A less expensive option for pool LEDs

[JayG]

Hi all, Thought I would let folks know that I replaced our 500W incandescent bulbs in Pentair housings with this $139 option:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00WE1SKIW/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

They use 35W vs 500W and are sufficiently bright to illuminate the whole pool at night (2 lights on each end of a 42' x 20' pool). It is fun to play with the various programs, but now we just leave it on a nice white/blue shade that is gorgeous. We have the lights controlled by a WiOn wifi connected switch which means I can more easily scroll through the various lighting options. Also we now have the LED lights on a program that turns them on for a couple of hours every evening.

Link to the switch: https://www.amazon.com/50052-Indoor...F8&qid=1472589896&sr=8-1&keywords=wion+switch

In any case, these lights have lasted all season with no problems. They seem to be a much more cost-effective way to go LED than the Pentair OEM options. Just be sure to replace the seals if you switch out your bulbs.

 

[borjis]

Interesting, I almost bought one of those last year...was wondering how the reliability was.

Most of the other LED light bulbs were twice or more the cost.

 

[jmastron]

Nice find; I just added a transformer to convert our pool to 12V and put a J&J Colorsplash 3G bulb in our Amerlite fixture. It's pretty decent lighting and a bit higher wattege, but was $100 more than this bulb. Note that none of the color bulb manufacturers seem to spec the lumens, but a 35W LED is going to be roughly equivalent to a 300ish watt incandescent. Depending on your pool color/shape, that's often enough.

Some questions:

1) Does the switch sequence include the solid colors directly? One downside of the ColorSplash I only found out after installing is that you can only directly sequence through the light shows -- to get a solid color you have to wait for it to appear, then flip the switch off/on within 2 seconds to lock it in. The first "show" works okay for that, holding each color for 8 seconds, but it's still a pain and is going to make me less likely to switch it off of "white" due to the pain in getting back to there. I had assumed that I could flip "N" times to get specific colors as well as the shows, but apparently not. How does the WYZM bulb work?

2) I like the WiOn switch -- does it let you do the flipping to get specific colors easily (i.e. off/on within a certain time)?

 

[JayG]

Nice find; I just added a transformer to convert our pool to 12V and put a J&J Colorsplash 3G bulb in our Amerlite fixture. It's pretty decent lighting and a bit higher wattege, but was $100 more than this bulb. Note that none of the color bulb manufacturers seem to spec the lumens, but a 35W LED is going to be roughly equivalent to a 300ish watt incandescent. Depending on your pool color/shape, that's often enough.

Some questions:

1) Does the switch sequence include the solid colors directly? One downside of the ColorSplash I only found out after installing is that you can only directly sequence through the light shows -- to get a solid color you have to wait for it to appear, then flip the switch off/on within 2 seconds to lock it in. The first "show" works okay for that, holding each color for 8 seconds, but it's still a pain and is going to make me less likely to switch it off of "white" due to the pain in getting back to there. I had assumed that I could flip "N" times to get specific colors as well as the shows, but apparently not. How does the WYZM bulb work?

2) I like the WiOn switch -- does it let you do the flipping to get specific colors easily (i.e. off/on within a certain time)?

If I understand what you are asking, the on/off cycling of my lamp cycles through a couple of "flashy" shows and then the solid colors. Once you find the color you want, it will stay there without any further futzing. The bulb remembers the last setting so that it always starts with the last setting. Yes, the WiOn switch lets me do the cycling between different modes/colors very easily. It is a relatively inexpensive way to get some modest automation from my phone.

Here is a lame night pic:



Hope this helps...

Jay

 

[jmastron]

If I understand what you are asking, the on/off cycling of my lamp cycles through a couple of "flashy" shows and then the solid colors. Once you find the color you want, it will stay there without any further futzing. The bulb remembers the last setting so that it always starts with the last setting. Yes, the WiOn switch lets me do the cycling between different modes/colors very easily. It is a relatively inexpensive way to get some modest automation from my phone.

Hope this helps...

Jay

Yes, that's exactly what I was wondering, thanks. It sounds like you just have one "type" of toggle to do. The ColorSplash is a bit more complicated -- flip off for 4-10 seconds, and it changes from one show to the next. Flip off for 1-3 seconds and it locks the solid color that's showing (you have to wait until a show has the color you want; the only way to get a solid color). It's a bit clunky if you just want to use solid colors.

If the WiOn is pretty responsive (i.e. to be able to flip off/on in the required timeframes) it would work; if it has any serious lag it wouldn't.

 

[gwegan]

Is the bulb UL listed? NEC 680.4 requires all electrical equipment installed in a pool must be listed. This is apparently not listed, that might be a clue as to why the low price. I saw no listing information on the web pages nor did I see country of origin information.