Gemstone vs Oelo: Warranty, Spacing and Dealer Terms

Hours or years: which promise do you print?#

Print the warranty in years, and use hours only to explain lifespan. Oelo's chart rates its system at 100,000 hours, and its 2025 brochure equals that to about 34 years at 8 hours a night. Its warranty, as shown in search results, is 7 years on Authorized, Preferred and Platinum installs and 5 years on Contractor and Customer DIY installs, effective January 1, 2024.

Gemstone's warranty page bases a lifetime term on an estimated 50,000 hours, which it puts at about 20 years at 7 hours a day, and says coverage is not reduced by how long the lights actually run. So the longer rating sits with Oelo and the longer written promise sits with Gemstone.

Run the numbers for the customer who wants all-night security white, 12 hours every night. Gemstone's 50,000 hours lasts about 11 years at that pace; Oelo's 100,000 hours about 23. Both are maker ratings, not tests we ran. The years on the warranty are what the homeowner can claim against.

What does each warranty cover besides the lights?#

On Gemstone, almost everything, for 10 years. Power kits, controllers, extensions, cables, connectors and track carry 10 years. Flood and patio lights carry 5. Registration must happen within 30 days of install, and the FAQ says the warranty is not honoured after that. A transfer to a new homeowner can happen once, within 90 days of taking possession. Labour is not covered.

On Oelo, the summary we could read is about the term, not the parts list. Year one is a full coverage period in which Oelo repairs or replaces defective products, and the first transferee from the original owner is covered. We could not read the terms after year one or a parts breakdown, so ask Oelo for the full document before you print anything past "7 years" or "5 years".

Warm white diode or mixed white?#

Gemstone builds white in; Oelo mixes it. Gemstone's FAQ lists 3 LEDs per light, each with red, green, blue and warm white diodes, for whites from 2800K to 7000K, at up to 46 lumens per light. Oelo's pages describe RGB lights with preset warm and cool whites, and Oelo argues its RGB approach avoids output loss it attributes to RGBW. That is Oelo's claim about its rivals, not a test.

What it means at the door: the customer who wants architectural white most nights will ask about the white. Show both at night on the same fascia, with the white you plan to sell, before you write a colour temperature on the quote.

How do spacing and channel change the job?#

Gemstone is one spacing in many tracks; Oelo is one spacing in two channels. Gemstone lists 9 inches only, in over 150 track types and colours, so the daytime sale is the colour match and the package ladder comes from scope: front only, all sides, then floods or deck lights.

Oelo lists 10 inches or closer. Its acrylic covers come in 8 ft lengths and hide the LEDs behind a lens. Its metal channel comes in 7 ft 6 in lengths that the lights snap into. Those lengths decide where joins land, so plan them at corners and returns. Our good-better-best lighting packages guide lays out scope-based packages for a one-spacing brand.

What will the homeowner do in the app?#

Both run colours and schedules from the phone. Gemstone's app has no monthly fees, over 14,000 premade patterns, a pattern builder and Autopilot for holidays and sports. Its Hub runs on 2.4 or 5 GHz Wi-Fi, or over Bluetooth with no Wi-Fi at all. Oelo's Evolution app runs up to six zones per controller, each with its own colours and patterns, so the front can be warm white while the garage runs team colours.

Oelo counts controller capacity in lights: its retrofit page says up to 300 lights per control box, more with an optional boost box. Gemstone's pages we read give no run length per Hub2. Ask both reps for the limit before you quote a long house on one box.

What does it cost to start?#

Gemstone asks for a track record; Oelo asks for a cheque. Gemstone's dealer page charges no fee. You buy a starter kit, listed as up to $10,000 CAD/USD in the onboarding steps and roughly $10,000 to $15,000 excluding track in its FAQ, carry $2 million in liability insurance, finish onboarding within 90 days, and get a first job approved by a Gemstone rep. Its program page asks for 5 years in business, $2 million in annual gross revenue, sales staff, skilled installers and financing. There is an annual minimum with no figure published, and no exclusive territories.

Oelo's setup-fee pages, as shown in search results:

• Authorized: $5,000 up front, 20 percent off list, up to $2,500 in ad match.
• Preferred: $25,000 up front including the $5,000 fee, 30 percent off and $20,000 of product credit.
• Platinum: $75,000 up front including the $5,000 fee, 35 percent off and $70,000 of product credit.

Oelo's warranty names a Contractor install level too; we could not confirm its current terms, and older Oelo tier sheets disagree with these pages. Every program is side by side on permanent lighting dealer programs compared.

Worked example: one house, twelve years of warranty#

A single-storey with a front gable: 132 ft of roofline, 28 ft of peaks and one 8 ft unlit jump over the entry. That is 160 lit feet, measured from one owned photo with the front door as the reference. You can price this house in the free tool and read the footage by run. GlowBid's default track line, US dollars before tax; installers set their own rates.

That is $28.42 per lit foot. On Gemstone it is about 214 lights at 9 inches; on Oelo about 192 at 10 inches, inside one 300-light control box. The price is the same. The years after install are not. One node goes dark in December:

The two things that move this table are both yours: registering the Gemstone warranty, and the Oelo tier you hold. Price the call-out itself from our service call and repair pricing page. Footage from a photo is an estimate; confirm it on site before track or channel is cut.

When to choose Gemstone#

Pick Gemstone over Oelo when you already meet the 5 year and $2 million bar, your customers ask for a dedicated warm white, and the warranty paragraph is your strongest sales line. It suits a Canadian installer who wants a Calgary maker with ETL certification for both countries. Accept that there is no territory and that every labour promise is yours to write and price.

When to choose Oelo#

Pick Oelo over Gemstone when you are newer than Gemstone's bar allows and can grow by paying into tiers, when your market likes a flush lens or a metal channel, or when six zones per controller sells the job. Budget the $5,000 Authorized step early, since it lifts every customer from 5 years to 7. Confirm every figure on the current sheet, because Oelo's site would not load for us.

Homeowners: what does the warranty mean on your house?#

Ask what the warranty covers in years, not hours. On Gemstone, ask whether it was registered within 30 days, since the warranty depends on it. On Oelo, ask which dealer tier your installer holds, since it sets your term at 5 or 7 years. On both, ask who pays the ladder after year one. Neither brand publishes an installed price per foot, so ask for footage by run on every quote.

Mistakes on Gemstone and Oelo quotes#

• Printing hours as a warranty. 100,000 hours is a rating; 7 years is the promise. Print the years.
• Skipping Gemstone registration. Past 30 days the warranty is not honoured. Register on install day.
• Printing 7 years as a Contractor. On Oelo the tier sets the term. Print 5 until you are Authorized.
• Assuming one box covers any Oelo house. Capacity is counted in lights. Check the count at your spacing.
• Promising a territory on either. Gemstone says there is none, and we found no rule on Oelo's pages. Promise service, not exclusivity.
• Leaving labour blank. Neither maker pays your ladder after year one. Write the term and the fee.

Writing the warranty into the quote#

Whichever line you carry, the warranty is where Gemstone and Oelo differ most, so it belongs on the quote the customer signs, not in a brochure.

In GlowBid, each brand and spacing is its own product line, drawn once on a photo you own; the footage, bill of materials and price come from the same runs, with a materials buffer you set (default 10 percent). The scope block on the quote PDF holds the brand's warranty terms and your labour term. The customer signs on their phone and pays a Stripe deposit, which carries Stripe processing plus a GlowBid platform margin under 1 percent, shown before you connect Stripe. Core is $69 a month or $299 a year, with a 7-day trial, no card, and a 30-day money-back on a first yearly payment. See the pricing. For each brand against the others, read Gemstone vs Trimlight, Oelo vs JellyFish, EverLights vs Gemstone and Oelo vs EverLights.