The benefit of a 12v Light over a standard 120v

electric shock risk

Since 1990 there have been over 60 deaths by electrocution and over 50 serious electricity related injuries due to faulty wiring in and around swimming pools. You might be thinking why would anyone have electrical lines around their pool area. You must understand that the majority of swimming pools have underwater lights. These lights can go bad in a couple different ways and result in stray electricity entering your pool water.

A swimming pool is meant to be a happy place where people can relax and enjoy a hot summer day. It shouldn’t be a place where people are at risk of injury. Older pools are at greater risk of having an incident. The lights used in older pools were likely to have a full 120V going to them. Today many manufacturers are changing their lights to a low voltage to prevent this type of thing from happening, or at least offering this option to those with concerns. What is likely happening is that the lights are failing and in some case water can get inside the light. Obviously this is a huge concern, especially if that light had 120V going to it. There could be other possibilities as well. If there is lighting around the pool then you will want to make sure that it is properly wired and grounded.

There are a couple ways that you can help to ensure the safety of your swimmers.

1. Signs of mold or other growth on the inside of the lens are signs of water leakage.
2. Have an electrician inspect the underwater lights and make sure that junction boxes and wiring connections are installed correctly.
3. Be sure that the power switch and GFCI for underwater lights are properly marked and easy to get to in case of an emergency.

One thing that you can do to help prevent any unfortunate events related to electrical shock in your pool is to have low voltage lighting installed in the pool when it is built.  There are several manufacturers of low voltage lights for in ground swimming pools.  Granted one low voltage light will not be as bright as a standard 120v light but you can make up for that by simply adding additional lights to the pool.  In addition to that these low voltage lights typically have the same capabilities as the larger 120V lights that are out there.  For instance many 120v lights are capable of changing colors.  In many cases the same goes for low voltage lights as well.
The point of all this is to inform you that you have options when it comes to swimming pool lighting.  One option being a low voltage light for your pool.  This will greatly reduce the risk of electric shock in your swimming pool, as opposed to a 120v light that would be very dangerous if it were to fail.