Dealers will talk up the power of lighting (and now shading) whenever they get the chance to, but is there any downside to this category? How much does it take away from other parts of an integrators business? Are the margins lower? What about maintenance costs? As part of CE Pro’s Lighting & Shading Deep Dive, we wanted to get to the bottom of this craze and figure out exactly how lighting and shading impact an integrator’s business.
Among other questions, integrators were asked how much of a project lighting takes up in terms of budget, what that translates into for overall profit potential and more to draft up a solid business profile on the upsides and downsides of lighting and shading as a category. So let’s dig into to what integrators already in the business are telling us.
Integrators tend to use lighting and shading as an entry point into projects
One thing that’s been well documented is that, due to its importance in the design process, lighting often helps integrators get in earlier on projects. It also helps firms establish relationships with architects and designers that provides continued early entry onto projects.
Upside: that doesn’t make lighting and shading loss leaders
When comparing the profit potential of lighting and shading to other categories, feedback is mixed, but it by no means presents either as a loss leader.
43.3% of respondents in the survey said margins in the category were roughly the same, but 36.7% responded saying margins were higher. If anything, that means that while also being a strong leader in sales, lighting and shading has the potential to garner even more profit baseline compared to other systems.
When reviewing the findings, Jake Vitrofsky, COO of HEDSouth was largely unsurprised from his own personal experience, especially when it came to shading.
“Window treatments have long been a profit center for the industry and are increasingly becoming more so for those companies that are expanding their offerings beyond just roller shades,” says Vitrofsky.
Downside: lighting and shading tends to command more of a project’s budget
Dealers also universally agree that lighting and shading tends to take up far more of a project’s budget compared to other systems. Part of that, according to Vitrofsky, is largely due to the scope these systems command in terms of raw physical presence in the home compared to others.
“On the lighting side we urge clients to think about the whole lighting solution within their space, from button to bulb,” Vitrofsky says. “This means that the scope of work for lighting needs to take into consideration the light fixtures, control system, and any natural lighting controls. When you present it to clients this way and then show them the aesthetic elements that make up this combination of products, it is very easy to see how this portion of the project can grow quickly.”
Cole Hathcock, Lighting Designer for Logic Integration, goes so far as to say that this is very easily justified as lighting and shading has supplanted AV in terms of importance on projects.
“Clients experience the impact of lights and shades every day,” Hathcock adds. “It impacts comfort, mood, and energy use, and it ties everything together from AV to climate right down to architecture and design. In many projects, lighting is now equal to or greater than AV in importance so it makes sense lighting and shading should take a larger share of the budget.”
Upside: that doesn’t hamper dealers’ ability to sell other systems by a lot
Does that still allow integrators to sell other systems like AV and control? Or is the downside that they only get to play with lighting and shading at that point? Based on survey responses, the former seems to be more the case. A sizeable 26.7% said it happened Very Often, while 40% said just Often, making scope expansion through lighting seem like a common occurrence.
In fact, AV systems wind up being one of the most popular systems paired with lighting and shading (aside from control and other lighting and shading systems). That might explain why so many firms like to lead with lighting as a sales strategy.
What are the downsides to selling lighting and shading?
The business profile for lighting and shading is nothing to scoff at. Let’s do the math quick. 66.7% of survey respondents report projects either Often or Very Often expanding into other technology scopes. 38% report margins on lighting and shading products being higher than other categories, and even at its worst, only 16.7% reported margins as being lower. Add in the fact that 56% report callbacks occurring rarely or never, and you have a picture that explains why the category has so many evangelists on the business side.
Of course, we don’t want to blow past the other data points. There’s that 34% saying projects rarely or never expand their scope and the 55% that report margins for lighting and shading fall in line with other product categories, and if you happen to fall into both those percentages with your business, that might be seen as a downside.
That split in margins could be related to markets, but it could also mean that firms might need to experiment more with education, product offerings and pricing models to really drive home the added value integrator-owned solutions bring.
Shorthand: don’t expect killer margins out the gate and don’t expect it to be a given that lighting is naturally going to get people excited about installing a home entertainment system. Lighting and shading’s upsides need a strong sales strategy to tease them out.
Interested in learning more about the state of the Lighting & Shading category in 2026? Stay tuned for our continued coverage as part of our Lighting & Shading Deep Dive, and download the full report for all the insights needed to keep your business in the know.
FAQ
What’s the methodology behind CE Pro’s Lighting & Shading Survey?
Soliciting open participation from members of the custom integration (CI) industry, CE Pro opened its Lighting & Shading survey for the months of March and April, asking integrators to respond to questions related to their lighting and shading businesses for the 2025 fiscal year.
Analysis of these findings was conducted by CE Pro editors as well as Cole Hathcock, Lighting Designer for Logic Integration; and Jake Vitrofsky, COO of HEDSouth.
What is CE Pro’s Lighting & Shading Deep Dive?
The CE Pro Lighting & Shading Deep Dive holds a magnifying glass up to two of the fastest growing categories within custom integration (CI). For 2026, CE Pro has mixed up the formula, combining both categories into a single, extensive look into two areas of an integrator’s business that have become inextricably linked to one another in attempt to not only identify opportunity and growth for business, but also to see how these powerhouse categories are uplifting other technology stacks within an integrator’s arsenal.
This article is part of a series for CE Pro’s Lighting & Shading Deep Dive exploring different aspects of the lighting and shading categories for custom integration.
