Home » Cost of LED Pool Lights – We Compare Brands

Cost of LED Pool Lights – We Compare Brands

In this article we will give you a quick run down on the different brands of LED pool lights available to the Australian pool owner and also the costs of LED pool lighting.

If you have already done your research and know about the different light features, skip ahead to the brands of lights section.

If you’ve just started considering upgrading your lighting, then I recommend you read our pool lighting lighting guide. This article will give you everything you need to know about planning and upgrading your lights.

How Much Does an LED Pool Light Cost?

If you’ve visited more than two stores or websites, you already know the prices of pool lights varies enormously. Lights available on sites such as eBay are priced as little at $160 where as some branded lights are priced at up to $750 each.

So what do you get when you pay more money? Here’s some of the features of premium models:

lights RGB or Multiple Colour
To rephrase Henry Ford, basic models come in any colour you like, as long as it’s white. You don’t need to settle for white light though. More advanced models come with special LEDs that can produce 15-30 different colour shades of light. From red to blue to green to yellow and everything in between. The light colour is controlled by a touch of a button.

swimming pool led light Resin Sealed or Potted
Traditional pool lights like halogens are basically a sealed cavity which housed a halogen globe (much like regular lights in your house) . The cavity is sealed from the water with an o-ring that sits between the lens. After time, the seals wear and the light will leak.

Not anymore!

Some modern LED pool lights are completely encapsulated in a solid resin material. Which in non-geek terms means it’s impossible for water to leak into the electronics.

Light Output – The best measure of this is “Lumens Efficiency”. You can’t rely solely on looking at the wattage of the light to know how bright it is because some lights put out a brighter light than others – even if they are the same wattages.

In other words, the better models are more efficient which means they will be brighter AND use less energy.

High Grade Optical Lenses for Better Light
When you pay more, you should get a better quality of lens. The light will travel further and also give you a nicer quality of light.

Variable Input Voltage
Another geeky term but with big benefits to the non-geek….and the geeks. Basically it means the light will accept a range of different voltages. And how does this benefit you? Well it means you probably won’t need to buy a new transformer when you upgrade your existing light.

Which will save you between $30 and $70. Or possibly more if you need an electrician to wire in the new one.

Longer Warranty
Sometimes you do get a long warranty, sometimes you don’t. Not much to say here except pay attention when you do your research.

Note: Although you often get some of these features the more you pay, it’s definitely not always the case. Do your research!

What about Installation?

If your pool light is wired into the mains (i.e. of you turn your light on/off from a regular light switch located in the house), then you’ll need an electrician to come out and install it. If you already have wiring in place from your old light, the electrician will will probably only charge you $140 to $300 to fit a new light.

If you don’t already have wiring in place pr your old wiring needs to be replaced, then you’re in a world of pain. Or should I say, your wallet will be.

Normally, if you don’t already have underwater pool lights installed in your pool, then it will be very expensive to install new ones. As this involves digging up the yard to run cables, partially draining your pool and drilling a hole in the side of your pool. Sounds painful doesn’t it!

Brands of LED Pool Lights

There’s a load of well known and also not so well known brands on the market. Let’s take a look at some of them.

Aqua Quip LED Pool Lights

Aquaquip lights are one of the big names in the pool industry.  They’ve been around since 1975 and continually improve their designs. They have a light that will fit all pools including fibreglass, concrete and also models that can be retrofitted in your existing pool.

EV02 Series – these lights are a flush-mounted model and unless you have an existing flush mounted light, aren’t suitable to be used as a replacement light.

QC Series – these lights are surface mounted LED lights. They come with a universal bracket which makes upgrading from your existing pool light easy. The bracket enables you to use the existing screw holes.

Cost: $250 to $450 from selected pool stores and some online pool stores.

Spa Electrics

Is a designer and manufacturer of high quality pool lights. They’ve been around for over 30 years. They still design and manufacture here in Australia.

GK7 Retro Series: Said to be one of the brightest LED pool light on the market. With this light you can easily upgrade from your old halogen to LED technology. A universal fitting bracket is available for a painless change over.

Quantum WN Series: This light features 7 different colours and two colour changing programs. It also comes with a quick release plug which allows the light to be quickly removed. Available in 3 colours and also comes in RGB (colour changing) model.

Cost: $270 for the GK7 Series to $650 for the Quantum WN Flush Mount Colour Changing Series.

Waterco LED Pool Lights

Another large Australian company. They manufacture a large range of pool products including pool lights.

Britestream  – this range of LED lights has a light suitable for most pools. From niche mounted (flush mounted) to surface mounted.  These lights have 7 different colours which can be changed by pressing a button. The manufacturer claims the light will last 70,000 hours.

Cost: $320 to $420 available from selected pool stores and some online pool stores.

Fusion LED Pool Lights

Electra 647S – this light has 16 different colour modes and comes with one of the longest warranties available – 3 years. It also comes with a retro-fit bracket which makes it simple to upgrade to LED from your existing halogen pool light.

Cost: from $337 available directly from Fushion Lighting’s online store and from selected pool stores.

Pentair Pool LED Lights

Pentair has been around for about 150 years. They are in many different market segments including pool products. I had a hard time getting much information about Pentair’s pool lights.

Intellibrite ® 5G – this was the about only model I could find some information for. This light is an LED model and has 5 different colour options. It’s a surface mounted light.

Cost: I was unable to find any cost information. A lot of pool stores in Australia don’t stock Pentair lights. They do stock some of their other pool equipment though and also the popular brand of pumps by Pentair – Onga.

eBay LED Pool Lights

There are several different models available on eBay. Most of the models have the advanced features you normally pay a lot more for when buying a brand name. Some of the eBay lights are good quality, some are not. Although the lights here may be a lot cheaper, you may find it’s worth paying a little extra for a product that will last – particularly if you have to get wet to install a new pool light!

If you’re buying your light from here, I suggest you find a seller with a good reputation and warranty.

Cost: $140 to $270

Pool Light Cost Comparison Table

 Brand  Model  Cost
 Aqua-Quip  EV02 & QC Series  $250-$450
 Spa Electrics  GK7 & WN Series  $270-$650
 Pentair  Intellibrite ® 5G  Unavailable
 Waterco  Brightstream  $320-$420
 Fushion Lighting  Electra 647S  from $337
 eBay  Varies  $140-$270

We would love to hear from you if you have some experiences about pool lights. Just leave a comment below and please share this article if you know someone who may be interested.

Related Reading:
7 Best Pool Lights 2021 – Review & Buyer’s Guide
Underwater LED Pool Lights – A short guide
LED Pool Lights

14 thoughts on “Cost of LED Pool Lights – We Compare Brands”

  1. My Spa Electrics GRX Retro failed after limited use in 2 and 3 years respectively and will only be time for third . No warranty ! I will not use again but what is reliable alternative ?

    Reply
  2. Spa Electrics is a rubbish product with pathetic support. Not surprisingly after 2 years now they have failed so looking forward to buying a quality replacement to their shit product

    Reply
  3. Seems that the leds last 70,000 hours, but unfortunately the housings only last a small fraction of that time. I have Waterco brightstream and have same problem as Scott. Light was fitted when pool was resurfaced, three years ago and has not worked for last 12 months. Light was brilliant first year but by end of second year put out as much light as a birthday candle. On removing it, plastic module that contains electronics and leds was swollen and cracked three quarters the way around allowing water in. It works, but very dull, as only 1 or 2 leds still function out of 20 or 30 that are mounted in the module. Light was fitted by company who replastered the pool so I did not have receipt for warranty. I warranty only two years. I’m going to try Electra 647S as it has three year warranty. Does anyone have any experience with these lights?
    Cheers Gavin

    Reply
  4. Add me to the list of disgruntled Spaelectrics customer. Brand new LED”s in a new pool for two years. All three lights have several of the led elements inside dead. Cost to replace over $1000. No way a I going to buy Spa Electrics again

    Reply
  5. I have had the same experience , but my light leaked and after 4.5 years it is totally ruined , I called them and they almost laughed when I asked about warranty , I think the product is over priced and not up to pool standards.

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  6. RE comment above. I suffered a similar experience. Replaced a halogen light with a Watercolor multicolored led light (bit stream). Worked wel for first 18 months then some of the less died. The light had been used less than 50 hours. After 3 year about a third of the less work. Less I have found are unreliable and not with the cost.

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  7. I purchased a spa electrics LED light approx 3 ears ago during a pool reno. it worked well when installed but I have found that after 3 years and well less than 100 hours of use that it is that dull that it does not light up the pool at all. They claim these things are good for tens of thousands of hours and they are not particularly cheap. I’d say they Spa electrics themselves hit the nail on the head in an article I read when they claimed that quality is the main issue with pool lighting. I hope that one day they may be able to live up to that statement and make something that lasts.

    Reply
    • I agree with you. These lights should have a 5 year unconditional warranty.

      Spa electrics warranty is shit and they always try to weasel out of their warranty obligations.The warranty procedure is difficult and fiddly.

      Spa electric lights are still the best lights on the market, but instead of trying to weasel out of their warranty obligations, they should just swap it over and take it back to the lab and find out what went wrong with their design and fix it.

      They must sell millions of lights at a huge markup from the cheap cost of production so why not fix the design so they can give a 5 year warranty. It would put every other manufacturer out of business.

      Reply
    • Yep same here Scott. I have a blue Spa Electrics GK7 and on 3 years it is buggered. I had the transformer tested and it is spot on but the led is dead. NEVER USE SPA ELECTRICS they die after 3 years. Only 100 odd hours on the thing cost about $500 all up.

      Reply
    • I also have the Spa Electrics EMF LED lights, only lasted two years before they got stuck in sync mode, less than 30 hours use all up. I would not recommend Spa Electrics products unless you want to throw your money away & spend hours try to tell the dealer that they are faulty & get told that that could not be faulty as they are so expensive & good quality.

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    • I had mine replaced afte 12 months and a further 12 months down the road it’s gone again. When my pool Reno was done I said I wanted a light that will work as I hve had 3 pools with lights and had limited expectations. My comment was that I don’t care what it costs just make sure it works. This doesn’t. So onto the net to search for one that will last more than 12 months. Very dissapointing

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    • Same story here, a Spa Electrics light (Quantum WN Series – Blue) only lasted just over two years, and with well less than 100 hours of usage. This Australian owned company prides itself on quality but it is all rubbish.
      When you contact them to see if you can buy a replacement bulb/light then they say that they don’t have a replacement parts (bulbs) for that particular light, but they say they would be happy to inspect it for repairs just for the MODEST amount of $150 plus GST plus another $15 for postage… they are such crooks and thieves.

      Reply
      • I would like to retract some of my previous remarks about Spa Electrics, and I would like to give you an update regarding my previous post:

        After I contacted Spa Electrics questioning why they were charging $150 (plus GST plus another $15 for postage – in accordance with the Product Repair Form) for testing and repairing the light, their response was that they charge that amount only if the lights are well over the warranty period but they were happy not to charge me anything for checking and diagnosing the light given that the light was only about 2 years old so they were conscious that the light should have lasted much longer than 2 years.

        They asked me to send the faulty light to them for testing and analysis, and so I did, and within a couple of days they contacted me advising that they would send me a brand new light replacement given that the LED lights could not be fixed, with the replacement light at NO extra cost to me. They sent me the replacement light straight away and the light was courier delivered the next day. All in all, it only took about 3 business days since they received the faulty light to the time I received the FREE replacement.

        That was a quick turnaround time which exceeded my expectations. My impressions about Spa Electrics are now that Spa Electrics is a trustworthy Australian company with a strong commitment to superior customer service and they will honour their product warranty even well over their warranty period, that’s a great commitment as it seems they trust the quality of their products. I will definitely recommend Spa Electrics to anyone in the future.

        I only hope that the replacement light will last me at least 5 years without any problems or failures. Fingers crossed.

        Reply

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