Sometimes it takes a bit of explaining before Samuel O’Neal’s would-be customers understand exactly what his company offers.
“I go there and I tell them and they’re still confused and they can’t fathom it,” he says. “If you call a plumber, you know what to expect. Or you call a landscaper, and you have someone to compare it to. With this, you have no one to compare it to,” he says of his company’s patented and unusual product.
Samuel is the owner of Capital Trimlight, a company that installs permanent holiday lights along the roofline of homes and businesses. There are approximately 100 similar dealers across the country but no others in Maryland, Virginia, or Washington, D.C.
Samuel explains to customers: “It looks like crown molding. It’s protected against UV damage. The wires are hidden and protected.” Then, he laughs, “They want to know if it’s real.”
The product features smart LED lights integrated in an aluminum channel installed along the fascia line at the roofline. It’s available in a variety of colors to match a home’s exterior, and it’s nearly invisible in daylight. The wires are completely out of view. Home or business owners use an app to control the lights, including selecting from more than a million colors and patterns and/or having the lights flash in time with music. The app also includes a timer and calendar so the lights will turn on when and however the homeowner wants throughout the year. The system is designed to last for decades. Install includes a lifetime warranty for parts and one year of complimentary service checks. Capital Trimlight also outfits pergolas, patios and decks.
“People think about regular old white lights,” Sam says. “They don’t think about changing the color of their lights for breast cancer month or St. Patrick’s Day or their birthday. These color schemes are pre-set into the controller, for Mother’s Day, July 4th, etc. If you’ve never seen that technology, you are not thinking about it. You just think about Christmas lights. They call me for Christmas lights and then I explain how it can be so much more.”