When it comes to considering the different types of sign lights available, the right choice of lighting can make all the difference in putting your business’s brand in front of customers - day or night. At Vision Lighting, we specialise in manufacturing commercial LED lighting, including sign lights. In this comprehensive guide, we'll walk you through the different types of sign lights available and why LED sign lights, like Vision Lighting's Nanolight, are the superior choice for outdoor sign lighting.
Knowing how types of sign lights differ in purpose can help you pick the right one for your requirements from the range of lights we at Vision Lighting stock.
Illuminated Sign
You might have often seen the terms ‘illuminated sign’, ‘lighted sign’ and ‘neon sign’ used seemingly interchangeably.
However, it is important to note that these terms can actually be used for different signage types. If you casually ask for help with a ‘lighted sign’ when you actually mean an ‘illuminated sign’, you could receive faulty advice.
In many instances, ‘illuminated sign’ refers to signage that:
- Is either single-sided or double-sided
- Houses lighting shining out or is illuminated by an external source
- Uses traditional bulbs or more energy-efficient LED modules
- Can remain visible on a 24/7 basis
- Is usually favoured by businesses with nighttime hours
There is great scope for customisation with illuminated signage and, to tailor it, you can begin by deciding whether to have it illuminated internally or externally.
With the former, the light sits inside the sign’s physical enclosure but passes through it, enabling the structure to be lit up from the inside. The different types of internal illumination include:
- Light box signage: Otherwise known as cabinet signs, light box signs each include a container — the ‘light box’ or ‘cabinet’ — for the light fixture.
- Front-lit channel letter signs: These differ from light box signs in that the electrical lighting does not need to be on during daylight hours.
- Back-lit signs: Here, the light comes from behind the sign and so can give individual letters of it a visually distinctive halo effect.
Meanwhile, with external illumination, the light shines onto the sign from outside it. One advantage of this is that you can brighten not only the sign’s text but also the surrounding area — all without having to add to your energy bill.
These external lighting systems can often be more cost-effective than internal alternatives and would allow you to install the signage light either below the sign (as in the case of ground lights) or above it (as barn lights can allow).
LED Module Lights
If you are currently using traditional filament bulbs to light up signage, you could have underestimated how much you would financially benefit from switching to LED lights — such as LED modules available from Vision Lighting. LED lights are relatively cheap to upgrade to and you can easily change the lights in a sign from fluorescent tubes to LEDs with the help of an electrician.
This type of LED lighting can also last a lot longer than filament alternatives — with modules in our stock able to stay the course for as many as 50,000 hours.
This basically means that, once you have installed a set of LED modules, it could be literally years before they need replacing.
This would also be a strong incentive for you to consider investing in a ‘lighted sign’. This term often comes into play when power for a sign comes from LED modules. Here are a few other examples of criteria you can expect the sign to meet:
- Brightness: Though LED modules are renowned for their energy efficiency, they remain capable of shining brightly.
- Durability: This is something else the LED modules can be thanked for, as their robustness reduces the maintenance this type of lighting requires.
- Easily customisable: Through snapping up RGB colour LED modules, you can give yourself an impressive wealth of colour customisation options.
You could also source an LED sign lighting module in a size appropriate for a specific sign. For example, our mini LED modules offer low-profile lighting, while the TradeLED Triple LED Moduleis able to illuminate depths of up to 150mm.
Neon LED Sign Lights
Probably all of us can recognise the ‘neon’ look when we see it. The tubular, fluorescent style of neon lights can bring to mind long-gone but fondly remembered eras, making neon types of sign lights good for sparking nostalgia.
For this reason, you might sometimes see neon signs at workplaces that strive for a ‘vintage’ or ‘retro’ vibe; think bars or restaurants selling food and drink served in a deliberate bid to rekindle memories of an earlier time.
The word ‘sometimes’ warrants emphasis there, as neon signs, comprising tubes filled with gas and subsequently electrified, resulting in glowing signage, have increasingly fallen out of favour.
If you are attracted to the vibrant aesthetic of neon signs, remember that they come with a number of notable drawbacks, including that they are:
- Fragile and so require higher levels of care compared to lighted signage fashioned from LED modules
- Not as energy efficient as LED lighting
- Expensive to use over the long term
These days, neon tube lights can be replaced with easier-to-maintain LED lights capable of replicating the same eye-catching lighting effect.
For example, if you run a retro bar currently decorated with neon tube lighting, you could consider using T8 tubes able to serve as LED lighting in its place. You could also use an LED Neon rope light as an alternative which offers a similar effect with better power efficiency.
Choose LEDs for a Sign Light That Lasts and Lasts
Are you searching for lighting for business signage? There are many types of sign light you could consider in this situation, but we particularly urge you not to overlook the versatility of Vision Lighting’s trough lighting product the Nanolight.
A trough light can brighten almost any type of sign. However, if you are familiar with any of the market’s earliest trough sign lighting products, you could be stunned by how the Nanolight has improved on their formula.
The Nanolight is an LED trough light offering the following practical benefits:
- Long lifespan: Sustainability blogger Adam Roper has pointed out that, as LED lights illuminate “without any heat or moving parts, … there’s nothing that can wear out or break over time”, in contrast with filament bulbs.
- Physically built to last: The Nanolight’s aluminium enclosure guards against the risk of extreme weather inflicting rust or rot. The Nanolight has also been awarded an ingress protection rating of 66.
- Ability to illuminate entire signs of any size: Though early trough lighting products featured mirror reflectors for use in increasing the light output, the Nanolight has a magnifying lens specially designed for that same purpose.
- Easy to extend to any length: The Nanolight is supplied in sections each measuring up to 6,100mm long. If a greater length than this is needed, multiple sections can be connected to the Nanolight with ease.
We offer LED trough light sign products with which you can ensure around-the-clock visibility of not only your company’s signage but also, by extension, any logo, branding colours, contact details and opening hours displayed on it.
LEDs Are the Smart Choice
Whether you are looking to install a sign light at your own business premises or instead for a customer of your company, it would serve you well to keep in mind these benefits of LEDs over other types of sign light:
- Better value for money: The acronym ‘LED’ means ‘Light Emitting Diode’ — and the diodes of LED lights far outlast heated filaments of standard bulbs.
- Save more time: After installing an LED light, you won’t have to replace it for potentially years — enabling you to free up valuable time.
- Eco-friendliness: Did you know that — in comparison to incandescent lights — LED lighting is up to 85% more efficient at emitting light?
It’s hardly a wonder, then, why LEDs have made their way into a wide range of products — with LED strips and ceiling panels among those we offer for firms.
Everything You Need for Your New Sign Light
When you place an order with us for a Nanolight, you can also peruse our selection of fixing brackets. We can even help you to determine which of these would be best for your signs trough light.
We already have all of the accessories you would need for use in fitting a sign light. We can also advise you on how to undertake that installation work.
Over the phone on +44 (0) 1132 799 745, we are happy to answer questions you may have about sign lighting products we can deliver to customers across the UK.