Recessed pool lights

A recessed pool light is chosen on three criteria: a 12 W LED output, IP65 protection and a format that fits into the coping or the slab. The Blade models in this collection are made of aluminium, black or white, with a warm white light of 2700 to 3500 K.

1. What light does a recessed light give?
2. Spot or floodlight: the difference
3. How many units per circuit
4. Which format to choose
5. Where to install the lights
6. The case of the above-ground pool
7. Black or white
8. Maintaining an IP65 unit

What light does a recessed pool light give?

A recessed pool light shines with a 12 W LED, with a warm white temperature between 2700 and 3500 K. Set flush with the ground or the coping, it highlights the pool surrounds without dazzling swimmers and extends the terrace once night falls.

Why is warm white suited to the pool surrounds?

Between 2700 and 3500 K, the light leans towards gold. It warms pale stone, wood and render, where a very cool white hardens the materials. It is also the shade that connects most simply to indoor lighting, visible from the French window. For another mood, there are RGB versions for coloured light.

Does a recessed light illuminate the whole pool?

No. An IP65 light placed around the pool illuminates the coping, the deck and the walls: its beam stays above the water. For light in the water, you need a range designed to stay submerged, which you will find among the LED pool lights. The two complement each other.

What is the difference between a spot and a floodlight?

A spot narrows the light into a tight cone and draws a sharp point. A floodlight opens the beam over a wider surface. Around a pool, the wide beam suits the coping, the deck and the walls, while the spot isolates a detail: a trunk, a basin, a sculpture.

Which to choose for a pool deck?

The deck is walked barefoot: look for a wide, grazing light that illuminates the area without a hot spot in the eye. The LED outdoor floodlights cover this role. Spread the units rather than concentrating them, and you will avoid patches and dark zones.

Can spot and floodlight be mixed on the same facade?

Yes, provided you keep the same colour temperature: two different whites are immediately visible on a wall. So warm white is kept everywhere and the tight cone is reserved for the elements to be highlighted. Our floodlight range shows both approaches side by side.

What is the maximum number of LED spots allowed per circuit?

There is no single number: the limit comes from the power supply and the upstream protection. Add up the power of the units, here 12 W per light, and stay below the value indicated by the transformer or the circuit breaker. Final sizing is down to the installer.

How do you add up the power of several lights?

Each light in the collection consumes 12 W. Four units represent 48 W, six represent 72 W. The total must stay below the transformer capacity, with a margin, and the cable cross-section must match the line length. Note this total on the plan before ordering.

Why not exceed the transformer limit?

Beyond its capacity, the power supply heats up, may trip into safety mode and wear out the LEDs prematurely. So a reserve is kept, and the lights are split over two lines if the number grows. Connection is made with the power off, by a professional.

Which recessed light format to choose around the pool?

Three formats coexist: 7.8 cm square for 7.5 cm height, 8.5 cm square for 5.4 cm height, and 9 cm square for only 4.7 cm height. The wider the light, the flatter it is: the 9 cm sits flush with a slab, the 7.8 cm fits into a thicker support.

7.8 cm, 8.5 cm or 9 cm: what difference on the coping?

The 9 cm requires only 4.7 cm of depth: ideal in a slab or a thin coping, and it is the 9 cm white model that blends best into pale concrete. The 8.5 cm stays compact on the surface with 5.4 cm height, like the black Blade in 8.5 cm. The 7.8 cm goes down to 7.5 cm: reserve it for thick supports, low wall or step.

What to check before drilling a support?

Measure the available depth, not just the surface opening. A cast coping lends itself to concrete models to be recessed into the coping, while a deck board requires a solid support around the housing. Also check the cable passage and the water drainage under the unit. Compare the black Blade 7.8 cm, taller to recess and the white 7.8 cm version before deciding.

Where to install the lights around the pool and on the terrace?

First light what is walked on: the deck, the coping, the steps and the path to the house. A light recessed into the slab or the low wall is enough to mark the area without dazzling, and the same light extends the terrace once the pool is covered.

How to light the deck without dazzling swimmers?

Keep the beam low and directed towards the ground, never towards the eyes or the water surface. A recessed unit that sits flush does not cast shadows on the walkways. The same logic applies to lighting a terrace in the evening, where grazing light draws the boundaries without overexposing them.

Which areas around the pool deserve a light?

The deck and the steps for circulation, the low wall for depth, then the planted surrounds. The garden floodlights accompany the beds, and motion detector models suit the access path. For the rest of the house, all Designix light fittings are chosen from the same light family.

Which recessed lights for an above-ground pool?

On an above-ground pool, you do not recess into the wall: you light the surround. The light is installed in a wooden deck, a slab or a low wall, in warm white and IP65, to mark out the access and the surrounds without touching the pool or the liner.

Recessing a light into a wooden deck

Allow for a cut-out in a solid board or a support joist, with the depth of the chosen model. The housing then sits flush with the decking without creating a trip hazard for bare feet. If you do not want to drill, the freestanding floodlights, no drilling required, remain a simple solution that can be moved.

Lighting the surround without drilling the pool

All the light is placed outside the structure: slab, concrete base, added low wall. Keep waterproof units to withstand rain and splashes, a point detailed in the waterproof LED floodlights. The liner and the wall remain intact.

Black or white: which light colour for your coping?

Black disappears on a dark terrace, dark wood or a dark liner; white blends into pale stone, concrete and render. Both shades exist throughout the collection, in aluminium, and change neither the 12 W power nor the warm white light.

Matching the pool light with the house light

A French window open onto the terrace puts both lightings in the same field of view. By keeping warm white outside as inside, the transition is seamless, from the living room to the deck. It is the same warm white 2700-3500 K as on our recessed pool lights, identical inside and out, which avoids any break in shade.

Aluminium outdoors: what the material changes

Aluminium does not rust on contact with water and withstands spray as well as watering. It stays light and cleans with a cloth. Its matt finish keeps the unit discreet in a pale slab, a point also cared for in the designer outdoor floodlights.

How to maintain a recessed IP65 light?

An IP65 light is cleaned with clear water and a soft cloth, without a high-pressure jet or abrasive product. IP65 protects against dust and water splashes, not against immersion. Before winter, check the tightness, the condition of the seal and the cleanliness of the cable passage.

What IP65 really protects against

The rating covers dust and water jets, so rain, garden watering and splashes at the pool edge. It does not cover a unit that would remain underwater. This is why these lights are installed around the pool, never inside it.

What to do before winter?

Switch off the circuit, wipe the housing, check the seal and the tightness of the screws. Check that water does not stagnate in the cut-out and that the cable is not taut. A well-installed and clean unit gets through the bad season without any particular attention.

First choose the recess height according to your support, then the colour according to the coping material, and you will have the essentials. Secure payment, tracked delivery, returns and Designix customer service accompany the order.

Frequently asked questions