History repeats itself. Last decade there was a frenzy of activity at sign shops changing from neon to LED in channel letter applications. Ten years later we are seeing another wave of LED conversions—this time its neon’s big brother—the fluorescent lamp.

Now it seems to be happening faster and on a larger scale, partially due to some help from the government. Effective July 14, 2012, production of most T-12 florescent lamps was phased out in commercial lighting applications, as mandated by the 2009 Department of Energy General Service Lamp legislation. Given these changes, along with the elimination of many T-12 magnetic ballasts, LEDs and more energy efficient T-8 lamps are the two primary options for sign retrofits and new sign construction.

500 Million T-12 Lamps to Go

The National Lighting Bureau estimates that nearly 500 million older T-12 fluorescent lamps are still installed in commercial, industrial, institutional, and other non-residential lighting systems nationwide. Outdoor signage is currently exempt from the T-12 fluorescent tube elimination mandate. Most of these 500 million lamps are in non-sign applications; however, the availability of T-12 lamps will decrease and their market price will certainly increase over time and savvy sign makers are getting ahead of the curve.

To add fuel to the conversion fire, thousands of energy providers and state and local municipalities are offering rebates for retrofitting to more energy effective lighting. Most require certification from Energy Star (www.energystar.gov) or the DLC (DesignLights Consortium - www.designlights.org) in order to be eligible. Currently there is no category for signage in DLC. The current categories only cover two- or four-foot fluorescent tube replacements. However, some local agencies will still provide rebates for certain LED systems in sign cabinets and canopy lighting if it meets DLC technical standards.

Improved Fluorescent Solution

Before, we talk about T-12 to LED retrofits products, I think it is important to note that there are some good, long-life options that are still fluorescent based and can offer similar efficiencies and lifetimes as LEDs at a significantly lower price. Although they still contain mercury and have reduced output in cold weather, they are much improved over their T-12 predecessors.

Voltarc has released a very long-life and cost effective T-8 replacement for T-12 lamps in sign cabinets. These lamps are a good option for sign cabinets, especially those smaller, easier to service installations where maintenance costs are lower and up-front cost is a primary consideration.

Era of Green Manufacturing

That being said, fluorescent-to-LED retrofits is a big topic. End users are more familiar with LEDs as they were seven years ago, and the technology has proven itself as a viable long-term illumination source for signs. Let’s just say that the “fear factor” is gone and we have entered full bore into the green manufacturing era. End users have also seen the lower ongoing service calls with their LED channel letters. Since T-12s are often in larger signs that require a lift truck, etc., many end users are looking to save money by reducing the number of service calls. Real or perceived, their point of reference is LED-lit channel letters.

The other subtlety is that permitting, installation, as well as other material costs to manufacture signs has increased, while the illumination source costs have decreased. In addition, cabinet signs are inherently larger and generally more expensive to install. The point is that lighting as a percent of the overall job cost is smaller in sign cabinets; therefore, end users may choose to pay the incremental cost to jump directly to a more energy efficient form of illumination faster versus waiting.

Customer Drivers

The type of product (or whether you even make the conversion to LED) is definitely application dependent. There are four primary drivers a customer considers when deciding convert to LEDs in sign cabinets:

1. Maintenance—This especially true when the sign is expensive or difficult to service. I have looked at return on investments (ROI) for all types of cabinet signs and the fact is that maintenance is the number one driver to save your customer money in the long term and can sometimes represent more than 75 percent of the overall ROI.
2. Image—LEDs (especially those with specialized optics) can allow for slimmer, sleeker looking signs that require less material and weight. LEDs also have the benefit of maintaining their luminance outside of ambient temperatures, providing the customer with a consistent light output regardless of the outside temperature (seeTable 1).
3. Energy Savings—While fluorescent lamps are almost as efficient as LEDs, they emit in a 360-degree pattern, therefore, the light efficiency to the face can be lower than an LED illuminated sign. LED signs are however, directions, which means that their energy savings is maximized in a single sided cabinet.
4. Installation Time (cost)—For new signs (especially single-sided cabinets), populating an open box with LEDs can be faster than fabricating a raceway, installing and wiring sockets, etc. For retrofits, many LED manufacturers have developed special products that can fit directly into the existing T-12 socket, or have simplified bracket or clip systems to reduce installation times.

Industry Solutions

According to Mark Abernathy, director of sales, at US LED, LED cabinet solutions is a major focal point in their development process. US LED recently released their TD1 and TD3 cabinet modules which has a special optic and hits on all four of these customer drivers. “The new TD modules can be mounted as close as 3" from the face with 8" spacing between rows. The flexibility continues when you move the modules further from the face increasing spacing from row to row up to 24" apart at a 12" depth. This gives you the ability to create even lighting in a variety of depths all while using less product. This flexibility and ease of use keeps your project and your crews efficient and effective. At 240 lumens for TD1 and 360 lumens for the TD3 with an IP66 rating they are ready for any signage conversion,” according to Abernathy. Pretty impressive if you ask me.

On the maintenance front, Principal LED has recently released its Powerline AC LED series. According to Daryl Foreman, vice-president of sales, Powerline offers significant savings by removing the need for a power supply at all. “Powerline uses a specialized AC LED chip, which can accept 100-130 VAC directly,” Foreman says. “There is external rectification circuitry or other active components beyond than the LED chip itself. By removing the failure point (the power supply), we have created a virtually maintenance-free LED cabinet system.” Powerline comes in a module form or on a single- or double-sided Powerstik that is preassembled in any lamp length and fits directly into a T-12 socket.

GE Lighting and SloanLED both offer a range of LED cabinet products ranging from GE’s LineFit, which fits directly into a T-12 socket for a fast and easy retrofit to Sloan’s Sign Box II which is an easy to install face-lit grid for optimum even illumination in standard to deep, single- or double-sided box signs.

All of these cabinet products have specific features and benefits and there is currently no one-size-fits-all solution for lack of a better term. Some excel in smaller single-sided new construction applications, while others work best in hard to reach (and maintain) sign retrofits. The key is to know and understand which product will work best for a given application and prioritizing the key drivers—maintenance, image, energy savings and installation cost—for your customer.

Benefits and Limitations

The fact remains that T-12s are going away, so whether you use long-life T-8 or one of the many LED options available, all of these technologies have their benefits and limitations. The application, sign size, cost constraints, ease of maintenance of the sign, and customer goals are all considerations when choosing the right illumination product for your future sign cabinet jobs.