LED technology is becoming increasingly popular for lighting homes, offices, stores and all types of interiors. With environmental concerns being an ever-present topic, businesses and individuals are striving to do their part and LED lights have become the number one option for greener lighting. This is just one of the reasons why we manufacture our Yellowpop neon artwork with LEDs rather than traditional neon.
Read on to find out how the efficiency of our neon LEDs can have a positive impact, not only on the environment, but also on your life and your wallet!
LED vs Traditional Neon
Traditional neon lights, often seen in large cities or a key design element in 1950s restaurants, are made from heated glass. This molded glass tube contains a gas that is electrified to produce the bright light enjoyed by these businesses around the world.
There are a number of problems with this approach. First, these gases are toxic. Second, the energy required to sufficiently excite the gas particles and produce light is immense, resulting in a significant waste of energy and a sometimes dangerous level of heat.
LED neon is much more efficient and safer than its traditional ancestor. LED stands for "light-emitting diodes". A diode is a device, similar to an atrium in a house, through which electricity flows in the same way that guests pass through your atrium to get to your living room. It is this process that produces the "neon" light.
At Yellowpop, we prefer to use LEDs rather than traditional neon lights to create our artwork, and by choosing one of them, you can significantly reduce your energy consumption.
Overall effectiveness
Our LED signs are 80% more efficient than traditional neon lights, converting only 5% of energy into heat. In fact, not all the energy used in traditional neon lights (or even in a traditional light bulb) is used to produce light... In fact, most of the energy is wasted by producing unnecessary and sometimes dangerous levels of heat. Have you ever changed a light bulb right after it went out?
Over time, LED neon lights help reduce energy costs. You won't have to worry that one of our neon lights will cause your monthly bills to skyrocket; in fact, using a Yellowpop LED neon light can help you reduce your consumption. While traditional neon lights require more energy when dimmed, LEDs become more efficient when set on a dimmer.
Using our neon LED signs as an alternative lighting source will reduce your energy consumption and monthly costs, while bringing your space to life!
The life span of LEDs
Another benefit to the environment and your bank account is the longevity of LED neon lights. Your basic LED lights last between 50,000 and 100,000 hours. We've done the math. Most businesses use our signs 3-5 hours a day, which gives about 30 years of use before the sign needs to be replaced.
One of the factors behind this success is the ability of LEDs to turn on and off without damage. With traditional neon lights, it takes more work to turn the light on, as the neon is subjected to constant heating and cooling. Every time the light is turned on, it undergoes this grueling process. The more often the light is turned on and off, the faster it wears out.
Yellowpop neon LED signs need less energy to produce light. This means they can be turned on and off with little or no damage to the technology. This increases the life of your artwork while reducing the need to limit its use. As an added bonus, LEDs light up much faster than traditional neon lights!
The environmental impact of LED neon lights
The obvious benefit to the environment is the reduction in energy used (and wasted). However, even the manufacturing of our LEDs reduces your carbon footprint. While traditional neon lights require the extraction of minerals to produce the internal gases, LEDs use none of these materials and thus reduce the damage to the earth.
This also means that the disposal of LEDs is much safer than the disposal of glass neon tubes which 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 sign, you won't need to dispose of it anytime soon...
Mood booster
As if the financial and environmental savings weren't enough for LEDs to take hold in the lighting industry, studies have shown that LED light has a noticeable positive effect on mood, particularly on disorders such as SAD.
It is a problem that affects people living in places with limited sunlight and has similarities to depression. Because LEDs contain primarily visible light, as opposed to invisible UV light, they can have a significant boosting effect on your mood. This means that your Yellowpop neon will literally and figuratively brighten your life!
The efficiency of our LED neon signs exceeds that of traditional neon (or any other traditional lighting source). This efficiency can reduce your financial costs and environmental impact; it can even improve your mood! It is no wonder that LEDs are becoming the technology of choice for neon signs worldwide, which is why we manufacture our neon signs exclusively from LEDs.