The proper use of pool and landscape lighting is one of the most dramatic but often overlooked elements of outdoor design. Adding lighting to your pool and landscaping not only looks impressive, but makes enjoying your backyard in the evenings safer.
Pool lighting enhances backyard enjoyment and safety and should be located in such a way as to illuminate the entire body of water without creating unnecessary shadows or glare. Sometimes, the best way to light an irregularly shaped pool is to use multiple light fixtures.
Colour Choices
If you want to keep the lighting soft, choose modern blue or white lighting. Rainbow lights, that change colours and meld into each other, will give your pool a livelier look. A pool that’s blue-lit, contrasted with lovely yellow/orange patio lights, will give your backyard a modern, stylish look.
Types of Pool Lighting
Pool lights come in various types and forms, including the following:
- LED lights
- Fibre optic lights
- Floating pool lights
- Solar lights
- Landscape lighting
LED Pool Lighting
Pool lighting has evolved from having one or two large lights in either end of the pool to LED lighting systems that can be customized and spread around the pool. These lights can be programmed with reflective qualities that don’t shine in your face.
Built-in lights are still popular but now LED lights are installed under the coping or in pipes embedded in the walls to give off a soft glow that washes over the water. Computerized colour wheels change colour throughout the night.
Fibre-Optic Pool Lights
Fiber-optic lighting can create a starry night-like effect in your pool and provides a tranquil atmosphere with colour-changes and brightness variations relatively easy to achieve. With fibre-optic lighting you can achieve mood-altering effects that may not be as easy to do with any other lighting system.
No heat or electricity passes through fibre-optic cables so they’re perfect for using in the water. The system itself generally needs little or no maintenance.
Floating Pool Lights
Floating pool lights are a great option for those in need of a simple, inexpensive lighting solution for their pool. They are available in a large array of colours and styles, depending on individual tastes and work well with poolside and garden lighting. Floating pool lights are generally easy to install and can be used free-floating or tethered to a fixed point.
Solar Pool Lights
Solar pool lights are powered by the sun and, as such are somewhat dependent on weather conditions. However, they can be an excellent, inexpensive option for pool lighting. If you do choose solar powered lights, you might want to consider buying battery-powered back-up lights to use when the day has been cloudy.
Landscape Lighting
Soft, low-voltage lighting saves energy but lights up the yard to help you maneuver around your outdoor furniture, planter boxes and shrubs. Lighting should be placed around pathways leading to the pool, on steps and near your patio for safety. Strategically placing lights to shine into the branches of trees, gives them a sculptural quality. Also, consider lighting special plantings and pergolas. A well-lit yard looks better overall and is pleasing to look at even from inside the house.
Low-voltage lighting comes in kits and is easy to install. You can also add to these lighting kits later on as you carry on with the development of your outdoor living space.