I love neon, and allways thought it was very power hungry.
And there my friend is the myth - i have heard stories from customers told to them by LED salesmen that neon runs so hot that the aircon in the shopping centres is on full blast.. LED will aleviate this.
heres the facts..
LED requires 12v or 24V DC supply dependant on the number of LED in series. LED MUST have a steady current or you will kill it.... LED is supposed to last 100.000hrs continuous use... in the field 4 - 6 months is typical.
LEd is available with constant current supply - it is very expensive and still not reliable.
The most efficient power supply that i have in my shop for LED draws 1.4A @ 240V and supplies 180W @12V ( 15A).. this will load at 80% and will therefore give a linear length of white LED of 13M tops.
With an iron core transformer - once again loaded to 80% i can supply 13M of white neon with a current input of 1.23A @ 240v.. but to add the light output of neon is 1.5 of that of LED. Already a saving of 40.8W but with 1.5 times the punch
Now if i run my neon with an electronic power supply the same technology that runs LED then for 1.4A i can run a whopping 66M of neon.
neon has been around for over 100 years simply because it has the most punch for dollar - always has been.
Difference is that LED is 12V @ 15A - input 1,4A
Neon is 10,000V @ 30mA input 1.23A Iron core..... 0.4A electronic
Neon High voltage - low current
LED Low voltage - high current.
Oh and just to add neon will outlast ANY LED.. i always give 2 years unconditional guarantee against failure.. last time i spoke to my LED supplier who supplies GE type ( considered the best with CREE chip) his returns after 5 years still remain at around 60%... mine after 5 years are ZERO and i mean ZERO!
