The Environmental Benefits of Owning an LED Sign

You have probably heard of a light emitting diode, or LED in the past. They have been used by the automotive and electronics industries for years, and have quickly become the industry standard for flashlight bulbs. Today, you can even find LED bulbs designed to work from a traditional light bulb socket in your home. As a business owner, you are probably aware of the economic benefits of using an LED sign over a fluorescent backed, neon, or halogen-lit sign. Fluorescent bulbs need frequent replacement, neon bulbs are useless once their gas cores burn out, and halogen bulbs can consume a large amount of electricity. An LED sign, however, can be expected to have a bulb life of hundreds of thousands of hours, and offer the clearest, most vivid messages that can be seen from great distances.

LED signs are functional in both high and low light levels, and use far less energy than conventional forms of sign lighting. Unlike most other types of signs, LED signs can be changed on-the-fly, to display a changing variety of text and graphics in many different colors. More importantly, however, are the environmental impacts of an LED sign. Compared to traditional lighting sources, LED's are much more efficient. Their design allows them to recycle much of the energy that runs into the circuit, harvesting just enough to provide light. Less energy is converted to heat, allowing LED's to run coolly and efficiently. Even though they use much less energy, they are able to give off even more light than a larger fluorescent, incandescent, halogen, or neon bulb.

An LED bulb contains no harmful chemicals, such as inorganic mercury, which is found in fluorescent and compact fluorescent light bulbs. Mercury containing bulbs are often very delicate, and can be broken easily. They need to be disposed of specially, and may require special storage areas, depending on your state regulations. The unintended release of respirable mercury can not only poison a local ecosystem, but is also harmful to the human body in large enough doses. As mentioned earlier, LED bulbs are very durable and have an exceptionally long service life. The use of an LED sign can outlast innumerable fluorescent and halogen bulbs, as well as neon tubes. This means fewer waste products that is shipped off-site as waste and deposited into a landfill. It is also important to look at where our energy comes from.

The majority of the power that we use is derived from coal-fired power plants, which contribute greatly to atmospheric pollution through emissions of sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide and dioxide, and nitrous oxides. By using less energy, an LED sign can help to reduce the consumption of coal, thereby reducing air pollution. Not to mention, you will be saving money on your monthly energy bill! Overall, the combined efficiency, service life, and durability of LED signs makes them a very attractive investment.

Although an LED sign may initially cost more than a fluorescent or neon lit apparatus, it will pay for itself in no time, through reduced energy consumption and a long service life. An LED sign offers clear performance advantages over every other lighting method for signs, and is environmentally friendly at the same time.