Buying Guide
How a Fair Permanent Lighting Quote Should Be Built
How permanent roofline lighting is measured and priced, what overcompensation means on a quote, and how to compare two bids that both say linear foot.
A fair permanent lighting quote is built in four steps: measure the roofline, add disclosed overcompensation for corners and peaks, apply a rate per linear foot, and write down what that rate includes. Almost every quote in the country uses that same per-foot method, yet two quotes that both say "per linear foot" can still be twenty percent apart. The gap is almost never the light itself. It is in how the measurement was taken and what the rate includes.
Step one: the roofline gets measured, not estimated
The measurement is the whole quote. Everything downstream is that number times a rate. A measurement taken off a satellite image or a rough square-footage guess is a guess dressed as a quote, and it is the most common reason a final invoice comes in above the bid.
Ask which rooflines are included and which are not. Front elevation only, front and sides, the whole perimeter, the garage, dormers, a second story, a detached structure - these are decisions, and they should be written down rather than assumed.
Step two: overcompensation is added, and it should be disclosed
Track does not install in a perfectly continuous line. Corners, peaks, dormers, gable ends and transitions all consume material beyond the flat measurement. Good installers add a percentage to the measured footage to cover it. That addition is normal and necessary - a quote without it is a quote that will come up short.
What matters is that it is disclosed. Ask the direct question: what is the measured footage, and what is the quoted footage? If those two numbers are different, the installer should be able to tell you why in one sentence. If they cannot, the difference is not overcompensation, it is padding.
Step three: the rate gets applied
Nationally, professionally installed permanent lighting generally runs in the range of roughly eighteen to thirty-five dollars per installed linear foot, with typical whole-home jobs commonly landing somewhere between two thousand and eight thousand dollars. Those are market figures for the category, not a quote and not Apollo's pricing - they exist here so you can tell whether a bid in front of you is inside the normal band or well outside it. How much permanent lighting costs per linear foot goes deeper on what moves a job within that band.
A number far below that band usually means one of three things: a partial roofline, a homeowner-installed kit rather than a professional install, or components chosen on price. A number far above it should come with a specific reason attached.
Step four: what the rate includes gets written down
This is where two same-priced quotes stop being the same. The written scope should name:
- The exact rooflines included, and the quoted footage.
- The zone layout - how your roofline is divided, and which sections can run independently.
- The components: the channel, the diodes and their rated life, the controller, and where the power supply is mounted.
- The electrical work, if any, and who is doing it.
- What the warranty covers and what it excludes, in writing.
- What service looks like after installation, and who you call.
If any of those live only in the conversation and not in the document, get them into the document. That is not distrust; it is what the document is for. Not sure what each component is? What is actually inside a permanent lighting track explains the four parts.
How to compare two quotes without a spreadsheet
Divide each quote by its quoted footage. That gives you a comparable rate. Then look at what each rate buys - a rate that is a few dollars higher but includes zone control across the whole roofline, a controller with real service behind it, and a written warranty is usually the cheaper of the two over the life of the system.
The one comparison that never works is quoted total against quoted total, because you are almost certainly comparing two different amounts of roofline.
Get a quote you can actually check
Apollo Home Solutions measures the roofline, shows the zone layout, and puts the scope in writing before anything gets installed. That is the first step of how installation works. Serving Oklahoma City, Edmond, Norman, Moore, Yukon and the surrounding metro. Request a free tailored quote or call (405) 891-5391.
FAQ
Why is the footage on my quote higher than my roofline measurement?
Corners, peaks, dormers and transitions consume more track than a flat measurement suggests, so installers add a percentage to cover it. Ask for both numbers - the measured footage and the quoted footage - and the reason for the difference.
What should a permanent lighting quote include in writing?
The rooflines covered, the quoted footage, the zone layout, the components and their ratings, any electrical work, the warranty terms, and the service process. Anything agreed verbally should end up in that document.
Is a cheaper quote usually a worse system?
Not automatically, but it is worth finding out why it is cheaper. The three usual reasons are less roofline included, a homeowner-installed kit rather than a professional install, or lower-grade components. Comparing the rate per quoted foot rather than the totals tells you quickly which one you are looking at.
Get a free quote or call (405) 891-5391.