I run the local TruLight dealership, so you can weigh my opinion accordingly. The parts of a Gemstone comparison worth writing down are the ones that are easy to skip past in San Antonio: the paperwork, the surface your track has to mount to, and who actually shows up when a section goes dark in July.

Before anything else: the written quote and the written warranty your dealer gives you are the documents that control. A web page is not a contract, and that includes this one. Get both companies to put it on paper. Our feature-by-feature breakdown is on the TruLight vs. Gemstone comparison page if you want our side laid out in one place first.

Gemstone's published terms, as Gemstone states them

From Gemstone's warranty page, read on August 10, 2026: Gemstone offers coverage on the lights that it labels lifetime, and it defines that lifetime by its own testing at 50,000 hours. Other products and parts carry 10 years, labor is one year, and registration is required within 30 days. Gemstone also states that coverage may be transferred one time inside the 10-year period, and that if the transfer happens within 90 days the new owner gets the remaining coverage up to a maximum of two years.

An important caveat. Older official Gemstone PDFs that are still floating around online use different language than the current page. If a dealer shows you a printed warranty, ask whether it is the current United States version, get it dated, and compare it to what the company publishes now. Do the same to me. Manufacturers revise terms, and the version in someone's truck is not always the version in force.

For reference on our side: TruLight is a 48V low voltage system, each RGBW node carries six LEDs (three RGB and three dedicated warm white), and the published light rating is 100,000 hours. Current terms live on our warranty page, with the system detailed on our permanent lighting page.

Registration in 30 days, and who is responsible for it

Thirty days goes fast. Installs get finished during a move, during a remodel, right before a party, and the registration step is the easiest thing in the world to assume somebody else did.

Decide it out loud before the crew packs up. Ask directly: are you registering this system, or am I? If it is the dealer, ask for the confirmation in writing when it is done, and save it with your home documents rather than in email. If it is you, put the deadline in your calendar the day of the install. Gemstone says registration within 30 days is required for the warranty to remain valid.

Labor is where warranty coverage gets tested

Gemstone states one year of labor, so buyers should understand what happens after that period rather than treating the line as fine print.

A parts warranty covers the part. Labor coverage covers somebody getting a ladder onto your house and finding the failure. Once the labor period ends, a covered part can still mean an out-of-pocket service call, because the part is free and the visit is not. So ask both companies the same question in the same words: after the labor period ends, what do I pay for a service visit on a covered failure? Trip charge, hourly rate, minimum, all of it.

Then ask who performs that visit. Ask whether the manufacturer, the local dealer, or another contractor performs service at your address. The practical value of any warranty in this market is tied to whether whoever answers that call is still working in San Antonio in year six. Ask how long they have worked here, ask to see homes finished three years ago rather than last month, and ask what happens if the dealership changes hands. Ask it of us too. It is a fair question and I would rather answer it than have you find out later.

Textured stone and stucco change the mounting conversation

On a stone or heavily textured stucco elevation, the mounting details have to be settled before installation. Rough-cut stone, hand-troweled stucco, deep mortar joints and stone veneer wrapping columns and returns all read differently at the fascia line. Track comes straight, and none of those surfaces do.

That is workable, but it is a design detail that needs answering before you sign. Ask both bidders to walk your elevations and tell you specifically: does the track mount to fascia, soffit, or the stone itself, what fasteners are used on each surface, and what happens where the run crosses from smooth fascia onto rough stone or around a stucco corner? On textured surfaces you want to know whether the channel will sit flush or whether there will be visible gaps, and whether the mounting method is one a future service tech can undo without damaging the wall.

Then look at daylight appearance, since the track is unlit for most of the hours you see it. Ask what colors the channel comes in and whether it can be matched to your fascia or trim. On light stucco, an unmatched channel reads as a dark line across the whole face of the house. This is a question worth pushing on with both brands, because it is the difference between a track you stop noticing and one you notice every time you pull into the driveway.

Sun and storm exclusions are the section to read twice

South Texas is hard on anything mounted outdoors. Long stretches of direct sun and afternoon heat, then hail and wind moving through in spring. So read the exclusions in both warranties before you compare the headline coverage numbers, and read them with a pen.

Specific things to look for in either document:

Weather events. Is hail excluded? Wind? Named storms? Is there a separate deductible or claim process?
Sun and heat. Is there an upper operating temperature stated, and is UV degradation of the channel or lens treated as a covered defect or normal wear?
Roof work. If a roofer removes and reinstalls a section, does coverage survive it, and who has to do the reinstall for it to stay covered?
Pests and animals. Chew damage, nesting, and what is excluded.
Water intrusion. What ingress rating is published, and what voids it.

Two warranties with identical headline lengths can differ enormously here. The exclusions section describes what you actually own.

HOA rules before you pick a system

Some San Antonio area neighborhoods have architectural review or covenant language that touches exterior lighting, color, brightness, or hours of operation, and municipalities can have their own rules on outdoor lighting. I am not going to guess what applies to your specific address, because it varies street by street and it changes.

Do this instead. Before you sign with anyone, pull your HOA covenants and check whether exterior lighting requires architectural approval, and call your city or county about any applicable outdoor lighting rules for your address. Then ask both dealers whether the system can be dimmed, scheduled, and set to a fixed warm white. Those capabilities may be relevant to an architectural review, but only the association's current written requirements determine what it will approve. Get the answer written into the quote, not promised out loud.

Transfer, briefly

Gemstone states that coverage may be transferred once inside the 10-year period, and that the new owner receives remaining coverage up to two years when the transfer occurs within 90 days. If you expect to sell, understand what that means for a buyer, and ask us the same question about our terms. Whatever both answers turn out to be, they belong in the file with your closing documents, not in your memory.

What I would do in your position

Get two written quotes. Put both warranties on the kitchen table and read the exclusions before the headline numbers. Ask both dealers who registers the system and what a post-labor service call costs. Drive past a finished house from each brand after dark and look at the plain warm white, then drive past one in daylight and look at the track against the stone.

Sources

Gemstone Lights warranty page, accessed August 10, 2026: Gemstone labels its light coverage lifetime and defines that lifetime by its own testing at 50,000 hours; 10 years on other products and parts; one transfer within the 10-year period, with the new owner receiving remaining coverage up to two years when the transfer occurs within 90 days; registration required within 30 days; one year labor. Older official Gemstone PDFs state different terms, so ask your dealer for the current United States warranty in writing.
TruLight warranty terms and TruLight permanent lighting: 48V low voltage system, six LEDs per RGBW node (three RGB plus three warm white), published 100,000 hour rating.

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TruLight vs. Gemstone Lights for San Antonio Homes