LED Pool Lighting – Are LED Pool Lights Worth Installing?

Having pool lighting can enhance your pool experience and allow you to make the most of your swimming pool. However, some pool owners use pool lights much more than others.

Pool lights can extend the time you use your pool by allowing you to swim into the evening or even at night. They are great for hosting a pool party as they can make your pool area look very smart.

Are pool lights worth having?

Many pool owners wouldn’t be without their pool lights, while others rarely, if ever, use them. Most pool owners with an inground pool tend to have pool lights installed during the installation, but generally, that is not the case for above-ground pools.

I must say I fall into the latter group. In 8 years, I think I have only switched mine on 6 times, and then just to show visitors to our house. If I swim late at night in the summer to cool off, I prefer to do it in the dark so I can float on my back and look at the stars, which would be harder to see with my pool’s LED lights on.

How much use you may make of pool lighting during the swimming season depends on several factors:

The evening temperature where you live

If you live somewhere with very hot evenings, you will probably feel the need to take a cooling plunge in your pool when it is dark. In that case, you may make good use of your pool lights.

The time it gets dark where you live

If you live at a more southerly latitude nearer the tropics (or northerly in the southern hemisphere), then it will get darker earlier during swimming than in more northern latitudes.

For example:

June 22 2022	Sunset	Dark
Florida	17:43	21:13
North Dakota	21:41	23:15

If you live in Florida, you are likely to use your pool lights much more frequently than in North Dakota.

If you have children

It can be hard to keep children out of a pool at times, so if you have children, having pool lights will make them love using the pool even more. Naturally, you need to supervise them as you would during the day.

You host lots of pool parties

If you invite lots of friends and family over to use your pool in the evenings and for special occasions, then you will clearly benefit from having pool lights and other pool lighting options such as landscape lights and even floating lights.

If these are energy-efficient LEDs then so much the better.

Safety

There are two safety reasons that having pool lighting both in and around your swimming pool:

• The first reason is obvious: if you and your children are going to use your pool at night, having pool lights illuminate the area so you can see properly will go a long way to preventing accidents.
• If you live in an area that attracts potentially dangerous animals, such as snakes or alligators, the last thing you want is to jump in and find you have a possible lethal swimming partner. By lighting up your pool, you will be able to see at a glance that it doesn’t contain any unwanted guests—or if it does, to remove them safely.

Neighbor envy

Any neighbors who don’t have a pool but who can see your swimming pool area from their homes will be particularly envious when they see your pool lighting switched on at night. Having pool illumination enhance your swimming pool area sets the mood and provides a really lovely ambiance.

Pool maintenance

If you do your own pool maintenance but struggle to get home from work during the week before it gets dark, having pool lights will enable you to carry out pool cleaning, such as vacuuming dirt from the bottom, after you get home.

Pool lights show up the dirt at the bottom very well, so it can be even easier to ensure you clean properly than during the day.

LED lights vs incandescent lighting

If you are building a swimming pool or replacing the existing lights in your pool, the obvious choice is LED pool lights, which are without doubt the best pool lights, particularly in today’s drive for energy efficiency.

Incandescent lights are basically standard bulbs that produce light when electricity passes through a filament. However, they also produce a great deal of heat, which is why they are less efficient. Actually, finding incandescent lights is becoming increasingly difficult anyway, so you may have little option.

The benefits of LED pool lights are that they are much more energy-efficient so they will cut down your electricity bill, particularly if you use them a lot. LED pool lighting will use approximately 80-85% less energy than the equivalent incandescent lighting to give the same brightness.

The disadvantage of LED pool lighting is that a replacement LED pool light bulb generally costs much more than an incandescent pool light bulb. However, due to their lower power needs and energy efficiency, you will save money over time and recoup the extra outlay with lower energy bills.

If you already have pool lighting with incandescent lights, you can normally buy compatible LED pool light bulbs, which makes it an easy switch. You can change the incandescent bulbs for regular white LED lights, colored LED lights or even color-changing LED pool lighting.

Types of LED pool light

Firstly, there are three types of LED bulbs used in swimming pool lighting. All use similar amounts of electricity:

Regular white LED light

Allisable 50W LED Pool Light Bulbs are available on Amazon and will replace many types of standard incandescent pool bulbs.

Colored LED light

XIUBE 12V 36W LED Pool Bulbs (see picture below) are available on Amazon and come in blue or green versions to fit many types of pool light housing. They also come in 120v versions.

Color changing LED pool light

Life-Bulb LED Color Change Pool Light Bulbs (see picture below) are available on Amazon and come with a remote control to change the light colors or select one of its automatic color change modes. They will replace many screw-in light bulbs used in pools. There are 7 colors and 12 modes.

Above ground LED pool lights

Most lights used in above ground pools are not built-in but are added after installation. Some such as the Nitelighter LED Pool Light (see picture below) run from a low voltage transformer and fit under the top ledge.

Others are rechargeable so need to be removed from time to time to recharge them. Since LED lights use little power this is not generally necessarily too frequent. The VIDOME Rechargeable Pool Lights For Above Ground Pools (see picture below) last for between 25-100 hours of use between charges, they are multicolored and come with a remote control.

These could also be used in a residential inground pool or even as spa lights.

LED floating pool lights

Floating pool lights are very effective and look great for a pool party or even a party that takes place around the pool rather than in it. LOFTEK LED Dimmable Floating Ball Pool Lights (see picture below) are very popular on Amazon and can be set to different colors using a remote control.

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