These lights typically have a 300 - 500 watt bulb for pools and a 100 watt bulb for spas. The light is comprised of the light housing that holds the bulb and lens, a face ring and an electric cord.
LED bulbs can run off of 37 watts. This can be compared to incandescent bulbs, that require 161 watts to reach the same output.
Look on the face of the light bulb for the voltage rating. 2.) Look to see if you have a transformer wired before the light. If you have transformer then you have a 12V light.
According to section 4.6. 1.5. 1 of the Model Aquatic Health Code, “Underwater lighting, where provided, shall be not less than eight initial rated lumens per square foot of pool water surface area.”
Pool Lights: 12v, 3.5 watts each. Self-Contained Hot Tub: 240v 50 amps. Automatic Pool Cover: 220v, 5-7 amps OR 110v, 11-13 amps.
The light always has to be a dedicated circuit because it has to be protected by a Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter (GFCI). A GFCI is a device that monitors the amount of current flowing from hot to neutral. If there is an imbalance, it trips the circuit.
A standard pool pump is typically 1½ to 2 hp and operates using a single-speed induction motor generating excessive filtration flow rates. This volume of water is achieved by a 3,450 rpm rate that requires between 1,500 and 2,500 watts of electricity depending on the service factor of the motor.
Owning a pool can cost you a pretty penny. In 2018, in the United States, pool maintenance cost an average of $190 per month. Why not save money every way you can? Thanks to a much lower average wattage, an LED pool light costs only pennies a day to operate, while an incandescent bulb can cost up to $1 a day.
An LED light will save you roughly 75% on your energy usage compared to a comparable incandescent light. REMEMBER, that LED pool lights cost more, on average, than a simple incandescent light so your cost savings will not start till you recoup the additional money that you spent on the LED lights.
The best wattage for outdoor lights is 40 watts and lower. Up to 40 watts is ideal for lighting pathways, garden beds, and other landscape areas. 40 to 80 watts are great for brightening areas like driveways, smaller yards, and the inside of your home. It may be best to use them sparingly if you put them outdoors.
120V bulbs will not work in a 12V pool, and vice versa, and a 12V bulb will burn out if used in a 120V lamp. The first thing then, is know what voltage your pool light is, 12V or 120V. It will state such on the pool light label, and on the light bulb.
Most of the older incandescent and halogen pool lights can be changed to the newer LED color changing lights by replacing the entire light fixture. But there are a limited number of old lights that can be converted to LED light by simply replacing the old light fixture bulb with a color changing LED light bulb.
How Many Pool Lights Are Needed? The number of lights needed properly to illuminate your pool is obviously going to depend on the size of your swimming pool. As a rule of thumb, the generally recommended requirement is to aim for 5.4 watts per square metre (0.5 watts per square foot).
It costs a lot of money to have sales people to go to all the different pool store chains that must be covered in the bulb price. You aren't paying for a better bulb, you are paying for expensive overhead and multiple mouths to feed when each bulb is sold.
The number of lights you need depends on the size of your swimming pool. 15' x 30' pools only require one light. 20' x 40' pools require two lights. 20' x 42' pools and up require three or more lights.
Many people are turning to LED lights as an alternative to incandescent pool lights. LED bulbs are brighter, more efficient and last longer. They also offer more color and installment options.
At the time of this writing, full size LED pool lights, like what are typically installed in vinyl liner or concrete pools, usually cost between $1,000 and $1,500 installed. The smaller LED lights like the Pentair Globrite or PAL 2000 typically cost between $700 and $900 installed.
As this is being written, a full sized LED pool light usually cost between $450 and $650 installed. If you go for the smaller LED lights you're looking at $300 to $500 installed. When you have full-size incandescent pool lights they are in the range of $450 to $650.
Are pool lights worth it? Pool lights are worth it because they provide the necessary lighting for a pool especially during the night, which prevents accidents because you can see every area of your pool. Moreover, they are considered a necessity most especially if you want to get maximum usage out of your pool.
The Most Energy-Efficient Lighting Available
Since there is no filament, an LED does not heat up the way an incandescent bulb does, which wastes up to 80% of the electricity routed to it to produce heat rather than light.
Portable household generators are normally 110V but there are some that will generate 240V. Most pool pumps are wired 240V in this market. Adapting the wiring to hook up a 240V generator to a pool pump should be done by an electrician only. This is a very uncommon practice.
Our 1 hp example pump uses 1.75 Kw per hour; whereas a 2 hp motor of the same type (UST1202) would draw 2.4 Kw per hour. That's around 24 kWh per day, or around 720 kWh per month, just running only 10 hors per day.
Running your pump with an extension cord voids the warranty in most cases. Running the pool pump motor with an extension cord that is not adequately paired for the filter's power will damage the motor. At times, pool owners, however, use extension cords in lieu of a costly job to bury a power line beneath the ground.
The pool light must be installed on a GFCI circuit. That means that the wires coming to the pool light J-box must come from a GFCI breaker. These are often easy to spot by the yellow Test button, and are usually 20 amp breakers.