Signage & Branding – can LED strips be used for fascias and displays?
If you’re creating illuminated signs and displays, then LED strip lights are a great solution.
In the past, neon lighting and cathode tubes were the popular options for storefront signage and fascias. But not anymore.
- simple installation and control
- bright and brilliant
- low maintenance
- energy efficient and economical
- safe
- competitive cost
- waterproof options for outdoor installations
- flexible and adaptable – fits anywhere
- wide selection of available colours and brightness
Simple installation and control
You can simply light up new commercial signs and channel lettering with bright, reliable LED strip lights from InStyle. Or update/replace your existing neon or fluorescent tubes with no fuss.
LED tape strips are quick and easy to fit. Each comes with its own 3M self-adhesive backing, making for simple installation. On wet or uneven surfaces unsuitable for adhesive, you can use glue or screw-in clips instead.
Bright and brilliant
LED strip lights can produce very high light levels. InStyle’s 24-watt white LED tape, for example, outputs an impressive 2,400 lumens/metre (warm white) or 2,600 l/m (pure white). Check our product pages for other values.
Low maintenance
LED signage is long-lasting and requires very little maintenance. This means you’ll save on repairs and service. InStyle’s high-quality Epistar LEDs have a life expectancy of 50,000 hours @ 70% brightness – running 12 hours a day, that’s more than a decade of reliable lighting! Compare that to the life of older lighting technologies, and you’ll see why LEDs have become such a popular choice.
Energy efficient and economical
If your signage is illuminated many hours a day, then economy and efficiency are big factors. Compared with other lighting systems, LEDs draw a very small amount of power – and yet they can still deliver exceptional illumination. Choose your LED strips wisely, and you can light up your sign or fascia with less power than it takes to light a single traditional bulb!
You can be sure that your LED signage will save you money for years to come.
Safe
LED strip lights for signage are not just simple and economical – they’re also safer than many other commercial lights. InStyle’s LEDs run at just 12 volts or 24 volts so they’re virtually risk-free, and they have no sealed gas, no fragile filaments and no moving parts in LED strip lighting. This minimises injury risk while installing, because there’s no worry about accidentally breaking or damaging your lights.
And because they are so efficient, LEDs produce very little wasted heat. An LED strip that uses the correct PCB (printed circuit board) – like those supplied by InStyle – provides its own safe heat dispersal for most lighting installations. So your signage can be less bulky without overheating.
Waterproof options for outdoor installations
You can order your LED strips in waterproof versions (rated IP67 on the Ingress Protection scale). This makes them reliable in outdoor locations – ideal for exterior signage.
Flexible and adaptable – fits anywhere
Because its strips and power supplies are extremely modular, LED lighting installations are scalable. You can cut new strips to length and fit them to existing transformers, or add extra transformers and controllers very easily.
Wide selection of available colours and brightness
InStyle supply LEDs in a wide selection of colours, to suit all your signage-lighting needs. You can choose from white LEDs (warm or pure shades) or single-colour LEDs (red, green, blue or amber).
Or choose our colour-changing range (RGB or RGBW versions available) – these LED strips can mix and output any light colour you want at the touch of a controller. With them, you can create millions of brilliant colours for individual letters or whole signs and fascias.
How to choose the right LED strip lights for your signage
Small LED signage installations (less than 3m square)
For display lighting, small signs and panels, you should choose LED strip lights in the 5-watt to 15-watt range. These are a great choice for storefront signage and fascias, bright enough to give you even illumination without shadows or hot spots. If you’re installing exterior signage, we recommend you use our waterproof (IP67) strips.
Large LED signage installations (bigger than 3m square)
For larger signs, we recommend our brighter LED strip lights – from 12W up to our high-brightness 24-watt products. These are perfect for bigger, brighter signage.
4 steps to perfect LED signage
These steps will help you select the right LED strip light you need for your signage installation:
- Will your LED strip lights will be exposed to rain or other moisture? If the answer’s ‘yes’, you should choose from our range of IP67 waterproof LED strips.
- Now consider the type of LED lights. How bright do your LEDs need to be? What light colour(s) do you want?
Brightness & colour
- For in-store displays or subtle backlighting, choose 10-watt LED tape if you want white lights (you may even get away with the 5W option for small displays, also available in a single-colour version). For RGB colour-changing accent lighting, you’ll find that our 7.5-watt LED tapes are ideal.
- For stronger backlighting, 15W LED tape products (available in white, single-colour or RGB versions) will likely be right for your needs.
- For very high-brightness signage, the answer is InStyle’s 20W white or 20W RGBW (red/blue/green/white) colour-changing LED strips. Or for even more power, check out our brilliant 24W version (only available in white), which produces up to a massive, intense 2,600 lumens per metre. This is enough to produce extremely bright signage solutions – and it’s really not expensive!
- Next, it’s time to work out how much LED tape you’ll need. You can buy your strip lights by the reel (most of our LED tape reels are 5 metres on length, except for our 24V 7.5-watt RGB tape, which comes in 10m reels). Or let us know the exact lengths your project needs, and we’ll cut your LED strips ready for you to fit.
- We’ll not only cut your LED strips, we can also solder any additional connections you require. (If you need flexible cables to connect your LED tapes around corners, for example.) So work out the extra connections you want and let us know when you order. Or if you prefer, we can supply you with solderless connectors, so you can connect your LED strips yourself.
Types of LED sign lights
The most common LED lighting technologies used in signage are described below. LED lighting solutions are available for exterior (wet) locations as well as interior (dry) locations. All products below are available directly from InStyle LED.
LED modules for signage
LED modules strung together in a chain arrays are a great option for illuminating signage lettering. Because of their very high flexibility, these LED strings can be easily installed along curved and straight channel letter surfaces.
LED wall washer
InStyle’s RGB wall washer is a great way to throw LED colour onto your signage. With 24 energy-saving RGB LEDs mounted per metre, each with a 45-degree optic lens to extend its light, wall washers are designed to give you a high-powered colour wash that can easily illuminate several metres down walls or across ceilings. They create very flat area lighting, perfect for illuminating posters, visitor information panels, and fast food store menus.
These sealed units are waterproof and dustproof (IP67-rated), making them ideal for both internal and external signage.
LED strip lights for signage
LED strip lights are flexible PCB tapes. Typically supplied by the roll and fixed in place with their own 3M adhesive backing, LED strips enable you to create very long straight runs of light. LED strip lights are less well suited for curved surfaces than LED module strings – bear this in mind when planning and designing your lighting installation.
InStyle’s LED strips have from 60 to 240 LEDs mounted per metre (depending on output brightness), and emit light over a 120° beam angle. They can be cut to length (cut point spacing varies for different types of LED tape). Use LED strip lights for signage applications like:
- front/side lighting of signage (panels and lettering)
- wrapping around signage units
- coving and channel lighting
If you’re a signage specialist, check out our range of 5mm narrow-width LED tapes. Specifically designed for signage, fascias and other applications with narrow ridges or cut-outs, these LED tapes have a compact profile which gives more leeway when you are positioning them. For this reason, they produce the best effect in acrylic signage lettering and bespoke brand logos.
LED fascia & signage ideas
LED fascias and other exterior signage can be designed and installed to offer your store or business an attractive appearance to set you apart from the competition. LEDs can do everything from colour-washing the most basic aluminium sign tray or acrylic panelling, through to fully illuminating your office fascias with halo lights, lettering, and strip lighting.
For some great ideas, see the LED signage installation pics below:
Standard fascia signs
Use an LED wall washer, a string of LED modules or LED strip lighting to enhance any standard aluminium sign tray, vinyl or raised (stand off) lettering.
High-impact signage
Create a high impact look with very bright LED strip lighting, LED wall washers and LED spots / ground lights.
Projecting signs
Projecting signs with LED illumination are a great way to draw attention to an otherwise flat storefront or fascia.