Most pools built more than a decade ago were fitted with a single incandescent or halogen light, a fixture that draws significant power and needs bulb replacement every year or two. Upgrading to LED is one of the more straightforward equipment upgrades available, but a few details determine whether a new light drops into the existing fixture or requires more work.
Check the niche size and voltage first
Pool lights sit inside a fitting called a niche, and niches come in more than one size (the two most common are roughly 8 inches and 5 inches in diameter). An LED light has to match the niche it's going into, or it won't fit or seal properly. Voltage matters too. Most residential pool lights run on 12-volt low-voltage wiring through a transformer, though some older installs used 120-volt fixtures directly. Matching voltage isn't optional; installing the wrong voltage light is a safety issue, not just a compatibility one.
Color-changing vs. single-color
Basic LED replacements come in a single fixed white, offering the biggest energy savings over incandescent for the lowest cost. Color-changing LED lights add a control system (some sync automatically, others need a wall switch pattern or app) to cycle through colors or hold on one, and cost more both in the fixture and, on some systems, in a separate controller.
Energy savings add up over the season
An LED pool light typically uses a small fraction of the wattage of the incandescent bulb it replaces, and LED bulbs last many years longer than incandescent, which also means far fewer times pulling the fixture out of the water to replace a bulb. For a light that might run several hours a night through a Florida swim season, that difference shows up on the electric bill.
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What we carry
We stock Hayward ColorLogic LED pool lights in both niche sizes, including color-changing and fixed-white options. If you're not sure what niche size or voltage your current light uses, send us a photo of the existing fixture and we can help match it.
