Take the lighting one step further
When you check out the gallery above, you’ll notice the pools at night that make the biggest impact are those with additional lighting surrounding the pool, whether outdoor wall lights, post lights, garden lighting, fire pits, up-lights, down-lights and other outdoor lighting. This creates a nighttime oasis.
Integrate all backyard lighting
In some ways, your backyard lighting choices can make or break your pool investment, at least for nighttime use. There are so many different outdoor lights and a good number of pool lights (see below) that it’s important to plan it all out carefully so your overall backyard illumination works together.
Types of Pool Lights
When it comes to lights for your pool, there aren’t a whole lot to choose from, unlike general outdoor lighting, of which there are many, many options.
There are 5 types of pool lights:
- Flush mounted: these are flush against the side of the pool.
- Surface: Mounted on pool side of the pool (underwater), but protrudes a bit from surface). Here’s an example:
Surface mounted swimming pool light.
- Feature lights: An example is lights behind a pool waterfall,
- Flood lights outside the pool shining on the pool, and
- Floating Lights. See an example:
Floating pool lights
4 types of pool bulbs:
- LED,
- Halogen,
- Compact fluorescent bulbs (CFB), and
- Fiber optic pool lights
Read this excellent pool bulb article to learn the differences among LED, halogen and CFB.
Color lights
These days, you’re not stuck with white. You can get different colored lights which can make for quite an effect. There are several examples in the gallery above of the effect of colored lights in the pool.
Here’s an example of what colored pool lights look like up close:
Here’s an example of a pool with colored lights:
Source: Blue Haven Pools & Spas
Actually, often it’s just the hot tub that uses colored lights to distinguish it from the pool.
How many lights do you need?
The number of lights will vary according to your pool size and shape.
One formula you can use is as follows:
5.4 watts of light per square meter. That’s pretty easy. I didn’t come up with that. I have MyPerfectPool.com to thank for that simple formula.
However, if your pool has a shape with nooks and crannies, you may need extra lights to ensure it’s evenly lit throughout.
On the other hand, you don’t want to over-illuminate your pool and yard. That could be pretty distracting… creating a prison-yard effect during an escape.
Over-illuminating your pool is like over-whitening your teeth… which reminds me of the Friends TV show where Ross went way overboard with the teeth whitening to such a degree that his teeth were glowing. It’s hilarious. Here’s a clip:
Video of Ross Over-Whitening His Teeth
You don’t want to do the same with your pool lighting.
It ain’t easy finalizing the details
I think the best thing to do when planning your pool is to get it designed by professionals like those at Paul’s Electrical Service, who can explain all of the technical lighting in much more detail. We’ve built many stunning landscape lighting designs, including pools and can show you your options so you make the right choice for your yard.