Incandescent light bulbs are a common sight in any household whether in a room, kitchen, or at a pool. They work on a simple principle: an electric current is passed through a thin wire filament (typically made of tungsten) which heats it up and produces light. The oxidation process does not have an effect on the light bulb due to its insides not actually containing oxygen.
The air is replaced by either a special gas, or a vacuum.
Incandescent light bulbs are often an attractive option due to their extremely low cost and ease of access. They are widely available at most stores and are relatively cheap compared to LED or even Halogen bulbs. However they also have some draw backs.
Incandescent light bulbs are rather inefficient and on average convert only 5% of input energy into light. The rest is wasted on byproducts like heat. This has some negative implications. First off, they use up more power than other types of light bulbs, which means a more expensive electric bill at the end of the month. Although their initial price is low, this inefficiency may cause them to eventually be more expensive than some other options. It will likely take around 2 years of typical usage for a LED bulb to be cheaper than an incandescent light bulb, counting both the initial costs and average electricity costs.
There is another downside to this method of lighting as the heat within the light bulb typically causes it to fail much quicker than competing variants. Incandescent light bulbs tend to withstand around 4-5 years of typical usage while a comparable LED light will last 10-11 years.
However the incandescent light bulb may still be the best purchase for some. Their low initial costs are an important deciding factor, and the heat produced by the lamps can be incorporated into the pool system.