By Mitch Smith and Holly Shimanski
In any space—from airports, theatres and restaurants to photography studios and hotel rooms—the brightness and colour of the light has an immediate and critical impact on one’s experience of that environment. Light can make a person feel relaxed or overwhelmed, welcomed or disturbed, cozy or excited.
Residential settings with pools, spas, water features or fountains present many opportunities to enhance both function and ambience through creative lighting. In fact, the various aftermarket lighting products currently available on the market can brighten and enliven any existing pool, spa or patio—and strengthen a retailer’s bottom line.
Embracing new technologies
One reason aftermarket lighting has gained prominence in the pool, spa and patio market is manufacturers’ move to adopt more versatile and efficient illumination technology.
Light-emitting diodes (LEDs)
Thanks to the advent of LED technology, a greater number of more affordable lighting products have come on the market in recent years. LEDs are small, lightweight and energy efficient. Because they consume less energy while providing the same (or even more) illumination, LEDs have helped spark some innovative pool and spa-related product developments.
In the past, it was not practical to use batteries to power a pool light. For example, traditional quartz or halogen pool lighting products needed to be wired or plugged into an electrical outlet, an approach that often proved cumbersome and costly. Also, a fair amount of electricity was needed to produce a reasonable amount of light from these fixtures. By comparison, LEDs require far less electricity and have much longer battery life; in fact, some can operate for up to 48 hours on three AA batteries.
Solar power
Solar technology has also made it possible to provide more illumination while reducing energy consumption costs. Many products currently on the market use solar collectors that stockpile energy from the sun during the day. At dusk, a sensor triggers the fixture to turn on. This technology is well suited for many landscape lighting applications, and is also used in some floating pool lights.
Form and function
There are two primary types of swimming pool illumination—functional lighting, which makes the pool safer and extends its useable hours, and decorative lighting, which adds ambience.
Pool owners may choose to add functional lighting, either floating or affixed, to enhance the value of their investment. By lighting their pool, they make it safer to swim after dusk, thereby extending the number of hours the pool can be used. An illuminated pool is also safer because swimmers can see where they are going in the water, and others can see what’s in the pool before they jump in.
Inground pools
Functional lighting for inground swimming pools is usually part of the initial installation or a major remodel because the fixtures are built permanently into the pool’s structure (e.g. walls, steps, benches, etc.) However, there are some add-on illumination products available. Floating lights, which are suspended in the water much like buoys, and similar items run in the low three figures and typically contain white LED fixtures. These float on the pool surface and cast their glow on the walls and floor.
Above-ground pools
Adding functional lighting to an above-ground pool is usually a separate purchase from the pool itself, as most packages do not include lights. While the pool owner may opt for lighting at the time of purchase, there is very little cost difference between adding these items later. The fact that this decision can happen at almost any point in the pool’s lifetime makes marketing these products well worth the pool dealer’s effort.
Some aftermarket lighting products for above-ground pools adhere magnetically to pool walls; in soft-sided pools, a steel plate is placed on the outside of the pool to hold the light in place. Other above-ground pool lighting designs are installed in the through-wall water return fitting, while several other types hang over the wall. These generally require removing a section of the top rail to facilitate installation. The aforementioned floating lights are also a good option for above-ground models.
