Pool lighting makes up a major part of your overall swimming pool costs, so it’s important that you figure out which type works best before you install them. The two major types of pool lighting are in ground lighting and above ground lighting, and your budget, needs, and preferences all factor largely into deciding which type to install. We’ll help you break down all types of pool lights to help you make the best choice for your Maryland, Virginia, or Washington, DC home—just keep reading!

One of the biggest benefits of in ground pool lighting is its streamlined look and even lighting. The two primary options for in ground pool lighting are LED lighting and fiber optic lighting (we’ll get into the pros and cons of each further down in this blog post).

Usually much cheaper than in ground pool lighting, above ground pool lighting is perfect for DC area homeowners looking to install a pool on a budget. There are a number of different ways to install above ground pool lighting, including:

Floating Pool Lighting

Floating pool lighting is exactly what it looks like. This type of pool lighting involves lights that bob up and down on the surface of your pool. It is available in a variety of colors and shapes, from orbs, cubes, and pods to more creative features like jellyfish shapes, flowers, and more. Floating lights can be solar powered and tend to use bright LEDs, but since they move around they don’t provide perfectly even lighting.

Magnetic Pool Lighting

If you have a soft-sided pool, magnetic pool lights are perfect for you. These two-part lights can be attached to the liner of your pool for an in ground pool lighting appearance with above ground ease.

The two major types of in ground pool lighting are LED and fiber optic, and each type has its own advantages and disadvantages for homeowners in Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, DC. Consider the following:

LED lighting – LED lights are housed in waterproof bulbs that can be removed to change the bulb. The bulb itself should last around 10,000 hours, however, so you won’t need to perform even this simple task very often. One to two bulbs should be enough to illuminate your entire swimming pool.

Fiber optic lighting – bulbs for fiber optic pool lights are located out of the water, making them even easier to access and replace than LED pool lights. To illuminate a whole pool, you’ll likely need more than one fiber optic light, though, which can get expensive.

LED lighting – LED lights range from $400 – $900 installed, and bulbs can last anywhere from 10 – 15 years. Replacement bulbs will run you about $200 – $400.

Fiber optic lighting – a fiber optic pool lighting system will require a fan to keep the light cool, meaning fiber optic pool lighting will be more expensive than LED lighting—think anywhere from $900 – $1,500 per bulb system. Bulbs typically last about 3 – 7 years, and replacing them will cost about $200 – $300.

LED lights – despite having the lighting components under water, LED lights are very safe and have a very low risk of failure. In addition, LED lights use very low voltage, which mitigates the risk further.

Fiber optic lighting – since there are no electrical components housed in the water, fiber optic lighting has close to zero risk of electric shock.

LED lights – LED lights can be used to fill your whole pool with light and illuminate the whole thing at once. They can also change colors to create a truly unique look for your backyard.

Fiber optic lighting – these types of pool lights aren’t as good at illuminating the whole pool at once, but they can create points of light to give your pool a sparkling, starry appearance.

In purely practical terms, LED lights have the edge over fiber optic lights—they are less expensive, easier to maintain, and provide much brighter illumination. But there are advantages to both types of pool lights, and Kolb Electric can help you find the perfect fit for you and your home. We can also provide you with further pool lighting tips here.

Custom Electrical Services was recently voted for first place for the best Urbandale electrician!  The pole was taken by USA Today Best, and was presented by the Des Moines Register.  The voting is segmented into different areas by city.  Not all areas have the polls closed as of date.  The Urbandale closed on September 27th, 2016.  The Des Moines metro voting closes on October 11th, 2016.  Custom Electrical Services would like to thank all the Urbandale and residence who took the time to vote.  We are proud to serve the Urbandale area 24 / 7 as well as all of central Iowa!  Custom Electrical Services is a member of the Urbandale Chamber Of Commerce.

We take pride in our work.  Our track record supports this.  Our electricians are not only licensed.  They receive special training that gives them superior customer service skills compared to other electricians.  We work hard to provide the best customer service experience possible.  Our electricians understand that your home is your castle.  They show respect for you and your property.  We are not your typical electrician that comes out and says your project is going to cost X.  We take the time to evaluate your entire electrical system as well as perform our full page safety inspection.  This provides a TON of added value to our service.  When is the last time someone took your panel cover off and inspected all your connections?  Most customers say not since I have lived here!  Electrical connections can loosen over time.  Wiring can expand and retract as loads fluctuate on the circuits, this expansion and loosen the connections inside your panel or breaker box.  Loose connections can leave to excessive arching and can cause fires.

Who are you letting into your home?  Our electricians receive an extensive background check.  We are not going to send a criminal into your home.  We realize the delicate nature of having strangers come into your home.  While you may not personally know the electrician you can rest assured we do!  Our background checked electricians are team members, not sub contractors.  We employee them full time and work one on one with them on a daily basis.  We work with them to develop the best customer experience possible.  We want you to feel comfortable with having our trained service technician in your home so you can be just as comfortable as we are with them.

In addition to a 3rd party background check our electricians receive drug testing.  You would not a person on drugs drive your kids to school!  So you defiantly don’t want an electrician on drugs performing wiring in your home!  Are drug tested and background checked electricians were the seal of safety.  This seal is worn with pride and taken very seriously.  When you see the seal of safety on our electricians uniform you know that you are working with a safe professional.

We proudly serve Urbandale and all Des Moines metro customers 24/7.  We understand that your electrical emergency may not take place during regular business hours.  That is why we have a never close policy. Our phone is always answered by a live person regardless of the time or day.  You can also contact us online by clicking here.

Custom Electrical Services is your first choice for an electrician serving Urbandale Iowa.  We perform countless service calls and wire new homes in Urbandale Iowa.  Our projects in Urbandale are some of our favorites.  We loving helping people such as your self with all there electrical needs.

We offer all electrical services for Urbandale.  Our electricians in Urbandale carry many of the parts necessary on their service trucks for that emergency repair.  Have an electrical problem in the middle of the night?  We our electricians in Urbandale offer 24 hour service for those unexpected emergencies.  We realize that your electrical emergency is unexpected.  Our electricians are trained to help you get your home or business back up and running safely!  Our electricians love to help!

Our Urbandale Electricians can handle any task.  From changing that high light bulb to totally rewiring and updating your electrical in your entire Urbandale home.  Many of our customers have simple jobs, while others need an complete electrical update!  Need an new electrical panel or breaker panel?  Our electricians can replace that old electrical panel correctly and to code.  Many Urbandale customers who replace there panel ask us to install a whole home surge protector.  This device when installed properly in your home can protect your entire electrical system and electrical appliances.

Have some smoke alarms not working properly?  Our Urbandale electricians carry top of the line smoke alarm units as well as carbon moxide units on there service vans.  We can handle any smoke alarm call.  From changing a smoke alarm battery to updating and replacing all the smoke alarms in your entire Urbandale home.  Don’t have any smoke alarms?  Our Urbandale electrician can fish in the necessary wiring in order to add high quality smoke alarm units in your Urbandale home to offer you the earliest detection possible in the event of a fire.

Have worn out and failing plugs and switches in your home?  Our Urbandale electrician can replace some or all of your plugs and switches in your home.  We carry the latest styles and colors of electrical devices to complement the style and colors of your décor.  We install the most reliable child resistant / tamper resistant plugs.  These plugs help to reduce the chance of electrical shock by preventing a foreign object from being inserted in the electrical receptacle.  Have plugs by water or in your kitchen, bathroom, or garage?  We can install GFCI receptacles in the proper areas to offer you and your family the best electrical protection possible.

How to choose LED lamps. The replacement of lamps in an existing lighting system is connected to a lot of doubts when concerning the replacement of the lamp type. Changing the lamp type is a conventional process. The invention of the CFL lamp in the 90’s allowed users to save energy by replacing their energy consuming incandescent lamps. A lot of labels and graphics on the products packages show the replacing types. There are numerous possible influences on a lighting solution. Changing the lamp is changing the most important factor, the lighting quality. Lamps define the light color, color rendering index, luminous flux (light output or brightness) and installed load.

Changing lamps is nothing else than comparing the features of the old system, characteristics like light color, color rendering index and luminous flux should stay the same, suggested the former illumination has been satisfying. Watch the luminous flux (measured in lumen) and compare them to the already installed one and choose an appropriate lamp. Here is an example which luminous flux (lumens are abbreviated by lm) can be replaced by which lamps:

Don’t get confused by all the lighting features from the labels or packages. Concentrate on the characteristics like light color and color rendering index, they should be the same or at least similar. Choose the lamp according to luminous flux in lumens. Be confident when choosing (LED) lamps. They are efficient and offer twice till three times longer service times Metal Halide light sources.