Front and Back Roofline Lighting on One System: A Plainfield Install
August 21, 2026 · 3 min read
Most permanent lighting quotes start with the front of the house — the roofline the street sees. But this two-story home in Plainfield wanted both sides lit: the brick front with its dormers and arched entry, and the back, where the family actually spends their evenings on the patio.
The interesting part isn't the lighting itself, it's what made covering both sides possible without turning it into two separate installs.
One Control Box, Not Two Systems
A lot of homeowners assume lighting the back of the house means a second quote, a second control box, or running one continuous loop of wire all the way around the property. None of that was necessary here.
TruLight's control box has four ports. That's what let us run the front roofline and the back roofline as two separate runs feeding into the same hub — one box, mounted in a single location, powering and controlling both sides of the home. Same install day, same wiring standard, same system.
One App, Two Zones
The front and back can each be configured as their own zone in the TruLight app and controlled independently — different colors, different scenes, on their own schedule. Right now, both sides run the same warm-white pattern for one consistent look from the street to the patio.
That flexibility shows up at a finer level too. On one gable alone, the run alternates warm white and blue node by node — each fixture in a true RGBW system is individually addressable, so a single run can carry more than one color at once.
Why This Matters for Plainfield Homes
A lot of homes across Plainfield, Naperville, Oak Brook, Elmhurst, Aurora, and Wheaton have just as much going on in the backyard as they do out front — a patio, a deck, an outdoor kitchen. If your home's total lighting fits within a single control box's ports, there's no reason the back should be an afterthought or a separate project. It gets designed, wired, and controlled right alongside the front, from the same free quote, with the option to zone each side independently whenever you want.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does lighting the back of my home need a separate system?
Not automatically. If your home's total lighting fits within the ports on one control box, front and back can run off the same hub, installed on the same day, controlled from the same app.
Can the front and back of my house run different colors at the same time?
Yes. Zoning in the TruLight app is independent of which port a run is connected to, so you can set the front to one color or scene and the back to something completely different whenever you want — even if, like this home, both currently run the same pattern.
Will I need a second app or account to control the back of my house?
No. Every zone you create — front, back, landscape, or a smaller section within any of those — lives in the same TruLight app under one account, regardless of which port it's connected to.
One control box, two sides of the home, zero compromises on either one — that's what a 4-port system makes possible.
Call us at 630-552-6331 or request your free quote, and we'll map out how many zones your home needs.