The Brand Story
PAL Lighting: An Australian Answer to the Darkened Pool
For most of the last century a pool light was a sealed glass lens around a hot incandescent bulb, drawing hundreds of watts and glowing one color: yellowish white. Half a world away from Florida, in Sydney, a manufacturer called PAL set out to make that old fixture obsolete, building its pool and spa lights in Australia rather than sourcing them overseas.
Chapter 1 · Sydney
Made in Australia, on purpose
PAL Lighting is a pool lighting manufacturer based in Sydney, Australia, and it builds its products there rather than in China, a point the company's U.S. representatives make early in any conversation about the brand. For years PAL was best known among pool builders for strip lighting, the flexible LED runs that trace steps, benches and water features.
PAL is a specialist. It is not a pump company or an automation company that also sells lights. Its catalog is built around underwater LED fixtures, strip lighting and the transformers and controllers that run them.
Chapter 2 · 2004 to today
A long road to American pools
PAL entered the U.S. market in 2004, but for years it remained a niche name in the American pool trade. That changed during the pandemic. Supply shortages left many pool professionals unable to get their usual brands, and they tried PAL instead. Many stayed. According to the company's U.S. representative, Ben Forrest, its strip lighting sales ran at more than ten times the prior year's level for four years in a row.
The Technology
From 500 watts to single digits
The shift from incandescent to LED changed what a pool light could do. PAL has noted that one of its replacement lamps draws about 9 watts, compared with roughly 500 for a typical incandescent pool bulb. Its color systems use RGBW, adding a dedicated white LED to the red, green and blue, so a pool can switch between millions of colors and a true white rather than a tinted one. Four-wire fixtures can be driven by DMX lighting controllers, the same protocol used in stage and architectural lighting, and wireless control lets owners change scenes from a remote.
The Lineup
What PAL Lighting builds today
PAL makes underwater LED pool and spa lights, strip lighting, bubbler lights, replacement lamps and the power supplies that drive them. HVAC365 carries several of its in-ground fixtures and a matching control transformer.
- PAL Treo Mini+: a 5-watt, 24-volt multicolored nicheless light on 80 feet of cable, small enough for steps, benches and spas.
- PAL Treo Max: a cool white nicheless pool and spa light with 80 feet of cable and plug, for owners who want clean white light rather than color shows.
- PAL EvenGlow: a multicolored pool light on 80 feet of cable and plug, designed to spread light evenly across the pool.
- Control transformer: a 65-watt multi-color single-zone remote control transformer at 24 volts DC that powers PAL lights and lets the owner change colors from a remote.
Find these fixtures under in-ground pool light fixtures and the wider pool lighting category, with transformers and controllers in pool lighting controls.
Nicheless lights mount close to the pool wall instead of sitting inside a large recessed wet niche, which makes them a practical choice for new construction and for adding light to steps and benches where a full-size niche would never fit.
At a Glance
PAL Lighting at a glance
- Home base
- Sydney, Australia
- Where made
- Australia
- U.S. market entry
- 2004
- Specialty
- LED pool and spa lighting
- Color system
- RGBW, with DMX control on four-wire fixtures
- System voltage in our listings
- 24 volt
Questions
Frequently asked questions about PAL Lighting
Where are PAL pool lights made?
PAL Lighting is based in Sydney, Australia, and manufactures its pool lights in Australia.
When did PAL Lighting come to the United States?
PAL Lighting entered the U.S. pool market in 2004 and grew quickly during the pandemic, when supply shortages led many pool professionals to try the brand.
What is a nicheless pool light?
A nicheless light mounts close to the pool wall instead of inside a large recessed niche, which makes it easier to place on steps, benches and spas.
Do PAL pool lights run on low voltage?
The PAL lights in our catalog run on 24-volt systems, powered by a matching transformer such as PAL's 65-watt 24-volt DC remote control transformer.
How much power does a PAL LED pool light use?
PAL has said one of its replacement LED lamps draws about 9 watts, compared with roughly 500 watts for a typical incandescent pool bulb.
