How to Choose the Best Pool Lights

For a long time, incandescent lighting was the only option. It’s still a common choice, although LED and fiber optic lights are gaining popularity. Incandescent bulbs provide a great deal of light and emit no harmful gasses. They are the most affordable lights to install, but they will cost the most to run. Bulbs run between 300 and 500 watts for pools and around 100 watts for spa lights. Incandescent lights will last about 5,000 hours.

LED lights have many benefits over incandescent lighting. For one, the energy emission is much less, about 80% compared to other forms of lighting. The bulb is stored in a sealed box, which is housed in the shell of the pool. The box can easily be taken out of the water, so you can replace the bulbs without lowering the water level. But with a lifespan of up to 50,000 hours, you won’t need to replace them very often.

The main advantage to using LED lights is that they’re able to change colors and can be dimmed and adjusted. This allows you to create custom light patterns and have your own light show.

Another popular choice is fiber optic lighting. These are generally thought of as the safest pool lights, because the actual light source is housed outside the pool in a dry box. This also makes replacing the bulb very easy. Fiber optic bulbs last about half as long as LED bulbs do, and some complain that the bulbs aren’t bright enough, as compared to LED bulbs.

One thing to keep in mind is that fiber optic lights won’t actually light the water; they are mainly used to accent your pool and landscape area. You can create lighting set-ups which can be controlled from your patio or even from inside your home. With fiber optics, you can design lighting fades and transitions and do things that you simply can’t do with any other light.