As a retailer, you will be all too aware how important it is for your signage to make a great impression. The condition of your retail signage says so much about your business. If it’s dirty and in poor shape, it reflects badly on your store. Bright, clean and properly lit signs symbolise care and attention, and are a beacon to customers. Keeping your signage clean and looking good is therefore a small price to pay and easily justified by an increase in sales. But what about the lighting within your signage? Have you considered how much that costs you – and how you can reduce it?
A lot of retailers still use fluorescent or halogen lighting systems in their signage. While these can still provide quite effective illumination, over time their performance fades while still using a considerable amount of energy. Additionally, legacy lighting systems have a finite lifespan which can prove inconvenient when they begin to fail just when you need them most. Finally, their bulk and localised spread of light means signs tend to need a lot of light fittings to create an even spread across the sign.
Innovation never sleeps of course, and in recent years we have witnessed the rise of Light Emitting Diodes (LED) used in new signage. But if your retail signage is still in great condition, LED systems are an excellent upgrade option too – and it brings some excellent benefits to your business.
Brighter, Better Light
Existing signage fitted with new LEDs and a thorough clean are transformed, attracting more attention especially in darkness. For around 3,000 Lumens in brightness, LED lighting needs about 25Watts. By comparison, fluorescent lighting will need up to 55Watts – more than double the power. Light performance can be more marked during cold periods; fluorescent lighting performance degrades when the temperature drops to freezing. This is down to LED lighting being simply far more efficient. Compared to fluorescent lights, LED lighting can be up to around 4 times more efficient. Plus, with expert installation work LED lighting is more flexible, allowing you to have a more consistent or emphatic spread of light around your signage.
Working Harder For Longer
One of the biggest benefits in using LED lighting is their long life. Compared to fluorescent lighting, which has a working life from 20,0000 hours, LED lighting will last up to 4 times longer. That translates into nearly a decade of continual, 24/7 signage lighting, or in real-world applications up to 20 years of bright retail signage illumination.
Better For The Environment
So many aspects of retailing has come under scrutiny to find how it impacts on the environment, and signage lighting is no exception. Legacy lighting systems such as fluorescent or neon are known to contain ingredients that can have a negative impact on the environment, including mercury. By contrast, LED lighting don’t contain such potentially dangerous ingredients.
Reduce Your Energy Bill
LED lighting is significantly more efficient than legacy systems. For the equivalent level of illumination, LED lighting uses a fraction of the energy – as little as 10% – compared to the amount required to power tungsten, halogen or fluorescent lighting. Such a huge drop in energy use will soon become apparent in your electricity bills.
Improves Signage Safety
LED lighting systems present less of a fire hazard than other lighting, which require heat sinking, reflectors and even venting to mitigate the heat generated within the signage unit. Also, the heat which older lighting systems create can have a negative impact on the signage; vinyls can warp or the adhesive fail, making your signage look rather less than impressive. By contrast, LED lighting doesn’t generate heat in order to create the bright or coloured lighting you require and performs regardless of the seasonal temperature, so your signage works consistently.
Your Accountant Likes LED Lighting
Compared to old lighting systems, LED brings a fast return on your investment. With longer lifespan and lower running costs, upgrading to LED lighting should see a ROI in around three years. Even better, through Enhanced Capital Allowance (ECA) there is scope for corporation tax benefits when you upgrade to LED lighting – including the cost of installation. In some cases Corporate Tax Relief can be claimed on the whole cost of approved energy efficient items.
As you can see, there is a very powerful argument for upgrading your retail signage to use LED lighting. Your visibility is greatly enhanced, the lighting lasts longer, uses far less energy, is safe in use and more environmentally responsible – and there’s even a tax incentive to upgrade too.