LED technology has been growing ever more popular as a way to light up homes, offices, and stores. With environmental concerns as an ever-present issue, companies and individuals striving to do their part, LED lights have become the go-to option for green lighting. It is only one of the reasons why we craft our Yellowpop neon signs with LED as opposed to traditional neon.
Read on to discover how the efficiency of our LED neon can have a positive impact, not only on the environment but on your life and business as well!
LED vs Traditional Neon
Traditional neon signs, as seen in big cities or as the key design element of 50s diners and 80s roller rinks, are made from heated glass. This molded glass tube contains neon gas which is electrified to produce the vivid light loved by businesses and aesthetes the world over.
There are a handful of issues with this approach. First, these gases are toxic. Second, the energy required to excite the gas particles enough to produce light is immense, resulting in wasted energy and a sometimes dangerous level of heat.
LED neon is far more efficient and far safer than its traditional ancestor. LED stands for “light-emitting diodes” A diode is a device, similar to an atrium in a house, that electricity passes through in the same way guests pass through your atrium to get to your living room. This process is what produces the “neon” light.
We at Yellowpop prefer to use LED over traditional neon for the creation of our signs, and by choosing one of our LEDs, you can cut down on energy consumption to a significant degree.
General Efficiency
Our LED neon signs are 80% more efficient than traditional neon, only transforming 5% of energy into heat. That’s right, not all of the energy used in traditional neon (or your basic light bulb, even) goes to producing light! In fact, most of it gets wasted in producing unnecessary and sometimes dangerous levels of heat. Ever change a light bulb right after it goes out?
Over time, this helps cut down on energy costs. You won’t have to worry about one of our neon signs causing your monthly bills to spike; in fact, using a Yellowpop LED neon can help you cut down on your bills. Whereas traditional neon requires more energy when it’s dimmed, LED becomes more efficient when on a dimmer setting.
Using our LED signs as an alternative lighting source will reduce your energy waste and monthly costs, all while bringing your space to life!
LED Lifespan
Another benefit to the environment and your bank account is the longevity of Yellow LED neon. Your basic LED lights last between 50,000 and 100,000 hours. We’ve done the math. Most businesses use our signs for 3-5 hours per day, which results in about 30 years of use before the sign needs to be replaced.
One of the factors behind this is LED’s ability to switch on and off without damage. In traditional neon, there is greater work required to excite the light, putting the sign through constant heating and cooling. Every time the light is switched on, it goes through this grueling process. The more often the light is switched on and off, the quicker it wears down.
Yellowpop LED neon requires less energy to produce light, so it can be switched on and off with minimal to no damage to the technology. This increases the lifespan of your sign while reducing the need to limit usage. As an added bonus, LED light POPS on much quicker than traditional neon!
Environmental Impact
The obvious benefit to the environment is less energy used(and wasted). However, even the construction of our LED reduces your carbon footprint. Whereas traditional neon requires the mining of minerals to produce the internal gases, LED uses none of these materials and so cuts down on damage to the land.
This also means that the disposal of LEDs is far safer than the disposal of neon glass tubes that contain toxic gases and require special treatment. Our durable plastic construction gives each sign a reassuring recyclability. However, given the lifespan of your Yellowpop LED neon, you won’t be needing to dispose of it any time soon!
Mood Booster
As if the financial and environmental savings weren’t enough for LED to claim the top spot in the lighting game, studies have found that LED light has a noticeably positive effect on mood, especially on conditions such as Seasonal Affective Disorder.
This is an issue that affects people in places where sunlight is limited and bears similarities to Depression. Due to LED containing mostly visible light, as opposed to unseen UV, it can have a significant mood-boosting effect. This means that your Yellowpop neon will brighten your life literally and figuratively!
The efficiency of our LED neon signs dwarfs that of traditional neon (or any traditional lighting source, really). This efficiency can reduce your financial costs and environmental impact; it can even boost your mood! It’s no wonder that LEDs are becoming the technology of choice for neon around the world, and why we make our neon exclusively from LEDs.