Trimlight vs Oelo: Permanent Lights Compared for Installers

Which one hangs faster on the fascia?#

It depends on the channel you pick, because Oelo gives you two and Trimlight gives you one. Trimlight's bulbs protrude from an aluminum channel and point down, so by day the homeowner sees bulbs and the channel colour match is what you sell.

Oelo's acrylic channel hides the LEDs behind a lens for a flush look. Its kit listings show the acrylic covers in 8 ft lengths with cover connectors and clips, and the metal covers in 90 inch lengths that the lights snap into. Oelo's own comparison material describes the metal version as having fewer mounting parts and suiting tight fascia. Trimlight's comparison page notes the acrylic mount needs an extension connector every 96 inches, which matches the 8 ft cover length.

What that means on the ladder:

• Cover count is a line on your materials list. On a 192 ft run plus a 10 percent buffer, that is 27 acrylic covers at 8 ft or 29 metal covers at 90 inches. Trimlight's pages we read do not give a channel stick length, so ask your rep for it before you build a materials rule.
• Joins show. Every acrylic join is a connector in the lens line. Plan joins at corners and returns where you can.
• Colour. Trimlight's comparison page lists over 50 standard channel colours. Oelo's pages list nine standard colours on one and ten, with Cream, on others, plus paint or raw for powder coat. Check the order form.

Does 12 volt or 36 volt change the layout?#

Yes, mostly in where the controller goes. Trimlight publishes a 12 V system with the Classic bulb at 0.6 W. That gives you an easy power number: 192 nodes at 12 inch spacing is about 115 W, and the same run at 6 inches is 384 nodes and about 230 W.

Oelo publishes 36 V supplies that plug into a standard outlet. Its FAQ, as shown in search results, says one Evolution control unit powers up to 600 lights and drives up to 6 zones, though its kit pages list 120 lights for a small unit and 300-plus for a large one, so ask which unit you are quoting. Its app manual says each zone must start within 50 ft of the control box. Trimlight's comparison page argues lower voltage runs cooler; that is Trimlight's claim, not a test we ran.

The 50 ft rule is the one that changes a quote. A house with a detached garage or a back deck run that starts 70 ft from the only outlet needs a second control box or a different power spot. Draw the outlet on the photo before you price, and put each controller on the quote as its own line. Our permanent per-foot pricing guide explains why the controller never hides inside the per-foot rate.

What does each app give the homeowner?#

Both run millions of colours from a phone, and both run without you in the loop once they are set up. Trimlight's control method is the Edge app with voice control over 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi. Trimlight's own Oelo comparison (accurate as of May 9, 2024, by its own date) lists 180 preset patterns, 20 movements and music sync for Edge. Those are Trimlight's own counts on a page about a competitor, so check the current app before you demo it.

Oelo's app is Oelo Evolution, on iPhone and Android. Each controller handles up to 6 zones you can run separately, so the front roofline can be warm white while the garage plays team colours. Oelo also offers a cloud app, Oelo Anywhere, for its cloud control units. The controller makes its own Wi-Fi network out of the box, and Oelo prefers you join it to the homeowner's network.

Write the app name on the work order. The two apps are not interchangeable, and a homeowner who downloads the wrong one calls you.

What does each warranty leave on your books?#

The labour after year one, on both. The difference is how long the part stays free.

Read the table by year: Trimlight keeps the part free for its lifespan, Oelo for 5 or 7 years, and after year one the truck and the ladder are yours on both. Who pays for that visit is a clause in your agreement, and the permanent lighting installation agreement template has one. Price the call itself from our service call and repair pricing page.

What does it cost to become a dealer?#

Trimlight has one door with two sizes. Oelo has a ladder with four rungs, and its pages disagree on the top two.

Trimlight: $5,000 plus $499 for 30 zip codes or fewer, $10,000 plus $499 for 31 or more, everything past the $499 demo kit credited to product, no royalties, and two days of training in Salt Lake City at your own travel cost. The full terms, quota rule included, are on our EverLights vs Trimlight page. Against Oelo, the point is that Trimlight's cheque is one-time and buys the map up front.

Oelo (via search results):

• Contractor: 10 percent off list, no annual purchase requirement. Setup is paperwork: proof of business, a tax exemption certificate, a signed indemnification agreement and dealer training.
• Authorized: 20 percent off list, a $5,000 initiation fee, $5,000 to $24,999 a year in purchases.
• Preferred: 30 percent off list and $20,000 or more a year on the franchise page; the setup page lists $25,000 up front ($5,000 fee plus $20,000 product credit) and 25 percent in one spot; the 2024 tier sheet says $25,000 to $74,999 a year.
• Platinum: 35 percent off list at $70,000 or more a year on the franchise page; the setup listing shows $75,000.

We did not find a territory rule on the Oelo pages we could see. Ask before you sign whether another Oelo dealer can work your street. The bigger point: on Oelo, moving from Contractor to Authorized is $5,000 that buys 10 more points of discount and two more warranty years for every customer.

Worked example: one bungalow, two bills of materials#

A wide single-storey: 156 ft of roofline, two front gables with 36 ft of peaks between them, and two unlit jumps totalling 14 ft. That is 192 lit feet, measured from one owned photo with the 16 ft garage door as the reference. You can price this house in the free tool and read the footage by run. Here it is on GlowBid's default track line, US dollars before tax; installers set their own rates.

That is $28.53 per lit foot, inside Trimlight's published $18 to $35. The customer's price does not care which brand you draw. Your order does:

The Oelo light count uses the 10 inch spacing figure. Oelo's own 225 ft acrylic kit ships 290 lights, which is closer than 10 inches, so get the exact count per foot from Oelo before you write a materials rule. Footage from a photo is an estimate; confirm it on site before you cut channel.

When to choose Trimlight#

Pick Trimlight when your customers like visible bulbs pointing down from the eave, when you want lifetime parts on the quote instead of 5 or 7 years, and when you can put up $5,499 to $10,499 plus travel to Salt Lake City once rather than grow through tiers. The protected territory is the trade for that cheque, and you need to hit quota to keep it. Trimlight publishes an installed range of $18 to $35 per linear foot, which helps when a homeowner has already seen it.

When to choose Oelo#

Pick Oelo when you want to start installing without a buy-in and grow into a dealer tier, when your market prefers a flush lens look over visible bulbs, or when a homeowner wants a paintable channel. Budget the step to Authorized early, because the Contractor tier carries the shorter 5 year warranty to your customer. Confirm every tier figure on the current sheet; Oelo's pages do not agree with each other, and its site would not load for us.

Where Trimlight and Oelo quotes go wrong#

• Printing the dealer warranty before you are a dealer. On Oelo the tier sets the term. Print 5 years until you are Authorized.
• Ignoring the 50 ft zone rule. A garage run that starts 70 ft from the box is a second controller you did not price. Mark the outlet on the photo first.
• One rate for every Trimlight spacing. 384 nodes at 6 inches against 192 at 12 is twice the LEDs on the same footage. Give each spacing its own product line.
• Joins in the middle of a gable. Acrylic covers come in 8 ft lengths; plan where the connectors land before you cut.
• Painting a channel before asking. Oelo's FAQ allows paint and its warranty summary lists painting as an exclusion. Get the answer in writing.
• Buying the big Trimlight territory before the small one pays. The $10,000 door carries a quota you have to hit. Start where you can cover every zip code.

Homeowners: visible bulbs or a lens?#

By day, Trimlight's bulbs show under the eave and Oelo's acrylic option shows as a flush lens, so look at a finished house of each. Then ask which spacing or channel is on the quote, how many parts years that dealer's install carries (on Oelo it depends on the dealer's tier), and who pays the ladder after year one. The per-foot price should come with footage by run, not one lump number.

Can you carry Trimlight and Oelo together?#

Neither brand's pages describe running the other's lights on its controller, so treat a switch as a new product line, not a parts swap. If you carry both, keep each brand and spacing as its own line with its own per-foot rates and controller price, and print the right warranty in the scope block of each quote. Ask Trimlight first: its territory model and quota assume you are selling Trimlight in your zip codes.

GlowBid handles the two-brand case without a second spreadsheet. Draw the runs once on a photo you own, scaled from the garage door, and mark the outlet while you are there; the footage, the bill of materials and the price all come from that one drawing, with the materials buffer (default 10 percent) set by you. Each brand is its own product line with its controller as an add-on, and the scope block carries the warranty your tier gives. The quote is signed on the customer's phone with 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, or read what the manufacturers' own portals do and do not do on our permanent lighting dealer software page.