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From a sign-maker's perspective, LED lighting must seem like a gift from the gods, because it’s absolutely perfect for creating amazing illuminated signs and displays.

Traditionally, shop front signs and displays were illuminated with cold cathode tubes or neon lighting, however, these are increasingly being replaced by LED-based lighting systems, and for good very reason, as LEDs offer a number of compelling benefits to both installers and businesses alike.

Amongst these are:

• LEDs are safer and easier to use.
• They give increased energy-efficiency.
• And increased longevity.
• They also require little or no maintenance.
• And they’re versatile, and available in a wide selection of colours.

Super Versatile

LED lighting is modular, allowing for very simple scalability. A prime example of this is LED strip lighting, the length of which can be customised according to your requirements, enabling a clean and professional looking set-up.

Hugely convenient, LED strip lights will also save you both time and effort. The 3M self-adhesive on the reverse side of every length of LED strip allows for a very fast, simple installation.

Even more convenient than purchasing the strip alone, are the wide range of LED strip light kits. Available in lengths from one to five metres, each kit comes complete with its own plug and play power adaptor, while the addressable varieties also incorporate a free IR (Infra-red) Remote Controller.

Should the need arise, you’ll be able to customise the length of your LED strip light, cutting its length to suit your individual requirements, using nothing more complicated than a pair of household scissors. And, when cut, you’ll achieve a more stable, permanent installation for both indoor and outdoor signs, by utilising one of the many varieties of Aluminium LED profile.

Profiles will ensure that the LED strip light’s wide beam angle is used to its fullest extent, providing optimum light dispersal. They’ll also reduce the likelihood of premature failure, acting as an effective sink to dissipate any tiny amount of heat the strip may produce when activated.

Extended Life-Span

Looking after your LED strip light in this way means that it’s much more likely to achieve its massive 50,000 hour life-expectancy. In comparison with the two traditional types of light source that LEDs are designed to replace, their extended lifespan is astounding, as the table below illustrates:

Signs using LED technology are durable and will remain virtually maintenance-free for the entirety of their lives. From a practical stand-point, this also means fewer callouts to service and repair your sign.

LEDs aren't just easy to use and install, they’re inherently safer than other forms of lighting as well. LED Strip Lights operate at a non-lethal 12-volts, making them incredibly safe, and the absence of glass tubes and moving parts also reduces the chance of injury during installation.

Heat build-up is a problem with other types of light but, as stated earlier, LEDs generate little or no heat during operation. Whereas fluorescent bulbs and lights create a great deal of heat as a by-product which squanders up to 90% of their power, LEDs efficiently convert electricity into light, losing a mere 10% of theirs.

Hugely Cost-Effective

Efficiency is another concern, particularly for those creating signs and displays on a commercial basis. Due to their incredible energy-efficiency, LEDs require only a tiny amount of power, but still manage to deliver an impressive light output. With LEDs, it is therefore entirely possible to create a large, illuminated fascia that uses less power than a single 30 watt traditional bulb!

This equates to considerable cost savings, especially as signs and displays are expected to function perfectly for long periods of time.

This example illustrates the amount of money you can expect to save by installing a sign composed entirely of LEDs:

An LED strip such as the RGB Colour-Changing 30 x 5050 SMD requires just 7.2 watts of power to produce up to 510 lumens.

An equivalently bright fluorescent light would require 50 watts so, if both light sources were run for 8 hours a day for 1 year and assuming the price of electricity to be 13.75 pence per kW/h, the comparative costs would be as follows:

• 2W LED Strip Light – uses 21.02 kW/h, costs £2.89;
• 50W Fluorescent Bulb – uses 146.00 kW/h, costs £20.07.

Immediately you’ll see the discrepancy in cost between the two types of light source!

Massive Variety

You did see correctly, the aforementioned LED strip light is indeed colour-changing, but this is by no means the only variety that’s on offer.

Here’s a list of the different types, together with their attributes:

• Single Colour – Available as 12V or 24V options, this type comes in a choice of red, green, blue, pink and also warm (3000K), cool (6000K) and daylight (4000K) white colour temperatures so it’s ideal for all general lighting applications.
• Dual Colour – Equipped with sequenced warm and cool white LEDs, this 14.4W strip light can be used for any kind of application, be they domestic or in a retail setting.
• RGB Colour 12v – This is available in 2W and 14.4W varieties. Its colour-changing abilities have been utilised extensively in both domestic and commercial installations.
• RGBW – This style of LED tape creates similar effects to that of the aforementioned RGB, only with the added cool or warm white options, which will enable you to achieve a wider range of colours. Its lighting effects are controlled by the RGBW LED Remote.
• RGB Pixel Tape – This will be the perfect product for use in any commercial application. LED pixel tape has an incredible number of spectacular, colour-changing lighting features, and it requires a 16 Key LED Pixel Tape Remote Control to achieve them.

With all these great features, you may be wondering why you haven’t already switched from your old light source to LED, so take this golden opportunity to do so by calling Wholesale LED Lights today on 0116 321 4120 and speaking to one of our LED lighting experts.

You can also send an e-mail enquiry to cs@wled.co.uk if you’d prefer.