LED Underwater Light

For most new swimming pool lighting, 24V is the better choice. It handles longer cable runs with less voltage drop, meaning all your lights will have consistent brightness. However, 12V is still very common, especially for replacing older systems or for smaller water features. We offer both 24V and 12V underwater LEDs to ensure you can match your existing transformer.

IP68 means the light is protected against continuous, long-term immersion in water. The '6' means it's totally dust-tight, and the '8' means it can go deeper than 1 meter. This is the only rating you should accept for any submersible LED light that will live in your pool full-time. A rating like IP65 or IP67 is fine for outdoor landscape lights that get rained on, but it's not enough for permanent submersion. 

Water absorbs different wavelengths of light at different rates. Red light, which has the longest wavelength, gets absorbed first, often within the first 15-20 feet. Orange and yellow follow. Blue light penetrates the deepest, which is why pools and oceans look blue. This can make an RGB light appear more blue or green than you expect. Our RGB+CCT and RGBW lights help solve this by having dedicated white LEDs you can use to balance out the color and get a truer look.

For durability and heat dissipation, 316L stainless steel is the superior choice. It transfers heat to the water more effectively, which extends the life of the LED chips, and it stands up better to pool chemicals and salt, especially in saltwater pools. High-impact ABS plastic is a good, cost-effective option and won't corrode, but it doesn't manage heat as well as metal. Most of our high-performance lights use a 304 or 316 stainless steel lamp body for this reason.

Yes, but you must use a product specifically rated for it. A standard outdoor-rated IP65 or IP67 LED strip is not sufficient for constant submersion or exposure to pool chemicals. True submersible LED strip lights are fully encased in a UV-stable silicone or PU jacket that resists chlorine and salt. They are designed to prevent water from ever reaching the electronics. It's a great way to get a clean line of light around the edge of a pool or steps.

Yes, when installed correctly, they are very safe. The whole point of using 12V or 24V systems is to remove high voltage from the immediate pool area. A transformer, located a safe distance away, steps down the main 120V power. This low voltage is then sent to the IP68-rated, fully sealed light fixture. As long as you use a licensed electrician who follows local codes for grounding and bonding, it's the safest way to light a pool.

The light will overheat and shut down, and doing this repeatedly will shorten its life. Underwater lights are designed to be water-cooled; the metal body transfers the LED's heat directly into the pool water. Without that cooling, the internal temperature of the light can rise quickly, triggering a thermal protection circuit that cuts the power. If your pool has an auto-fill system, it's not a big concern. But if you drain your pool for winter, always make sure the lights are switched off at the breaker.

Yes, we do this all the time. A significant portion of the underwater lights we ship are modified for specific projects. The most common request is a custom cable length, from a few feet to over 50 feet, often with specific waterproof connectors already installed to make the jobsite work faster. Just send our engineering team a sketch or description. We'll send back a full plan and quote, usually the same business day.