Permanent lights are not limited to the main roof. The same channel follows a porch, a covered patio and a detached garage edge, all on one controller.
The main roof is not the only edge
A covered patio has a roof edge too, and so do a porch and a detached garage. The same channel follows them, and all of it answers to the same controller.
One controller carries up to 8 zones. That is how the front of the house, a patio and a garage can each do something different at the same moment.
The controller sits indoors, usually in the garage or a utility room with power and wifi. Nothing is mounted outside for it.
Porch roofs and columns
A porch roof gets the same treatment as the main one. The channel follows whatever edge the roof has.
It can also run along a column or a soffit.
Zones let the porch do its own thing. The porch can hold warm white while the gables run color, or the entry can stay warm white so your front door still looks like a front door.
On a porch with its own gable, a gentle breathe on the porch run, where the whole line rises and falls, makes the entry feel warm without shouting.
A covered patio you light any evening
Under a patio ceiling, the channel stops reading as a roofline. It becomes lighting for a room with no walls, on a dimmer, every night of the year.
That is the point of putting a patio on the system: people use a patio far more than the holidays. Set a sunset schedule once and it comes on with the sky every night. Dim it right down for a quiet weeknight.
The same channel can run along a pergola too. See where else it can go on the system page.
A detached garage on the same controller
A long house, a detached garage or an outbuilding can need a second box. One account can hold up to 4 controllers, linked and behaving as one system. The whole property still runs from one login, not two apps you switch between in the driveway.
Whether you need one controller or two is a measurement, not a preference. Name the garage, guest house or barn when you ask for the estimate, and it gets measured too.
The channel follows roof edges and soffits. If you have another line in mind, such as a door frame, ask the installers at the estimate. They look at the actual house.
You run all of it from the app: color, presets, schedules and zones. Blue on one wing and green over the garage, at the same time. See what the app does.
What adds to the quote
The porch and the garage are counted when the roofline is measured. The installer measures the eaves, the rakes, the porch, the garage, the peaks and the dormers, along with what the channel has to be fitted to.
How much of the house you want lit moves the number more than anything else. Some homes light the main roofline and stop. Some carry it around the garage, the porch, the dormers and the entry. It is your call.
Other things can raise it: lifts, hard-to-reach runs, unusual electrical work and a complex layout. Any of that is called out before the work starts, not after.
The price depends on the size of the house and the design, and the pricing page sets out where it starts.
Questions
Can permanent lights go on a detached garage?
Yes. A detached garage has a roof edge, and the same channel follows it. It can run from the same controller, or from a second one linked to the same account if the property needs one.
Can I light the patio without lighting the whole house?
Yes. Zones let each part of the house run on its own. The patio can be lit while the front of the house is off, or the other way around.
Do I need a second controller for the garage?
Maybe. A detached garage can need a second box. Up to 4 controllers run on one account as one system, so a second one does not mean a second app. Whether you need it is decided by measuring the property.
Want the porch, patio and garage on the quote? Get a free lighting estimate, or call (629) 260-5444.