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| | Integrated Electric converts landmark Gillette sign from neon to LEDs | | 26 Jan 2010 | | The Gillette World Shaving Headquarters sign now uses more than 14,000 LED modules. | Atop the roof on Proctor and Gamble's South Boston manufacturing plant, a landmark neon sign has for decades proclaimed Gillette World Shaving Headquarters. Integrated Electric and Signs by Tomorrow Norton have just completed an LED-based restoration of the sign as part of a renovation at the plant.
The sign stands 16-ft tall and stretches 400-ft long. Before the restoration work, the sign contained 5000 ft of neon tubing and cost more than $32,000 per year to operate. Now lit by more than 14,000 LED modules, the sign will use only $5,000 worth of electricity per year.
Integrated Electric and Signs by Tomorrow Norton won the project by providing Proctor and Gamble a comprehensive estimate of construction costs, energy consumption, and payback time attributable to low-power LEDs. Integrated Electric worked with NStar, a Massachusetts-based gas and electric utility, to secure a $56,000 grant for the project. The grant made the payback less than three years for Proctor and Gamble.
Signs for Tomorrow Norton provided both the expertise in working with LEDs, and handled replacement of the Lexan faces of the sign. Integrated Electric, an electrical contracting company, handled installation and power distribution. The restoration took about a month beginning in December with completion in early January.
| | COMMENTS | | Name: jimkln Posted: Sat, 27 Feb 2010 15:02 |
| Prediction: this sign will never save Gillette a dime. Even with the $56,ooo stimulus gift the sign will cost more money in replacement of these leds than than it will save in energy costs. This large area type of channel letter is the worst application for LED lighting. LEDS rely on reflection to enhance its limited lumen output. That is why reflective paint is used inside of the letters. Once the effects of dimming take hold , this type of wide stroke signage will become incredibly shadowy . I've seen this effect over and over again on signs much smaller than this. To properly populate this size letter for even illumination, you'd need to quadruple those 14000 LEDS. Lets see a picture of this sign 2 years from now. Ask Stop & Shop how well its new led signage is working. In one year they totally replaced the LEDS in all its new signage. After just one year of use these signs became shadowy and dim. This should be a wake up call to all stores considering this type of illumination of large channel letters. LEDS simply don't have the life span of steady lumen output that neon does. There is no savings when constant replacement of the light source is necessary. LEDS are a great way to light small channels that are sometimes all a business can get zoning approval for. In these applications it is the only way to light these tight metal cans because neon does need some space to not arc out to the returns. Usually 2 inches of with is the cutoff point. These small signs lit with LEDS are still going to dim to the point of hardly being illuminated within a couple of years . Another big problem with leds is that if one letter needs replacement lights it will be much brighter than the rest of the sign due to the immediate dimming of this type of lighting. There is nothing worse than a sign with varying light output from letter to letter. Time will prove this to anyone willing to address this major flaw in this use of LEDS. jbkln
| | Name: franky323 Posted: Sat, 24 Jul 2010 14:07 |
| For the person that said that this LED project won't last you obviously do not know anything about SloanLED quality products. I have been using them for years and have no issues with loss of light. Accelerated Degradation of LED's only occurs when the LED product is overdriven and exceeds the internal junction temperature limit. SloanLED is extremely careful to not exceed this point even at elevated temperatures. Neon is dead, face reality and move on!
Frank Cervan - Acme Signs and Graphics | | Name: tjled Posted: Fri, 20 Aug 2010 05:08 |
| Nice to see the opposing comments. I'm going to mark my calendar for 2 years out and see what I can learn about the Baltimore Aquarium and Gillette experiences. I've heard about dimming sooner than forecast and that there can be some goosing of energy savings based on where the energy consumption is measured. We still don't have consistent standards from what I understand. Nonetheless, I find it hard to believe that there aren't immense savings to be realized in at least some applications. | | Name: neoled Posted: Mon, 23 Aug 2010 20:08 |
| I am a designer and supplier of neon and led products and hold patents in each field , the main problem is the sign indusrty ,
The sign industry will never purchase the proper product for the application in neon or led prodcuts , it is a price driven market .
Neon was a great product if the neon industry would have reinvested in their future and manufactured a real neon sign as our father did.
Led product in the sign industry are substandard if you are knowledged in led products and they will only maintain a quality light level for 10000-15000 hour . This is all a sign manufacturer will pay for . Sign companies only warranty products for one year.
The sign industry has become a price driven market and now every sign manufacturer is purchasing from the cheapest China led supplier with no knowledge of quality only price .
So you are all right everthing will fail and both product will have their life . Led faster cycle then Neon has had.
Quality and craftmanship was the heart of the sign industry ,now the new market rule the sign industry on price .
The problem is NO one can build a sign with quality and real craftmanship as our fathers did in the industry and sell it today. | | Name: ledlightmaker.com Posted: Wed, 08 Sep 2010 11:09 |
| neoled is a fan of old generation,a little irrational.Although i agree your opinion of price ruling the market. Most chinese manufacturers do as what the clients want.And these clients always believe there is a cheaper supplier out there.so price down, quality dead
| | Name: barryfish Posted: Wed, 17 Nov 2010 15:11 |
| Quality in design is not dead, education about cost vs quality is. Both neon and LEDs have their advantages and disadvantages. I'm a product developer with numerious patents and hands on experience in semiconductor design and manufacturing. Oddly enough I've also co-owned (ion) laser and neon art/sign companies and I've personally produced tens of thousands of feet of "neon". Properly produced "neon" should be hard to beat in terms of service life and (large area) light output. I've seen 60 year old neon that matched the color and light output of newly produced tubing. (properly produced means clean, chemically inert components pumped to high
vacuum)
Properly designed LEDs and LED lighting modules can also last a very long time. The same quality put into LEDs can achieve very good longevity but the materials and production details have to be first rate. Things like die attach, phosphor and resin application and material quality can vary greatly and be transparent to a poorly educated sales and marketing team and therefore to the customer. Time will eventually show that like a piece of poorly made "neon" that has darkened due to attention to detail and cost, cheap and poorly made LED products wll also fail.
Like most other products, the market will oscillate and for those of us that rely on solid state lighting for our income I hope that the bad reputation of short LED lifetime is short lived. |
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