While it makes perfect sense for retail and commercial companies to keep signage lit throughout the night, this has historically consumed a significant amount of energy – ensuring bills remain high and lighting quality remains low.

Alexi Romano, CEO of Romano Signs says that they have been using LED’s to illuminate their clients’ signage since 2001. ‘It is now our standard, although by no means our exclusive way of back illuminating signs,’ says Alexi. ‘Although LEDs are more expensive upfront, it has a ‘pay-back’ of approximately five years, in terms of savings in maintenance and power consumption,’ concludes Alexi.

Romano Signs, one of Africa’s biggest signage companies, recently worked on a large-scale project for a major client, which saw some 200 to 300 of stores receiving revamped signage. LED Lighting SA, who have been working with Romano Signs for a number of years were chosen as the preferred supplier for the LED components on these projects.

The two companies work well together and they both follow stringent testing methods in order to achieve a consistent spread of light, a consistent spread of colour and most importantly, a sign that reflects the client’s precise corporate colours – during the day as well as the night. In addition to this, Alexi points out, ‘there needs to be a sufficient level of brightness in order to give a crisp edge to the client’s logo and lettering.’

On the whole, Romano Signs use white LEDs for back-lighting their signs and in order to deliver a consistent and precise product, tests are conducted to determine the optimal depth of the sign as well as the density of LED lamps that are placed in the sign.

Pierre Van Helden, head of Business Development at LED Lighting SA, stresses the importance of trusting the manufacturer of the LED product to ensure that all LEDs have a consistent output. LED Lighting SA monitors this very closely, keeping a record of bin numbers on all their stock.

‘For quality to be remembered, it must be consistent’ says Pierre. ‘Signage companies need to be able to purchase the same white colour and intensity over time, thus not only ensuring consistency in the initial application, but also making it possible to ensure that the same LED can be supplied again when the need arises.’

This, says Pierre, is where LED Lighting SA has a definite competitive edge. Currently, LED Lighting SA uses Seoul Semi Conductor LEDs. Seoul Semi Conductor is one of the biggest LED suppliers in the world, with a reputation for manufacturing high quality LEDs and continually delivering a consistent reliable product. This relationship with a globally reputable manufacturer is crucial to LED Lighting SA’s ability to consistently deliver the best possible service. Pierre points out that those clients also need to take into account and appreciate the different qualities of LEDs on the market.

Many clients will look at the intensity of two different products and, not being able to see an apparent visible difference; will then steer towards the cheaper of the two. But what needs to be taken into account is how well the product maintains this intensity over time. Poor quality LEDs have been known to drop in intensity as much as 80% over an eight-month period. This is of great importance in signage applications as the brightness levels are key to maintaining a client’s corporate image.

There are still further considerations to take into account to guarantee even illumination and minimal product failures. These include the use of lower intensity LEDs to ensure even illumination, the spacing of the LEDs in relation to the depth of the sign; resin testing should take place as some LEDs react badly to resins, and finally the use of minimal wiring and maximum wiring size – minimal wiring should be used to avoid the occurrence of dark spots and shadows, whilst the use of a thicker wire ensures a longer life span, particularly in signage where the setting is often in an exterior environment.