Holiday lights: Leave it to the pros

Each Christmas you’re tasked with locating those dusty holiday storage bins stashed in the corner of the garage, digging inside to unravel a mishmash of skinny green cords and then finding a sturdy ladder to ascend to the roofline and carefully hang lights and other holiday decorations.

The problem with this never-ending scenario is that there’s usually someone’s home in the neighborhood that always looks better than yours. Hmmm, so what’s their secret?

They probably hired professional holiday light installers to save time and worry, which freed them up to do more important things like shopping, partying and overeating with family and friends.

This is what Courtney Lights in Henderson has been doing for the past 15 years. The company hangs exterior holiday lights on homes, trees, shrubs, plants, security gates and even boats for homeowners and homeowners associations throughout the Las Vegas Valley. It starts getting busy for them around Nov. 1 and doesn’t let up until close to Christmas Eve.

“Everyone wants their lights up before Thanksgiving,” said Sabrina Fischbach, chief designer at Courtney Lights. “We schedule two to three customers a day and have installation crews of from two to three workers out on each job. All the homeowner has to do is pay for the lights, relax and enjoy the holiday. You have more to do than hang Christmas lights.”

Fischbach said Courtney Lights never uses homeowners’ personal lights because safety and quality issues are a concern. The company supplies lights and holiday decorations, which are totally LED-based, and then takes the decorations down and stores them for each customer.

The cost for decorations, installation and storage starts at $749 and rises in accordance with the number of lighted decorations needed based on customer request and size of the home. Hanging icicles along the roofline are the most popular request, along with animated LED-lit reindeer and wreaths.

Fischbach said some companies still install incandescent light-bulb decorations, but these are not as energy-efficient and don’t shine as brightly as LEDs.

According to the American Lighting Association, incandescent bulbs are being phased out in place of LED holiday lights. Consumer Reports concluded that Energy Star-qualified LEDs meet high standards for brightness and energy use and have several advantages over incandescent lights:

Use 75 percent less energy.

Last up to 10 times longer.

Remain cool to the touch, thus lowering the risk of fire.

Are more durable and shock-resistant.

Come with a three-year warranty.