In-ground pool color lights - which brand is better?

[birddog]

I'm getting colored lights for my pool and the dealer is suggesting Pentair lights over Jandy. Anyone have any experience with either or some suggestions?

Before I drop $2k on some lights I want to make sure I'm betting the best bang for the buck ; )

[birddog]

40+ views and no opinions? Geez, where's all the pool pro's?

[CarlD]

40+ views and no opinions? Geez, where's all the pool pro's?

Curiously, all of us moderators have A/G pools. Even mine, a rectangular, self-supporting 40x16 uses a light that's not compatible with plaster IGs. If you have a vinyl-lined IG in a metal frame, some of the AGs may work. But mine is designed to be TOTALLY accessible from outside the pool. There's a clear lense that is permanent, like a return or drain, and the light slips into it, and out for servicing.

I DO strongly suggest you look for 12v lighting. Anything goes wrong and it's not deadly as a 120v leakage will be. Also, you MUST ground-fault it. Must.

[mkamp1515]

I have the Jandy lights (one on each end) at they are great. With that said, I have Tahoe Blue Pebble Tec and some of the colors do not come in properly. That has nothing to do with the lights, just the pool surface.

[Big_D]

I went with SAM's because of the size of my pool. I was told the LED's are very good light quality but the intensity of the light is lower. So If I wanted to use LED's I needed to add 2 more lights. Since I already had 2 SAM's and 2SAL's I was not thrilled about the cost to add 2 more lights if I used LED's. The light color and intensity is very good with the SAM/SAL, I also had the Intellitouch controller so this allows for more functions like color swim. One negative for the SAM / SAL is that it has a mechanical light wheel inside that will eventually need to be serviced. I am happy with the performance.

I have a neighbor that just installed the Hayward LED in an existing pool and he is happy as well, but the shallow end of the pool is not very bright. Not an issue for him. If you do go with LED products make sure you have sufficient lights for the pool. I am sure either will work fine.

[CanuckPool]

We have the hayward colorlogic lights LED. 2 of them in a 16x34 dark vinyl lined pool. We really like them, especially with the choice of programs you can run. One note, it appears as more of a glow in our pool, we like it but if you really want something that is really bright, then go for non LED, unless you have a light colour vinyl/plaster. We were looking at the SAM lights too which use a color wheel that rotates in front of the LED. The Colorlogics use multiple coloured LED's to achieve the effect.

[Big_D]

The SAM's use Halogen bulbs not LED's. That is why they have more intensity than the LED product.

[CanuckPool]

I stand corrected.

[divnkd101]

I went with the Hayward lights as well. My folks have the Pentair Sams/Sals and they just did not seem as vibrant as I preferred. As some of the other posts on here mention your pool surface, please pay close attention to what they say. I have white plaster for a surface and my lights are plenty bright and flood the pool accordingly. Take a look:

http://i112.photobucket.com/albums/n186/divnkd101/06101903.jpg

and a short video of what the lights can do (Disco Mode setting):

http://s112.photobucket.com/albums/n186/divnkd101/?action=view&current=FamilyPics2003CannonPowershot.flv

Good Luck with your choices.

[CanuckPool]

Hey divnk, I love the short vid of your lights? Do you have one in the pool and one in the spa? Can they be sync'd together or do you have them running independant to each other? The only color I really dislike is the red.

[skipcoon]

Are the color lights more efficient than the standard bulbs?

[divnkd101]

Hey divnk, I love the short vid of your lights? Do you have one in the pool and one in the spa? Can they be sync'd together or do you have them running independant to each other? The only color I really dislike is the red.

They can be sinked together or run separately. However, I chose to have them separated out on the board (Jandy PS-8) controller. As for the number of lights, I have 2 lights in the pool and 1 in the spa. How funny that you say you dislike the red. Red is my favorite but that is the only color that does not stay on as long as other colors as it goes through the fade series. Thanks for the comments.

[CrisL]

LED lights use a lot less electricity than a standard light. The other color lights (like the SAM) use about the same amount (300 watts for a standard bulb and a negligible amount to run the color wheel)

[CanuckPool]

They can be sinked together or run separately. However, I chose to have them separated out on the board (Jandy PS-8) controller. As for the number of lights, I have 2 lights in the pool and 1 in the spa. How funny that you say you dislike the red. Red is my favorite but that is the only color that does not stay on as long as other colors as it goes through the fade series. Thanks for the comments.

Excellent, I just have the standard hayward remote, so I can only sync mine... although they did go out of sync once. I think since I have a dark liner the red is very dim and just looks kinda red/muddy and swimming in red reminds me of some sort of horror movie :eek:

I like the blue/green and sangria.

I think LED's have a much longer lifespan too.