Pool lighting ideas with LED color lights

Every fiberglass package we sell includes Pentair MicroBrite color changing LED lights. They are small. Pentair describes them as fitting "any standard 1.5 inch pool wall fitting" with no niche required, and they run on 12 volts through an isolation transformer. Pentair's installation guide lists each MicroBrite color light at 12 watts maximum. Six of them together draw about 72 watts, roughly what one old 75 watt household bulb used.

The small size is the point. A traditional pool light sits in a large niche on one wall and throws a cone of light across the pool. MicroBrites can go in places a big fixture cannot, so you can spread the light out instead of flooding one end.

Our swim season runs roughly Memorial Day to Labor Day. At the start of it, the sun sets a little before 9 p.m. in Akron and, by NOAA's solar calculator, around 9 p.m. at the end of June. By Labor Day it is down before 8 p.m. If you heat the pool into September, most weeknight swims happen in the dark or close to it.

Lighting is also about seeing. A lit pool lets you see the bottom, the steps and anyone in the water from the deck or the kitchen window. Pentair's own guide includes a warning that the pool goes dark for a moment while you switch between color modes, and that people should take care during that time. We tell owners to change shows before anyone is swimming.

Most good lighting plans put light where people step and sit, then fill the rest. Ideas that work well on the pools we build:

• Steps and entry. A light near the steps shows the edge of each tread at night. It is the single most useful location.
• Benches and swim outs. Lights under or near a bench make a seating area glow and help people find it.
• Tanning ledge. Liberty's standard ledge sits 12 inches below the top of the pool, about 6 to 8 inches of water. A light there makes the shallow shelf look like a lit platform and marks the drop into deeper water.
• Spa. A separate light in a spa or spillover spa lets you light it on its own on cold nights when the pool is closed.
• The long walls. On a longer shell like an Anthem 14x30 or a Devotion 16x40, spacing lights along the walls evens out the glow instead of leaving one bright end.

Aim the main lights away from where you sit. A light on the wall below the patio shines toward the far side of the pool, so you see lit water instead of a bright spot in your eyes. On a pool viewed mostly from the house, that usually means lights on the house side wall pointing out into the yard.

It depends on the size of the pool, the finish color and how you want it to look. A small plunge or a Dignity 10x20 does fine with a couple of well placed lights. A 16x40 with a tanning ledge and a spa may want six or more. The limit is in the wiring. Pentair's guide recommends no more than six MicroBrite color lights on a 100 watt isolation transformer, keeping the total cable run from transformer to light to 150 feet or less, and a 300 watt transformer allows more. The design tells us how many transformers you need.

Each MicroBrite color light runs seven built in shows and five fixed colors, according to Pentair's installation guide. The shows are:

• SAm: cycles through white, magenta, blue and green.
• Party: fast color changes.
• Romance: slow, calm transitions.
• Caribbean: blues and greens.
• American: red, white and blue.
• California Sunset: oranges, reds and magentas.
• Royal: deeper, richer tones.

The fixed colors are blue, green, red, white and magenta. There is also a Hold feature that freezes a color you like in the middle of a show, and a Recall feature that brings it back. You will probably play with the shows for a few weeks and then settle on a favorite or two, plus plain white for night swimming. The American show earns its keep on the Fourth of July.

The lights can also run in sync with Pentair IntelliBrite lights, so if you add a larger fixture later the colors match. Pentair notes that color and white light can look different between models and recommends using matching models where you want an even look.

Pentair makes the MicroBrite in three versions: Color, White and Warm White. Our packages use the color version, which still gives you a white setting. The white only models are different in one useful way. Pentair's guide says the White light has three brightness levels you select with the wall switch, while the Color models are not equipped with dimming. That matters if you want a soft glow for a quiet evening instead of full brightness.

Some owners mix them: color lights in the pool for evenings with friends, and warm white in a spa or on a ledge where people sit and talk. If you mix models, keep in mind Pentair's note that white light can look different from one model to another, so use the same model within any one area. Pentair also warns that wiring these lights to a dimmer switch will permanently damage them. If you want lower light, plan it in the fixture choice, not the switch.

The simplest control is a wall switch. You pick a show by flipping the switch off and on a set number of times. It works, and it gets old quickly.

The better option for most people is a controller. Pentair's Color Sync controller runs pool, spa and landscape lights together, connects over Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, and works with the Pentair Home app, so you pick a show from your phone. If your pool has Pentair automation, the lights connect to that system instead, and you can schedule them alongside the pump and heater. We cover the wider automation choices in a separate guide.

The same light looks different in different pools. A light fiberglass finish reflects more light and makes colors look brighter and more even. Darker finishes make the water look deeper and the colors richer, with less glow on the deck. Clear, balanced water matters too. Cloudy water scatters light and looks dull whatever color you choose. If you are choosing a shell color, ask to see a pool in that finish lit at night.

Pool lights are only part of the evening picture. Water features like bubblers and sheer descents can be lit so the moving water catches the color. Step lights on the deck, low path lights and lighting under a pergola help people move around safely and keep the pool from being the only bright thing in the yard. A controller that handles pool, spa and landscape lights together makes it easy to set a scene with one tap.

Go easy on bright floodlights aimed at the pool. They wash out the underwater color and light up the neighbors' yard. If you want security lighting on the back of the house, put it on its own switch or a motion sensor so it stays off while you are enjoying the pool lights.

Pool lighting is covered by the electrical code, and this is not a place for shortcuts. Pentair's Color Sync guide requires GFCI protection on the lighting circuit, bonding of the light and metal parts near the pool, and mounting the controller at least 5 feet from the water. The MicroBrite lights themselves run on low voltage from an isolation transformer. Our packages include the electrical hook-up at the equipment, and a licensed electrician handles the circuits the local building department inspects.

Before we dig, ideally at the 3D design stage. The wall fittings for each light go into the pool during construction, along with the conduit back to the transformer. Adding a light to a finished fiberglass pool is possible but means cutting into the shell and running new conduit under the deck. Deciding where the lights go on screen costs you nothing.