Shedding Light: The Looming Impact of LED Signage on the Neon Community

The battle between neon and LED lighting first came to my attention on social media. Neon benders such as Bay Areabased Meryl Pataky have been spreading awareness of the environmental and cultural pitfalls of mass-produced LED signs, in contrast to traditional “cold cathode” neon illumination. The growing popularity of LEDs, which stands for Light-Emitting Diodes, has undoubtedly directed revenue away from skilled glassmakers who create neon while also having a greater negative impact on the environment. To top it off, multiple members of the artist collective Pataky founded, She Bends, have pointed out direct plagiarism of their designs by companies manufacturing LED décor lights.

By taking a “rope” or strip of LED lights and flexing it into the shape of lettering, these companies are able to make a product that approximates the appearance of a neon sign. A true neon sign is made by meticulously heating and hand-bending glass tubing into the desired shapes, then sealing the tubes and pumping them full of noble gasses that illuminate when excited by electricity. Pataky and others allege that LED companies have been known to steal the designs of existing neon benders, as well as make fraudulent claims to manufacture real neon. One example of this trend can be seen in the Neon Beach Company, which has gone so far as to put the word “neon” in its name without producing any actual neon. Another tactic commonly used by LED sign companies is to spread false statements that neon signs are toxic, get too hot, are short-lived, or are non-recyclable, all of which are untrue. “They benefit from the out of context and very generalized information that most people know which is that LED is more efficient than incandescent bulbs. Okay, that has nothing to do with neon,” says Pataky.

“Neon signs are sometimes made by larger sign companies, but often by little mom-and-pop shops. These shops are typically located in the towns/cities where the signs will be installed—local people making a local product,” states Dydia DeLyser, Ph.D., a cultural-historical geographer and Associate Professor at California State University, Fullerton. “LEDs, though they may be installed by small sign companies, are produced by major corporations, often global multi-nationals, often based overseas.” This increase in shipping equates to an increase in the carbon footprint of the piece. It also means that when clients go with an LED option, there are fewer jobs for local neon benders. DeLyser believes that a recent cultural interest and revival of neon has helped to counterbalance this effect—but only to a certain extent.

“LED has represented a significant deskilling in a highly skilled industry. A 15-year-old with a glue gun can install LEDs. Not so tube bending,” notes DeLyser. “The technology in today’s neon signs has mostly been around for about a century. There are signs all over the country today that are 90-95 years old and still working outdoors every night. Neon has proven itself to be very, very durable.” Unfortunately, the immediate availability of LEDs has resulted in them becoming an increasingly popular alternative. But are consumers really putting their money into something that will last for decades, the way that neon does? “[LEDs] have been getting more reliable, but typically run into a lot of problems. Since they’re not very old, nobody knows how long they’ll really last,” shares DeLyser.

What is known is that when an LED sign stops working, it is either irreparable or extremely difficult to repair, often resulting in the piece ending up in a landfill, where the plastic signage will live up to its claims of being “indestructible.” Meanwhile, a neon sign can be repaired and re-pumped indefinitely, depending on the color. Even signs that use mercury in multiple units can be maintained and preserved by remaking the problematic components. The website for West Coast Custom Designs LLC, a popular neon supply company, asserts “LED technology is at its infancy. Advances and new generations of LEDs are introduced quite frequently. When a sign has been installed for as little as 1 year, exact replacement LEDs can sometimes be hard to track down.” Furthermore, “New generation LED modules can give off a different color and/or brightness than an earlier generation module,” making exact matches in repairs for LED signage very tricky. Additionally, the older an LED is, the dimmer it becomes, meaning that new LEDs added to an old sign are certain to be brighter than the rest of the unit.

While the plastic used in LED signs will never break down, the raw ingredients of a neon sign, namely glass and noble gasses, are arguably infinitely recyclable. “If you break a neon tube, the gas escapes, returns to the air, and, instantly, is available to be separated again and put into a new tube,” points out DeLyser. Neon tubes typically last thirty to forty years if processed properly because they do not contain filaments to “burn out” the way incandescent bulbs do. The way neon is made has also changed very little since the 1920s, taking the guesswork out of industry standards and methods for repair.

In terms of energy consumption, a video published by The Neon Group conducting side-by-side comparisons of multiple brands of LED lights including Sloan, GE and US LED against white neon tubing is very helpful in understanding the power use of each product relative to cost and brightness. The video demonstrates that when achieving equal brightness within a channel letter, neon consumes fewer watts and has a lower initial install cost than LED. In addition, only one neon tube is needed to create the brightness generated by several modules of LED lights.

From an artistic and aesthetic standpoint, there is also no denying that LEDs lack a certain sense of romance. LEDs produce strong, focused points of illumination. Meanwhile, neon casts its glow 360 degrees around itself, as if the light were coming from a lantern, flooding the area. Even when used in channel letters or other illuminated signs that have a closed face, LEDs can result in blotchy, uneven light quality when compared against the soft, feathery, iconic glow of a neon tube.

If neon gives work to skilled people, is more easily repaired, made of materials that are able to be recycled, lasts longer, is generally more aesthetically pleasing, and typically uses less power to produce equal brightness, why are consumers still going with LED options that might even be works of creative plagiarism? “Material truths are getting fuzzy,” theorizes Pataky. “There is a waning appreciation for craft and trade in the world with more favor towards technology, self-driving and self-diagnosing cars, no more woodshop in schools, etc. With this lack of knowledge around how things are made or what they are made of comes a reasonable assumption that there is a lack of understanding about how these things are discarded and therefore impact the environment.”

Those in the neon industry want to inform their clients of the skill, finesse, and creativity it takes to make real neon well, but the question is, can they continue to expect consumers to wait the time necessary and pay the money appropriate for benders to create pieces? “One of the reasons why these LED Flex sign companies do so well is because they make ordering a custom sign SO EASY online. Neon sign shops and our suppliers are stuck in the 80s. You have to call almost everyone, correspondence is slow. There’s so much back and forth with custom work. People want to click and buy these days and even many of our [neon] material vendors still don’t have online stores!” admits Pataky.

Aside from adapting to become more consumer-friendly, it seems another key is to get the correct information out there, and to fight against the torrent of false notions being spread amongst consumers about neon lighting. West Coast Custom Designs LLC has published information on their website comparing neon to LED lighting that is often cited by the community when arguing neon’s superiority to LED options. The Neon Group is another organization whose website lists several resources and reports comparing the cost, energy usage and sustainability of LED and neon in various scenarios of application.

Finally, some benders have begun to take matters into their own hands by filing reports to directly call out false claims made by LED companies. Catherine Spink of Neon Creations UK has spearheaded reports to the Advertising Standards Agency concerning fraudulent usage of the word “neon” to describe an LED product, and Pataky intends to begin a similar initiative in the United States. “I plan to compile information and resources for this, especially since the FTC has strict guidelines for companies making “green” or “ecofriendly” claims.”

Ultimately, glass benders hope that space is held for neon in our culture through an increased awareness of how real neon lights are made. Maintaining enthusiasm for ideas like shopping local, valuing skilled labor, and behaving in ways that limit environmental impact will also prove important if we are to preserve this unique trade and artform.