Cost to Install an LED Pool Light

Maybe your pool light just broke or maybe you want to spruce up your swimming pool and replace that broken halogen light with a brand new LED pool light. Either way, before you get started there’s a few things you probably want to know first.

Article Contents

How Much Does it Cost to Replace a Pool Light?

Money The cost of replacing a pool light varies. It depends on several factors such as:

Type of light (LED or Halogen)
Brand of light
Are there existing cables?
Do you need to replace the transformer?
Can you do it yourself?

Let’s get straight into it and see what’s involved.

How Much Does a Pool Light Cost?

This really comes done to two things; Type of light & Brand.

Brand of Light – there are many brands of pool lights on the market. Some cheap ones can be found on eBay. The halogens start at $120 and the LED’s start at $150. These brands are generic and usually come with a short warranty and may or may not be good quality.

The better branded underwater pool lights can be found online and in pool stores. These lights normally have a longer warranty and more importantly, the manufacturer has been around for some time and has a proven track record. You’re much more likely to get a better quality light here. Halogens start at $180 and the LEDs range from $270 to $650.

Type of Light: in Australia, this comes down to halogen or LED. Halogen lights have been around forever and LED lights are a fairly new technology. LED has been revolutionising the entire lighting industry and it’s no different for the pool industry.

The pros of LED lights include:

You don’t need to regularly replace the bulb – unlike halogen
Are able to change colour at the touch of a button
Cost about 80% less to run than halogen

The cons are:

Not serviceable – if one part goes, you need to replace the whole thing
More expensive to buy than halogen

Although we’ve listed halogen lights, it really doesn’t cost a lot extra to get an LED light and with the advantages of LED, we recommend LED.

Table Showing Average Price of LED Pool Lights Vs Halogen

Type	Brand	Cost
LED	Top Brand	$270-$600
LED	Generic	$150
Halogen	Top Brand	$180-$400
Halogen	Generic	$120

Are There Existing Cables in Place?

Yes I Have Existing Cables
If you’re simply upgrading your existing light then you’ve already got this covered. Unless your existing light isn’t working and the cables are the cause, then you’ll be able to use the cables you already have.

You’ll need to stick with the number of lights you already have though. i.e. if you have one light, then you’re stuck with one light – unless you want to dig up your yard to run new cables.

No I Don’t Have Existing Cables
If you don’t already have cables in place, this can be expensive because it can involve digging up the yard, partially draining your pool and drilling holes using a good drill bit into the side of your pool.

The cost to run new cables can be anything from a hundred dollars to more than $1000.

Saying that, there is another solution.

LED Eyeball lights – These lights are mounted on the return jets on the pool wall. The cables are simply threaded through the existing pipe work (water return pipe). This is fairly simple to do and eliminates the expense of running new cables and drilling holes in the side of your pool.

Sounds to good to be true right? Well it kind of is. These lights are no where near as bright as regular LED pool lights. They provide only a small amount of light in comparison.

Do You Need to Replace the Transformer?

What’s a transformer I hear you ask? We all know water and electricity doesn’t mix. So in Australia, by law, pool lights must be low-voltage for safety purposes.
The transformer simply reduces the voltage of the regular 240v house supply to a safe voltage such as 12v.

How do you know if you need to replace your transformer?
Some pool lights accept multiple voltages, and providing your transformer’s voltage output is within the light’s range, you should be able to use the existing one. The pool light instructions will clearly say what the range is.

You can find out your transformer’s voltage by:

a) looking at the transformer – it will be written on there.

Where is it located? Either with your pool equipment near the switch you turn on your pool light with. Or, it’s wired into your house supply and is located inside the wall. See method b) below if this is the case.

b) Measurement the voltage at the pool light using a multi-meter. Do this if the transformer is located inside the wall or is inaccessible. Just switch off the power, unscrew the light and put the multimeter probes on the terminals. Then switch the light back on to measure the voltage.

I should also say, that by law, you need an electrician to work on pool lights. So don’t measure the light yourself.

How much does a replacement transformer cost?
A new transformer will set you back $30 to $80. It depends on the brand and how many lights you want to run off of the one transformer. If it’s located in the wall, then you’ll pay extra for the electrician to wire it in. And of course, you may need to fix a whole in the wall if the transformer was hard to access from the light switch.

Can you Install a Pool Light Yourself

In Australia, you need to be a licensed electrician to install a swimming pool light.

Total Cost to Install a LED Pool Light

Description	Optional	Cost
LED Pool Light Fitting	No	$150 to $650
New Transformer	Yes	$30 to $80
Electrician	No	$100 to $400
	Total Cost	$250 to $1130

* We also assumed you already have cables in place.

We would love to hear about your pool light experiences. Please leave a comment below and don’t forget to share the article if you know someone that would be interested.