Neon vs. LED Neon: How do they compare?

Eye catching, vibrant and colourful – neon signs have been a popular choice for decorating businesses and homes for more than 100 years.

However, in recent times it’s become a popular practise for some companies to market LED signage as neon despite the fact that – while they can appear similar – they are completely different.

Neon is only ever made from glass while LED neon contains LEDs and is either made from plastic or silicone.

How neon is made:

Neon is hand bent/crafted over a hot flame by someone that has been trained in the art of bending glass. Once the glass has been bent to a shape, an electrode (glass housing with metal shell inside), is heat welded onto each end of the hand bent tubes.

Once the section (hand bent shape with the electrodes attached), is complete, it is attached to a machine called a bombarder. This machine then vacuums the section down to negative atmospheres of pressure. Electricity is then passed through the tubes, causing them to heat up. The section gives off impurities whilst being heated up which are vacuumed out of the tube, the heating also activates the electrode shells.

Once the tube has reached temperature and the electrodes have been activated, the tube is allowed to cool and the gas is placed into the tube. The tube is then connected up to a transformer to be aged in, which helps to identify any potential failures within the tube. It is then blocked out, a process where each tube is hand painted on parts that are not needed to be seen, giving each letter or shape definition.

LED neon:

LED neon on the other hand, is cut from a solid piece of acrylic by a CNC router, this then has LEDs put in the rear which are soldered as required, it is capped off and then vinyl is applied to the sides.

As you can see they are very different. It’s important to know what you’re buying – so if you are in need of advice about neon please feel free to give us a call. We are happy to help.

We hope you found this post helpful? Check out more of our neon articles here. And please drop us a line if you’d like to chat about any of the details we’ve covered or to find out more about how our variety of neon solutions can help your business.

Myths about Neon Signs – Dispelled

There are plenty of myths and misconceptions out there surrounding neon signage – with a number pertaining to their safety for both commercial and domestic use.

In short neon signage is incredibly safe to use, providing it is well looked after and treated with respect. However, we’d like to take the chance to clear up several common queries we get asked around this subject…

Q. Is the gas used in neon poisonous?

A. No – not in the small amount present in the tube.

Let us elaborate: Neon signs contain either Neon gas or Argon gas, both of which are inert gases and as such have no reaction when inhaled in small quantities, they are present in the air we breathe daily.

The only thing that is harmful within an argon tube is the addition of a small amount of elemental mercury.

Elemental mercury occurs widely in the environment, mercury causes damage when it is cumulatively absorbed into the body over time.

If a tube is broken it is recommended to air the room in which it is located, and clean up any mess created. The NHS website states that the small amount of mercury in the tube is extremely unlikely to cause problems for your health and provides extra precautionary advice for clean-up, this is the same advice as for fluorescent lamps.

Another safety-related question we frequently get asked is whether neon signs can burn you. So…

Q. Does neon get very hot to the touch?

A. Generally no.

There are a couple of reasons a neon section (tube) would get hot. This can be either due to the existence of impurities in the tube (air usually), the electrodes having too much current passed through them due to incorrect calibration or if it’s incorrectly installed.

The only other time that an electrode may be hot is on large diameter tubing running at a high current in the range of 150mA.

We hope you found this post helpful? Check out more of our neon articles here. If you would like to learn more about the safety of neon signs, please take the time to get in touch and we can talk to you about any type of project you have in mind.

Neon Safety: Frequently Asked Questions

Here at A1deSIGNS we’re constantly being asked questions about neon – our specialist subject. And some of the most popular queries are around the safety of neon signs.

There’s plenty of misconceptions and myths surrounding neon signs and their safety for business and domestic use – so we’re always happy to clarify things.

We’ve put together a series of factual answers to common questions and queries about the safety of neon signs that we’re frequently asked. We hope you find this useful…

Q. Are neon signs safe?

A. Yes.

Neon signage is incredibly safe to use, providing it is well looked after and treated with respect.

For more than 100 years neon has been a go-to signage and is now more reliable and safe than ever before.

Q. Do neon signs explode?

A. No they do not.

Air pressure is 1013.25 millibars at sea level, a neon tube is manufactured under a vacuum and then filled to a maximum pressure of up to 25 millibars in small diameter tubes and around 5 millibars for larger diameter tubes.

Therefore a neon tube when broken technically implodes and sucks air into the tube, however this is not a spectacular event and does not result in the expulsion of glass everywhere.

Q. Will my neon sign cause a fire?

A. Neon is no more likely to cause a fire than any other electrical item.

We install and manufacture correctly, using parts that meet and are constructed to EU and UK safety regulations. If there is a fault with a neon sign, it should be switched off and repairs carried out as necessary by a qualified technician, as you would with any electrical product before putting back in to use.

This should be done before attempting to use the sign, as more problems may occur if the sign is used when faulty. Neon signs imported from outside the EU can be sub-standard in quality and safety.

Our neon sign safety

A1deSIGNS creates each and every one of its neon signs in-house. Our signs are made from glass tubes and depending on the colour of the sign, a clear, powder coated glass or coloured glass will be used.

The signs are then filled with neon or argon gas, which depends on what the final colour needs to be. Once the signs are complete, they are extremely safe and should have a long lifespan if they are well looked after.

We hope you found this post helpful? Check out more of our neon articles here. And please drop us a line if you’d like to chat about any of the details we’ve covered or to find out more about how our variety of neon solutions can help your business.

Facts About Neon

NEON: There is only one type of neon. Hand made from straight lengths of glass that are heated over a flame and blown into while being bent to shape. It’s not made by a machine or mass produced… it’s an art form.

As experts in the concept, design, manufacture and installation of all things neon – A1DeSIGNS is constantly being asked questions about our specialist subject.

There’s plenty of misconceptions and myths surrounding neon… so we’ve put together a series of factual answers to common, technical questions and queries we’re frequently asked. We hope you find this useful…

What is the life expectancy of neon tubes?

The life expectancy of a tube pumped with pure neon depends on a few factors; whether the tube stays sealed and unbroken, whether there are enough ions remaining in the tube for it to strike and as long as it does not suffer an electrode breakdown.

This can be many years. However, the argon pumped tubes can suffer from electrode erosion and have a useful life expectancy of over 40,000 hours. Tubes have been known to last a great deal longer than this.

In 2012 an article in the Daily Mail wrote about some neon tubes that were found in the USA that had been running constantly for 77 years.

Fluorescent coated tubes do however suffer from a decrease in light output over time (lumen depreciation), LEDs also suffer from this as well, but are more greatly affected than neon by heat.

Is the life expectancy of neon tubes affected by being switched on and off?

The effect of switching neon on and off repeatedly is negligible on its life span.

We hope you found this post helpful? Check out more of our neon articles here. And please drop us a line if you’d like to chat about any of the details we’ve covered or to find out more about how our variety of neon solutions can help your business.

How to Style Custom Neon Lights

Custom neon lights are a huge style statement, whether they are for your bar, restaurant or your home…

Picture Perfect Neon Lights

Over the last few years, custom neon lights has become more and more popular and demand has gone through the roof. It has taken off so much thats is now the latest trend across Instagram and is now featuring across home interior shows and commercial branding and interior design talks.

Neon really is the go-to accessory for your home and workplace!

Top of Trends; Neon!

Senior buyer of Debenhams, Claire Woodward has taken the neon trends in her stride by ensuring that they provide enough neon lighting and signage for everyone, in all colours and designs.

Many famous people are jumping head over heels for the trend as the Beckhams’ have recently invested in a custom neon signage piece, Lady Gaga was right behind them by purchasing her own statement neon light, and the British supermodel Kate Moss reportedly spent £100,000 on a custom neon sign of her own signature. Singer and Author Tom Fletcher, also has installed neon lighting in his home as a feature piece and talking point.

But it’s not just celebrities that are taking neon home, commercial and retail giants like Superdry and Topshop have also had neon lights and signage commissioned from A1deSigns to install in their larger stores in and around London.

Bars are opting for the classic ‘Cocktails’ sign that is synonymous by the Tom Cruise film of the same name, restaurants are opting for neon lights and signs to direct people around the restaurant and showcase what they have on offer, like this one who installed a ‘Budweiser’ sign in their establishment, and coffee signs to show that bars also do hot drinks as part of their drinks menu.

There are a range of uses for these signs in your workplace such as;

• Toilet signs
• Direction signs
• Bar signs
• Logo signs
• Diner signs
• Mood lighting
• Wall features
• Branding signs
• Product signs
• Open & Closed signs
• Quote & positive message signs
• Kitchen signs
• Slogan signs
• External signs and arrows pointing to the entrance
• Decorations such as Flamingo or palm tree design neon lighting

Choosing your Neon Lights

When it comes to your home, you have just as many possibilities, whether that be features, decorations, logos and more. You can create your very own unique and bespoke neon sign for any location, work or home.

The effects of neon lights and signage speak for themselves in terms of impact on the overall design of a room or commercial setting. We love creating new and bespoke designs so why not invest in one today and take your interior design to the next level.

Contact our team today for more information on how we can help you create your dream neon sign.

Neon lighting: America is Bringing It Back

When you picture neon lighting, some may think of the LED neon lighting or Neon Signage that is often used in pubs, bars and restaurants. However, many others will harp back to a more nostalgic time of the 1930’s, 40’s, 50’s and 60’s, picturing the iconic neon lighting of Las Vegas, America. Or the Sunset Strip and the nights that never end in the casinos that never close.

Those iconic signs were thought to be lost to a time gone by, but a team of people based in Vegas have been restoring as many of the neon signs as possible but not in ways you might think. Taking today’s technology and putting it to fantastic use. The team have managed to recreate the infamous signs through augmented reality and let the lights shine bright once again.

This is a major sign of the times when neon was at its peak in popularity. It has made a comeback and reached those heights once more, thanks to the new technology allowing them to be projection mapped as part of an installation at a Neon Museum in America.

Those neon signs that once drew visitors to Vegas, are now able to draw more visitors to the Museum and bring that nostalgia of a neon lit vegas back to life. The signs on display include the red ‘Lady Luck’ sign, Binions Horseshoe and the ‘Star’ part of the iconic ‘Stardust’ sign (they don’t have the ‘dust’ part of the sign available to recreate using this type of augmented reality).

The whole project was able to be put together thanks to the use of drones that filmed each and every element of the signs, each bulb, corner and crevasse to be able to recreate the signs in extraordinary detail. This also helped with the elements that were missing, for example, those that were missing bulbs then were able to be ‘put back in place’ thanks to the digital imagery catalogue.

Since being introduced to the world in 1893 at the World Fair in Chicago, Neon signs have seen many rises in popularity over the years, but no location has been more synonymous than Vegas with the bright colours of neon.

Neon signage is on an upwards turn in terms of popularity and this is simply highlighted by the demand for these infamous relics of American history to be ‘lit’ once again. This is a trend that is continuing over here in the UK with massive increase in demand for neon signs for bars, clubs and restaurants. Once again being used to attract the crowds, neon is working its magic and becoming the go to for external signs. Some are taking the trend to the next level by installing these brilliant signs inside to create a retro feel.