When I first entered the signage industry eight years ago, jobs with LED’s were few and far between. Vendors lists were small, along with customers trust in an expensive and fairly unproven technology. Jobs calling for the use of LEDs were fun and exciting but always left with a little uncertainty of it being a success. Fast forward to 2013, the shop is full with jobs using LEDs, more and more quote requests have LEDs in the specifications. Vendor lists and the range of products have become a mile long. Change is here! I want to quickly hit the main “selling” points for the justification of this change, focusing on the pure cost savings that LEDs provide to the end user.
The most obvious reason for LEDs is the little energy consumption needed to power them versus fluorescent lamping. In today’s economy end users are becoming more and more aware of the savings LEDs provide over the lifetime of the sign.
For comparison, using a double faced cabinet 48” x 72” x 12” in depth, using US LED Tandem series (T2-14-24-4W) White LEDs @ 120 volts. This particular product was developed by US LED, Ltd. to be an alternate for fluorescent lamps. The same layout standards apply for the Tandems that one would follow for fluorescent lamps. The power consumption formula I will use over a one year time frame is: $0.10 Kw per hr for 12 hours per day. The total consumption bill for that year will be $73.58 for LEDs vs $261.22 for fluorescents. The consumption saving would be $187.64!
The next piece of the puzzle for figuring out cost savings comes with the longevity of LEDs vs fluorescents. A typical LED product will last on average 5-7 years compared to 18 months for fluorescent lamps and ballasts. So it’s obvious that you will occur multiple maintenance fees for fluorescents over the lifetime of the sign. A typical service call to replace both lamps and ballast will run around $1,500 per trip, for a yearly average of $1050 in maintenance vs $0 per year for a LED illuminated sign.
Lastly and typically the major hurdle to purchasing LEDs are the upfront costs. This however can easily be overcome when the previous two paragraphs are put in front of the end user. Of course every customer will have a budget and at times it’s difficult to push added costs up front. For the above signage parameters, the product investment for LED illumination will be roughly $800 more than fluorescents (this is based on product only). The labor aspect of installing US LED Tandems is virtually the same due to the innovative design of the product.
So the final tally for annual savings equal nearly $1,200 when choosing LED vs fluorescents. This will put a simple payback of investment of 0.65 years in this particular case. I do acknowledge that every signage solution is different and numbers will vary but it is difficult to argue against LED illumination. My goal with this article is to simplify the savings breakdown and also to help provide a guide to the best signage solution possible.
By Ryan Hudnut
Production Manager/Designer
In recent years, the use of LED lighting has revolutionized the signage industry. With their versatility, energy efficiency, and low maintenance requirements, LED retrofit modules and systems have become the go-to choices for upgrading neon and fluorescent lighting systems on signs.
Neon is cool. It’s vintage, stylish, and interesting to look at. But when there’s a product that gets you the same look, is better on the environment, more efficient, and less expensive it’s worth your time to investigate.