Holiday Lights
On behalf of the Butler, Thank you for allowing him to be a part of creating your holiday light experience.
Nothing puts a damper on your holiday plans like climbing onto your rain soaked roof and carefully edging your way (don’t look down!) across the treacherous, steep-pitched roof line and realizing that your old strand of lights does not work anymore. Now you have the frustrating task of figuring out which light on the endless strand has gone bad!
To avoid the “Griswold Family Christmas” approach, call Master Butler. Not only will the Butler professionally install your holiday-light-wonderland, the Butler will either bring along his own assortment of Christmas lights and customize it specifically for your home, or use your existing lights. The Butler does simple rooflines to extreme rooflines, no task is too large. Holiday lights is the Butler busiest time of year. The Butler suggests you call by September to reserve your spot. Due to new mapping technology, send the Butler your address with your request, and the Butler will give you an estimate just for your home.
Tips to know:
What lights should I use on my home?
The Butler recommends c7 incandescent bulbs because they are energy efficient, reliable for years to come, and illuminate a beautiful warm light.
What about Icicle lights?
There are many brands of Icicle lights, but only a few the Butler recommends because they look the best and are more efficient to install then others. The down side to Icicle lights is that they cost more, more time consuming to install then a c7, and are not as reliable as traditional bulb lights.
What about Led Lights?
LED lights are becoming more and more popular because of how energy efficient they are, however that is about all they have going for them. The biggest drawback is the look, Most LED lights put off a very cool base feel rather than the traditional warm base. Another drawback is the upfront purchase cost. The only LED light the Butler recommends is “LED warm light” Keep in mind that LED warm light is not as attractive as traditional incandescent lights, but they are hands down much better than the “LED Cool light.” Lastly, Led lights are not reliable, this may change as technology improves.
Holiday light design tips:
Center around the focal point of your home. The focal point of your home should be the roof lines and the front door. If strategically placed properly, the inside Christmas tree can also be a focal point from the outside. If you are lighting up your back yard the focal point should be the entertaining area. Start first with designing your holiday light display around the roofline of the home. We strongly recommend you us C9 or C7 bulbs; they give of a warm base feel and are attractive to the eye. C9 bulbs are bold, however C7 are a great alternative because they are also effective, but give a more elegant touch and save you 33% on your energy.
Place lights in proportion to what you are decorating. When outlining garage doors, C7 bulbs would be more proportionate with the doors then C9. If your home sits high on a hill and could be seen from a far more distance,C9 bulbs would give a more of pop then a C7. Mini lights are great for small shrubs and trees, C7 bulbs are great for large trees. If you live on a corner lot, consider designing both street side rather than the traditional front view.
Do not buy new lights before consulting with the Butler? After years of experience, the Butler has learned that there are the right lights to buy that meet and exceed home owner’s expectations, and there are the wrong light that causes home owners to have buyer remorse with feelings of regret and frustration. The Butler has developed a preferred list of lights that he now carries in stock to make your holiday light experience most pleasurable, these lights are on his preferred list because they look the best, are energy conscious, most reliable, and are the most all around cost effective choice. If you buy new lights other then the Butler’s preferred list then rates may increase because other lights are much harder and more time consuming to install.
Existing Holiday light Customers: The Butler has tentatively placed you on a reoccurrence for next year to insure you get in between November 1st and December 1st, you will get an email reminder in October to confirm your appointment. The Butler has worked hard in creating your lights to have a low profile during the day when they are turned off, this means the lights can be installed earlier or taken down later then the home owner planes to keep them on.
Your appointment time: The appointment time in which you will receive may change due to weather changes in which you will receive a general email notifying you of how many days the Butler is expecting to be behind. The Butter will begin the holiday light season a little earlier then in the past to insure that everyone’s lights are up in time for the holidays. If you have a specific time you need the light up please notify the Butler so that he can accommodate accordingly.
What must you do to prepare for your Schedule Appointments? You are not expected to be present when the Butler installs your lights, if you know that you are going to be away during your appointment please do the following in preparation:
1) Please remember to leave your light out were you feel they will be safe.
2) If your power source is inside please plug in an extension cord, and run it outside, or email the Butler a temporary door code the day before your appointment.
3) If your lights are connected to a switch inside please leave the switch on before you leave so the Butler can test the lights when he is done to insure everything is working properly for your holiday light experience.
Taking down lights: The lights will be put down in the order in which they are put up so there are no schedules appointments for takedown, and you are not expected to be present. Light take down will begin the Monday after new-year and will all be down by The 20th of January unless weather conditions permit otherwise in which you will be notified. If you want the light up after January 1st please notify the Butler so that he does not take them down prematurely. Also, do not feel like you have to turn your light off after new year’s day, more and more home owners are leaving there lights up later to extend their holiday experience.
Storage: The Butler has taken down your light in away so that they are the most efficient to install for the following year, please keep the lights and supplies stored as the Butler left them and keep them stored separate from any other holiday decorations, if the lights have been tampered with and or are combined with or holiday light decoration this will slow down the Butler's efficiency and a small fee will accrue.
Energy Cost: If you want to know how much energy you are using to power your lights, please inform the Butler and he will configure your cost based on how many amps your light pull, and how long your lights are on each day.
Increasing efficiency: Each year the Butler finds new ways to improve the install and the take down procedure of holiday lights. At times you may see a small increase in your bill that will be needed to modify your light to keep up with technology; these modifications will save you more money by avoiding rate increases that would otherwise due to old technology and inefficiency.
Trouble shooting: Please notify the Butler immediately if any issues occur with your lights so that he can get them fixed as quickly as possible.
On behalf of the Butler, Merry Christmas!
