If you’re searching for ways to lighten up your pool at home, you’ll find a plethora of options.

You’re probably having a hard time seeing the pool steps at nighttime, or maybe you want to keep your children or anybody else who cannot swim from falling unexpectedly? Or, perhaps you just want to inject some ambiance to your poolside with some mood lighting.

Whatever your purpose for lighting your pool, we’re here to make the procedure as simple as possible. We’ve gone over dozens of lighting solutions in a variety of styles, and we’d love to show you the best pool lights in your backyard.

While there are several apparent reasons for selecting the most OK pool lights – safety, for example – there are a few you may not have thought about. We’ll provide a brief guide to types of pool lighting, but first, let’s begin with a few points to consider when shopping.

More pool time: Have you noticed that the moment you turn on your swimming pool lights, you suddenly spend more time swimming at home?

It’s not hard to imagine why…

Pool lights function as an attractive alternative to hanging out at the club or bar. With swimming pool lights, you can spend additional time in family bonding activities with your kids and partner or even host amazing pool parties with your friends.

Impressive ambiance: A well-lit pool produces a beautiful ambiance at any time of night. Whether they’re floating or mounted, swimming pool lightings generate stunning light effects in or around water, which never fail to impress your friends and neighbors.

Safety is always a top priority, and there is no better way to ensure your family’s security than with swimming pool lighting. 

No matter what pool lighting you choose, you’ll be able to enjoy the beautiful effects without sacrificing your family’s safety. Floating lights are adequate for safety at any size pool, while mounted lights will give you additional protection with added “land” features.

Types of Underwater Pool Lights

Pool lights are available in a range of shapes, sizes, styles, and technological configurations. The most expensive are those that are hard installed and connected to the wall of your pool; they are costly to install, but they may last a lifetime. However, their features will inevitably be replaced by newer technology.

Others can be powered by batteries or solar energy, and they can be transitory (even disposable), simple to install and replace, and very inexpensive. These are frequently equipped with the most up-to-date technology, but the illumination they provide scores higher in ambiance than pool safety. 

1. Floating Pool Lights

Floating swimming pool lights are simply pool lights that, well, float in the water. There is no installation, no wiring, no trouble, no bother, and no huge expenses.

These can be floating balls, floating flowers, floating tea candles, and other motifs available in various sizes and shapes. In addition, they are available in several different hues, including changeable colors.

A fun, stylish, affordable, and cutting-edge addition to the world of pool lighting, floating pool lights are an excellent way to brighten up your pool. Floating pool lights can come in batteries, rechargeable batteries, and even solar-powered.

A few of them also have Bluetooth speakers for streaming music and microphones for making hands-free phone calls when they are synced with your smartphone.

Check out this guide about floating pool lights – the purpose, misconceptions, types, usage, and more!

Advantages

• Beautiful, fun, and pretty laid back

• No need for installation

• Inexpensive (price can range $20-$50)

Disadvantages

• Not durable compared to another pool lighting (can last up to 2-3 years)

• Batteries needs to be changed or recharged

2. LED Pool Lights

LED swimming pool lights generate a bright, warming quality of light that not only Light-emitting diodes (LED) are available in a wide range of colors, which you can easily change using just a switch, a remote control, or an automatically pre-programmed control that illuminates your pool far more effectively than halogen lights but also consumes a fraction of the energy and hence has a fraction of the operating expenses: about 4/5th of the prices!

LED bulbs don’t need filament. Instead, light is generated by electrons passing through a semiconductor as a result of an electrical current. Also, LEDs emit light at 360 degrees, unlike ordinary incandescent or halogen bulbs.

To top it all off, LED lights use three to five times less energy to operate than incandescent bulbs and may last for fifty times longer than incandescent light and ten times longer than a halogen. 

“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. Think of each LED pool light as an investment. You’ll likely pay a bit more up front, but you’ll quickly recoup what you spend thanks to the energy savings.”

Matt, founder of Swim University

Advantages

• More energy efficient than halogen and incandescent light

• Lifespan is longer than halogen and incandescent lights

• Richer and vibrant color

• Wide variety of colors

Disadvantages

• It’s more expensive than halogen and incandescent lights

• You cannot repair LED lights once broken. The entire light needs replacement.

3. Halogen Pool Lights

Halogen swimming pool lights are a type of incandescent light that produces a white to blue-white light. They are primarily used indoors, but they can be used outdoors as well. Halogen swimming pool lights need to be replaced after every year of use because their O-ring burns out. 

Halogen Pool lights are very efficient light that consumes less power than standard light bulbs. They are also more economical than traditional lighting units, so it is considered one of the best pool lights on the market.

This type of pool light usually draws power directly from the house instead of turning on an external switch.

How Much Do Halogen Lights Typically Cost?

• Today, the selection of halogen swimming pool lights is dwindling as LED pool lights take their place. Halogen pool lights typically range in price from $80 to $300.

Advantages

• 10%-20% more energy effective than an incandescent bulb

• Lasts longer than incandescent bulbs

• Produce a brighter, cleaner light

Disadvantages

• 4x more expensive than incandescent bulbs

• Intense lighting instead of warm light

• Annual upkeep costs

4. Magnetic Pool Lights

Magnetic lights are explicitly intended for use in above-ground pools. As their name implies, they are magnetically mounted to the interior of an above-ground pool’s steel sidewall.

They are simple to install and remove because they require no wiring or equipment and work only on batteries. Once installed, they frequently offer remote control options that allow you to modify the lights to your preferences, including color-changing choices.

How Much Do Magnetic Lights Typically Cost?

• Magnetic swimming pool lights can range from $20 to $50.

Advantages

• Straightforward to install

• Cheap compared to other lightings

• Remote controlled 

Disadvantages

• Need multiple magnetic swimming pool lights to lighten up the pool

• Batteries needs regular replacement

• Not advisable for inground pools

5. Fiber Optic Pool Lights

When using fiber optic swimming pool lights (also known as optical fiber pool lights), the pool bulb is usually housed in a dry box positioned away from the pool (often near your pool pump).

The light from the bulb is transmitted via fiber optic cable from the box to a particular fitting put in the pool wall where the cable ends. The light is emitted from the cable’s end and illuminates like sparkling stars in the pool.

Swimming pool fiber optic cables can be hung around the edge of the pool or installed underwater. Their delicate and mellow hue provides for excellent mood lighting, but they are not particularly effective at actually illuminating your swimming pool.

How Much Do Fiber Optic Pool Lights Typically Cost?

• Fiber optic swimming pool lights can cost about $900 to $1500.

Advantages

• Replacement is relatively straightforward

• Beautiful appearance, especially for landscape lights 

Disadvantages

• Emits less light than some other pool lights alternatives

• Light bulb tends to burn out more frequently than some other pool lights alternatives

• Upfront cost and maintenance can be expensive

6. Incandescent Pool Lights

Incandescent pool lights are traditional light bulbs, most often placed in a small fixture on a pole. Some incandescent pool lights have a protective lens to prevent the bulb from shattering and becoming hazardous.

How Much Do Incandescent Pool Lights Typically Cost?

• In general, they can cost between $100 to $300 depending on the size of the fixture and materials used for covering. 

Advantages

• Easy and cheap to replace

Disadvantages

• Inefficient energy usage

• Short life expectancy

• Produces a flat, harsh light

How to Select the Best Pool Lights

There are several factors to consider before making your final decision on which swimming pool lights to purchase:

• Your swimming pool size

• Your swimming pool shape

• Your swimming pool color

• And whether your swimming pool is above ground or inground

The larger the pool, the more pool lights you’ll require. If your pool is not a standard rectangular form, you may want additional lighting to compensate for portions of your pool (including steps or stairs) that are put into darkness by the pool walls’ angles or curves.

Additionally, it is important to consider the sort of lighting you choose for your pool. LED swimming pool lights illuminate your pool much more efficiently than halogen pool lights and incomparably more efficiently than incandescent pool lights.

On the other side, fiber optic pool lighting may transform your pool’s bottom to look like the Milky Way. Additionally, floating pool lights are immensely entertaining. But of course, at the end of the day, the choice is all up to you.

Your pool color is also an essential factor. A dark-colored liner or tiles will need extra illumination at night.

Bottom Line

When it comes to the purchase of the best pool lights for your pool, there are a number of factors to consider. These include your swimming pools’ size, shape color, and whether it is above ground or inground. It also includes the type of lighting you choose for your pool – LEDs can provide more light than halogens or incandescent lights. 

And if you want to make space look like the Milky Way, fiber optic swimming pools might be what you need. Ultimately, it is up to each individual person on their choice for the best type of lighting that will go into their swimming pool.

Here are the must-have pool accessories for your beautiful backyard as well as the best kiddie pool for 2022 (perfect for toddlers and older children too).

We hope this is helpful for you in the future when it comes to selecting the best pool light for your home. If you have any questions, please feel free to leave a comment below or contact us anytime. Happy swimming!