Tighter spacing is not better. When LEDs are too close, greens blur into cyan with blues, reds blur into purple. The correct spacing depends on LED brightness and beam angle, not a sales target.
Many companies try to upsell you on spacing. However, the distance only matters in relation to the brightness of the LEDs. The brighter the LED, the further apart they need to be. If they are too close, they will create a wash of colour (for example, green and blue lights placed too closely will appear purple). Learn more about how our system compares.
The engineering behind spacing
Many companies upsell tighter spacing as premium, charging you more per linear foot for extra LEDs you do not need. Here is the engineering reality.
When RGBW pucks are mounted too close together, adjacent colour cones overlap. Set one puck to green and its neighbour to blue at tight spacing and the overlap zone appears cyan or purple. At 9 inches with 24V convex-lens optics, each colour stays visually distinct.
A 24V LED puck produces significantly more lumens than a 12V puck. That extra brightness means the beam fills the 9-inch gap between pucks completely. A 12V system at 9-inch spacing would show visible dark spots, so 12V installers push tighter spacing to compensate, adding cost.
Some Calgary-area competitors advertise 6-inch or even 4-inch spacing as a premium feature. In reality, it means (a) they are using dimmer LEDs that cannot cover 9 inches, or (b) they are charging you for 50% more LEDs than you need.
The GOULY app has 1,000+ patterns with pixel-level individual puck control. A Christmas pattern alternating red-green-red requires each puck's colour to be visually distinct. At tight spacing, those patterns blur into a muddled gradient.
At 9 inches with convex lens optics, the roofline shows a smooth, continuous line of light with clear colour definition. No visible dots (too far apart) and no muddled wash (too close).
On a 200-foot roofline, 9-inch spacing uses about 267 LEDs. 6-inch spacing uses 400 LEDs. That is 50% more hardware, labour, and cost for a result that actually looks worse due to colour bleeding.
Next step
Tell us about your roofline and goals. We quote by the project, not linear footage — so you get a price that reflects your home.
Spacing comparison
LED count needed
~400 pucks (6-inch spacing)
~267 pucks (9-inch spacing)
Colour separation
Blurred, bleeding between pucks
Clean, distinct per-puck colours
Pattern clarity
Muddled gradients
Pixel-sharp patterns
Dark spots
None (but colour is washed)
None (brightness covers 9 inches)
Cost for 200 feet
50% more hardware and labour
Correct amount, lower cost
Why they do it
Dimmer 12V LEDs need compensating
24V brightness is sufficient at 9 in
What our customers say
"Great job and gave a great training session on the device on how to use it. Everything looks great and they made it very...Read Charlene L.'s full review"
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"Number One Lights are amazing! Kyle and his crew were on time and completed the job in one day! Even staying till after ...Read Dave F.'s full review"
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Learn more
These pages go deeper on the components, app, and experience behind every Number One Lights install.
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