How Much Do You Know about Neon Strips ?
October 27, 2023
What is LED Neon?
LED Neon Flex is a special designed strip light encapsulated inside of a milky plastic or silicone molding. The molding diffuses the strip light which projects the light with not visible dots or hot spots. The light output is similar to a traditional neon tube but does not have any of the harsh gases, chemicals, or finicky transformers required for conventional neon lighting. Our strip lights are 24VDC low voltage and have a 50,000 hour lifetime rating, sure enough to last a lifetime. They are an eco-friendly and cost effective solution for many linear lighting projects and basically take the necessity of using costly aluminum channels and covers to create light runs with no visible dots or hot spots.Neon LED strips have gained popularity worldwide and are used in various countries. However, the level of popularity may vary depending on cultural preferences, trends, and local demand for such lighting solutions.
Neon Rope Light Advantages
Light emitting diodes (LED) have been around for nearly 40 years now. You see them popping up in more places every year. A recentdevelopment of LED tech introduced them for use as standard light fixture bulbs. These work by using dozens of smaller lights to create the desired brightness.
Engineers designed LED neon rope light configurations specifically to replace traditional glass neon. They took the energy efficient LED and strung them together in tubing that amplifies the light. This created a cheaper and more reliable alternative to glass neon.
LED replacements for many lighting applications continue to increase because, in the end, LED just works better. Let’s go over the advantages that LED specifically has over glass neon.
1. Flexibility
The clearest advantage of LED neon rope light systems comes from the flexible tubing that houses it. Glass neon requires tools and equipment to shape and therefore must be built by craftsmen or professionals.
Creating a design with LED rope only takes the imagination and will to do so. The material is lightweight and doesn’t heat up. Breaking an LED light rope takes a lot of effort and usually cutting tools.
The flexibility also aids when using a neon rope light for floor decorating. No need to fear stepping on the flexible plastic material — it won’t break.
They make great runners for stairs or along sharp corners because they can bend and contort to the desired shape. They can also add an additional buffer of protection against wear on the edges of steps or carpet thresholds.
2. Easy Installation
Installation procedures don’t require special teams either. No more dedicated wall space and a team to secure the sometimes heavy, and always fragile, glass neon. No more fear of broken glass spilling mercury or fluorite gas into the air.
While you can buy some pre-built kits which will include a neon rope light or two and some brackets, it is just as easy to do with basic tools.
Some zip ties and nails make almost any configuration of light possible, and they are easy to remove and reuse.
Glue, tape, or other adhesives can be used to hold the ropes in place, depending on the surface. Some rope light strips come with an adhesive layer ready to go.
Consumers sometimes worry about doubling up effects. These can occur when running rope lights around themselves to form letters or to cover larger areas. Doubling up on a neon rope light has a minimal effect in creating more brightness because the plastic housing also gets doubled.
3. Brighter
LED lights create more lumens per foot by nearly double. Some users appreciate that neon offers a more continuous light look, while LED has brighter and darker spots. However, from a distance and with newer housing, the light diffusion with LED excels across the board.
Up close, glass neon also features dark spots and bright spots as the gas inside excites unevenly. Mostly this is due to temperature and curvature changes in the glass which allow more or less gas inside the chamber.
LED neon rope light customers often look for softer glows that can be used as comfort or mood lighting. But other applications of LED, especially flashlights, show the superiority of LED bulbs.
4. Longer Life Span
As a solid-state semiconductor, LED uses less power to create the same lumens. This makes LED last longer because less wear occurs on each of the lights. The lights also share the workload over a larger surface area, so they shoulder less of the work.
Together these two features enable LED to glow brightly for upwards of three times longer than traditional glass neon.
Glass neon suffers from a multitude of problems for longevity. One comes from the fragile nature of glass. Also, neon works via exciting gasses in a tube.
The electrodes exciting the gas, depending on the shape, can be a long distance from the gas in the middle. To reach the middle of a shape may require more power to be pushed along to gain the same effective brightness. A lot of that power gets lost as waste heat at the tubes’ ends, which causes them to deteriorate more quickly.
5. Energy Efficiency
The same technology and features that create the longer lifespan for LED contribute to better energy efficiency. Less overall power requirement for the same brightness saves money. Not needing to replace lights also saves materials, which saves in manufacturing.
Heat loss concerns don’t pop up in LED neon rope light like they do in traditional glass neon. Glass neon also requires kilovolts of energy to power, which requires dedicated circuits the same as a cooking stove or clothes dryer.
Conclusion
Lights have come a long way over the past 100 years. Now, decorative lighting designs can fit any vision. Consumers find it difficult to make a choice between traditional and modern styles. When choosing lights for home decor, the options can easily overwhelm. But neon strip always popular in markets. You can make use of Neon LED strip both indoors and outdoors.