Pools longer than 30' will require two lights. Please note that this is a bare minimum, most folks end up getting two lights in any pool, and some even have us install three on very large pools.
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.
You can get electrocuted by a pool light in a swimming pool. It can cause serious injury and even death. An experienced electrocution lawyer can help victims and families recover the pain and suffering compensation or wrongful death damages they are entitled to under the law.
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.
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.
Running costs
So, in terms of annual running costs, presuming you light your pool for 6 hours a day, 7 days a week, for 6 months of the year, at an average kilowatt/hour price of $0.27, a single LED pool light will cost you $5.90 per year.
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.
Fortunately, the answer is no—the water typically does not need to be drained! Because the electrical cable is sealed, it's impervious to any water that will get into the conduit when the bulb is being replaced.
Your pool lighting should give you few problems overall. Most incandescent bulbs will burn for 1,000 hours before bulb replacement is necessary. LED bulbs can burn for 25 years or more (or so they tell us).
Place lights at a uniform depth, between 9-12 inches below the waterline, throughout the pool. Possible exceptions would be if the lights need to be placed on a step or bench or extremely deep pools (see Pro Tip). Lights should be positioned 4 inches beneath the waterline.
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.
If the bulb tests well (3-20 ohms) the fixture is probably bad. Try a new bulb without closing the fixture. It probably will not light, and the fixture will have to be replaced. If the bulb tests poorly (overflow, open, no continuity, infinite ohms), the light most likely will work fine with a new bulb and gasket.
1: Do LED Lights Really Last 80,000 Hours as Promised? All the marketing hype would have you believe that your new LED light will last for 50,000 to 100,000 hours (up to 12 years). This is a half-truth really. Yes the LEDs themselves will normally last that long.
Longer Lasting: While a halogen light has a life between 1,500-5,000 hours, an LED pool light can last over 30,000 hours with some companies claiming up to 50,000 hours. Less Maintenance: A longer lifespan means that you spend less time changing the bulbs.
This can be due to a small amount of water being inside your light fixture which the light may heat up and vaporize. This can then cause the GFCI to trip. GFCIs are also known to trip from extreme humidity. Be sure that the outlets that may be on the same GFCI circuit are covered to help prevent this.
Water inside the Pool Light? If there is water inside the lens of the pool light, which you can usually see from on-deck, that doesn't mean that the light is leaking, but it does mean that the lamp gasket has failed, letting water leak inside and surround the bulb.
So it is very difficult to specify a standard "wattage" for LED lights. A basic guideline is that the white light setting of any LED pool light is equivalent in brightness to about a 270 - 300 watt regular light bulb.
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.
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.
First is that 500 watt pool light bulbs cost about a dollar a day to run, and if used often, it can add up to hundreds in electrical expense each year. LED lamps consume much less energy, the Color Splash light only uses 33 watts, and costs 4 cents per day to use, or under $10 per year.
The fittings work by pumping voltage through the semi-conductor which emits light whereas incandescent and halogen lights rely on burning filaments. LED fittings simply work by plugging them directly into the power source.
The ideal way to illuminate your pool is by using LED pool lights. These lights, in general, are necessary so you can enjoy your pool anytime - even at night. That's because LED lights give an extra layer of protection that ensures your safety while swimming in your pool.
Check the circuit breaker panel that's usually found on the side of your house. If the breaker that your pool light is on has been tripped, unplug whatever you just turned on or plugged in and then reset the breaker by turning it all the way off and then back on again. If that doesn't work, you may have a bad breaker.
A pool light bulb retails for about $30-40. A new pool light gasket for the fixture is about $25. Labor for the repair would be $100-150. Profit on a successful job would be about $120.