hang them, fix them and take them down every year.
The Christmas light calculator works out the strands, bulbs and clips for your house.
Hiring an installer
Installed prices on our pricing engine, rented lights included:
| Type | 120 ft of roof edge | 180 ft of roof edge | 250 ft of roof edge |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mini lights on the gutter line, rented | $532 | $724 | $947 |
| Warm white C9 LED, installed and removed | $621 | $856 | $1,130 |
| Multicolour C9 LED, installed and removed | $650 | $900 | $1,192 |
| Permanent LED track lighting | $3,091 | $4,562 | $6,277 |
Warm white C9s on a typical house come to about $856, or $5 a foot — inside HomeAdvisor's 2025 range of $2.50–$7 a foot for professional installation including lights, hanging and removal.
What the price usually includes
- The lights, clips and timers, rented for the season
- Design, hanging, and switching on
- Fixing dead bulbs or strands during the season
- Taking everything down in January, and often storing it until next year
Ask whether take-down and in-season repairs are included before you compare two quotes.
The ladder
A single-storey house with a low roof, gutters you can reach from a stepladder, and a free weekend: doing it yourself makes sense. Two storeys, a steep roof, or nobody to foot the ladder: hire it out.
Get a price in a minute
Type your address and we measure your roof edge from aerial imagery, show your house lit up at night, and price professional installation for that length. Thinking of lights that never come down? See permanent Christmas lights cost.
Common questions
Is it cheaper to hang Christmas lights yourself?
In cash, yes; the difference is a weekend on a ladder twice a year and storing the lights.
What does a Christmas light installer's price include?
Usually rented lights, hanging, in-season repairs, take-down in January and storage. Check removal and repairs are included.
Is hanging Christmas lights dangerous?
Falls are the most common holiday decorating injury, about a third of the emergency visits CPSC counted in 2012.
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