Thought I'd post some interesting results here. I went through three iterations of trying LED pool lights. The first one was a Pentair White LED intellibrite lite. At about $400, it used 70 watts and is the brightest I could find, watt wise. Its sold as a 300w equivalent. Problem is it was too big for my nich. While the price is steep, on the plus side Pentair put a lot of thought into having the LEDs project wide and deep into your pool (as a matter of fact they have patents on their methods to do so).
Next light was from J&J, and was called the PureWhite2. It used about 45watts. I had to return it because the lights aren't warrantied if you don't use J&Js silicone gasket (the bulb I bought at my local pool store didn't have the proper light/gasket combination for my brand of niche). Apparently silicone holds up better than the rubber found on most niches. This light is in about the $250-300 range depending where you buy it. But notice the watts are less by about 35% compared to the Pentair light.
Lastly, out of desperation and on a lark I tried one of those LED flood lights you get at HD or Lowes. Price around $35, watts at 18w. Expecting the worse I put it in. While it wasn't as bright as the J&J light, the huge price difference makes it tolerable. The only flaw is its designed to throw light further, so the shallow end is well lit. But the deep end not so much. I'm going to try to put a lense or diffuse to help spread the lighting better. Online stores sell glass lenses made to do this specifically for LED lights.
I was in HD today, and for $55 they have an LED flood light that puts out 1050 lumens, the one I have puts out 850. So that higher lumens one may be worth a try. Lumens measures the amount of light emitted. Watts measure the power used. Both are relative when shopping for LED lights. Language like "300w incandescent equivalent" doesn't mean too much.
Note that my pool is 16x32, and the light is in the deep end. Man I wish the builder put a couple niches in, then I could have two bulbs and it would be a little brighter.
Point of this is to consider these off the shelf LED floods. I have my lights programmed to run for three hours at night. Since I'm using a fraction of power a 300w halogen bulb uses, I have less guilt about wasting power. Don't think that a brighter light is better (as I did). Perhaps a night swim doesn't mean you have to be swimming in the brightest pool possible.
Next light was from J&J, and was called the PureWhite2. It used about 45watts. I had to return it because the lights aren't warrantied if you don't use J&Js silicone gasket (the bulb I bought at my local pool store didn't have the proper light/gasket combination for my brand of niche). Apparently silicone holds up better than the rubber found on most niches. This light is in about the $250-300 range depending where you buy it. But notice the watts are less by about 35% compared to the Pentair light.
Lastly, out of desperation and on a lark I tried one of those LED flood lights you get at HD or Lowes. Price around $35, watts at 18w. Expecting the worse I put it in. While it wasn't as bright as the J&J light, the huge price difference makes it tolerable. The only flaw is its designed to throw light further, so the shallow end is well lit. But the deep end not so much. I'm going to try to put a lense or diffuse to help spread the lighting better. Online stores sell glass lenses made to do this specifically for LED lights.
I was in HD today, and for $55 they have an LED flood light that puts out 1050 lumens, the one I have puts out 850. So that higher lumens one may be worth a try. Lumens measures the amount of light emitted. Watts measure the power used. Both are relative when shopping for LED lights. Language like "300w incandescent equivalent" doesn't mean too much.
Note that my pool is 16x32, and the light is in the deep end. Man I wish the builder put a couple niches in, then I could have two bulbs and it would be a little brighter.
Point of this is to consider these off the shelf LED floods. I have my lights programmed to run for three hours at night. Since I'm using a fraction of power a 300w halogen bulb uses, I have less guilt about wasting power. Don't think that a brighter light is better (as I did). Perhaps a night swim doesn't mean you have to be swimming in the brightest pool possible.
