The one in Vegas is also fantastic, although less of a museum and more of a large dirt lot. Certainly better to spend an evening there than on the strip, in my opinion.
Most commercial neon production is hidden as it's installed within 'channel' letters (shaped aluminum sheet metal) that comprise signage for stores outside strip malls.
I would be surprised if store owners willingly replace those with LEDs due to the longevity of well made neon, which is easily 10 to 20 years.
> I would be surprised if store owners willingly replace those with LEDs due to the longevity of well made neon, which is easily 10 to 20 years.
Commercial LEDs need to be replaced about every 7-10 years - closer to 10-20 if only run at night.
Their power usage is about 1/10th that of neon. Their failure mode is also a lot more graceful - they tend to slowly dim.
Replacing LED modules is also quite a bit easier than replacing neon - instead of charging up a glass tube (or worse, patching broken glass), you show up with a box of inexpensive modules - an afternoon's work for any electrician. Replacing neon tubing with LEDs is also quite easy. Unfortunately, neon requires specialized skills.
The TCO of LEDs for signage is significantly lower than neon, the installation cost is significantly lower, it's much easier to find someone who can install LED lighting than it is neon, and you have a much wider array of options of color for LEDs.
Which is a huge shame, because I really like the way bare neon tubes look - even with dense LED packages, you can't get anything close to the ephemeral glow of classic, glass tube neon.
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[ 3.6 ms ] story [ 28.6 ms ] threadI would be surprised if store owners willingly replace those with LEDs due to the longevity of well made neon, which is easily 10 to 20 years.
Commercial LEDs need to be replaced about every 7-10 years - closer to 10-20 if only run at night.
Their power usage is about 1/10th that of neon. Their failure mode is also a lot more graceful - they tend to slowly dim.
Replacing LED modules is also quite a bit easier than replacing neon - instead of charging up a glass tube (or worse, patching broken glass), you show up with a box of inexpensive modules - an afternoon's work for any electrician. Replacing neon tubing with LEDs is also quite easy. Unfortunately, neon requires specialized skills.
The TCO of LEDs for signage is significantly lower than neon, the installation cost is significantly lower, it's much easier to find someone who can install LED lighting than it is neon, and you have a much wider array of options of color for LEDs.
Which is a huge shame, because I really like the way bare neon tubes look - even with dense LED packages, you can't get anything close to the ephemeral glow of classic, glass tube neon.
You can obtain results close to the real thing by using a good light diffuser.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9bSzE9ir1Q
Those strips are cheap.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/274148208415
They however don't emit light in all direction like a real neon; if that's the goal, a light pipe might be more suitable.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7CQnRARsk4E
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rsi1jHEuarI