As of now my designer has assured me that 3 will be enough... says that they sometimes only do two and that they are as bright or brighter than the intellibrite. Hard to believe that but we will have to see. I am in the I have to trust him phase as any change now will slow us down and cost more money (gunite is shot and plumbing and electrical is complete) so we will see.
LED Lightning review
- Thread starter tampatommy
- Start date
Sparks22
Gold Supporter
Thanks for the extra info. Please let us know how it turns out once you are able to see the lights lit up!
RoyR
Bronze Supporter
I tend to agree but unfortunately I have three microbrites installed already and no easy way to install the intellibrite. If I could redo this I would have done the intellibrite for at least the deep end... We will see.
Do you have both in your pool?
We’re just now in the dig phase, but I’m leaning towards 5 Microbrite lights in our 20x40 freedom pool (4 in pool, one on baja shelf). I’m hoping they more evenly light up the pool and last longer than the Intellibrites.
Sparks22
Gold Supporter
Does anyone have any good sources for examples of the Microbrites in action? It seems like the only real example I can find is a single YouTube video about an 1,100 sqft pool that used 6 Microbrites to light up the whole pool (which it appeared to do well). It is the video of the pool that looks like a mouse head.
3 micronrites will lite the pool pretty good. They put out a nice subtle light and 3 together will shine it all up. If you want super bright light you will be disappointed. They are accent style lighting i think they look good
I'm in the same boat. 18' x 36' freeform and trying to decide between 2 intellibrites, 4 microbrites or 2 intellibrites and 1 microbrite. Ugh. Wish I could see them in person or at least in a picture. I've found night pictures of pools online that are definitely LEDs but they never seem to say which LED. Can anyone post picture of their lighting to help us newbies?
Sparks22
Gold Supporter
Check out this thread, there is a little bit more useful information in there: Pentair IntelliBrite vs GloBrite vs MicroBrite
Did you make a decision? We are now right where you were. We have 40x 20 (approximately). What we are quoted now- 2 IntelliBrite 5g lights in the pool, 1 spa light, 1 spa light for the grotto. But I want the tanning ledge lit, so I want to use micros on the ledge and in the grotto.
Do you know if the microBrites need a transformer like the GloBrites?
Sparks22
Gold Supporter
I really wanted to go with MicroBrites based on recommendations here, but with no one able to give pictures or provide much concrete information about the MicroBrites we decided against them for the main pool. We ended up with 4 IntelliBrite 5gs for the pool, 1 IntelliBrite for the spa, and 3 MicroBrites for the tanning ledge.
I decided to do go with two Intellibrites the 12v version that requires a transformer, not the 120volt that doesn't. I watched videos about how to change the lights and I think I'd be okay doing it. I didn't want to have to fish long lines on the microbrites back to the transformer whereas it looks like I could swap out a bulb. True the bulbs aren't cheap, but neither are the microbrites. I decided on just going with the white intellibrites as I also read some reviews where some colors stopped working before the whole unit quit. I made an assumption (which could be very very wrong) that since the white ones don't have to change colors, that they may last longer. I have no basis for that assumption, so please don't make your decision based on that. I did notice that the wattage on the white lights are higher than on the color, so I hope that would help in keeping the pool lit. I like the videos and pictures of the colors, but honestly I don't need it. I hope to do some landscape lighting around the pool too and thought white would be just as pretty as a light show. I will say that I had an above ground pool for more than 6 years before finally taking the plunge and going inground. I rarely swam at night due to bugs being attracted to the lights. If I did swim, I turned on my huge flood lights that were attached to my house with the hope that the bugs wouldn't find me. I think I made the right decision for me. Only time can tell. Longevity of any of the lights appears to suck, and for a maintenance minded diyer I thought the intellibrites were the smarter choice. If you can get the transformer close to the pool, fishing the lines may not be much of an issue. Hope that helps. - Erica
How much coverage did the microbrites provider how far across the pool and how far side to side? thanks