Environmentally Friendly Exit Signs Vs Conventional Types: Which Is Better?

By: L.Steven Sanders

The environmental and economic price of incandescent lighting leads many organizations to replace it with other lighting, even incandescent exit signs with ones that use less energy, a switch that reduces annual electric cost while reducing carbon pollution. Yet, there aren't just one or two eco friendly exit signs on the market. Actually, there are four or five kinds of exit signs that are commonly promoted as replacements for incandescent ones in the name of cost savings minimizing carbon pollution: compact fluorescent, LED, Tritium, and photoluminescent. So, which is truly the best for environmental surroundings and your yearly electricity bill? Why don't we look at them to see.

Compact Fluorescent

Compact fluorescent models are an improvement over incandescent ones, consuming 21 Watts for an actual 10-year electrical price of $184, when compared with 40 Watts and $350 for incandescent. Just like incandescent lights, compact fluorescent models call for maintenance on lamps, batteries, and wiring. Add it all up and a compact fluorescent sign will cost you $894 over a 10-year period, a far cry from the $1,465 necessary to maintain an incandescent one within the very same period of time.

LED Models

LED models consume 5 Watts for a 10-year electrical expense of $53, considerably more productive than a compact fluorescent sign. Additionally, they have a 10-year operating cost of only $370. By far the most eco-friendly and price efficient electrical exit sign, LED signs still have the downside of being electric, and some are made to where a single LED light bulb failure causes the entire sign to go dark, a scary prospect in case of evacuations triggered by falling debris.

Tritium

Tritium models will cost you absolutely nothing in electricity, and their maintenance requires merely a $75 per sign disposal fee. Associated with that fee, however, is radioactive technology which makes them among the least eco friendly technologies available on the market. The radioactive capsules that power Tritium signage are encased in shockproof containers. Nevertheless those containers need to go someplace after fulfilling their lifespan. If you care about environmental surroundings, Tritium technology isn't an option.

Photoluminescent Models

Photoluminescent models require absolutely no maintenance or electrical power. But unlike Tritium models, they're non-toxic and 100 % recyclable. Photoluminescent signage works by the basic principle of photoluminescence, which takes place when an object absorbs photons from ambient light and then emits them under darkened conditions, making a bright glowing effect. Today's photoluminescent products can easily glow for 96 hours in complete darkness.

The Exact Value of Exchanging Incandescent With Photoluminescent

If your building offers incandescent signage, changing to photoluminescent signage delivers a significant financial benefit. A current energy efficiency study shows that buildings that replace 100 incandescent signs with photoluminescent ones can save over $3,500 annually in electricity costs alone. Photoluminescent signage can be bought from businesses that sell eco friendly exit signage and photoluminescent safety tapes which often include a non-slip coating.

While conducting research for this article, I learned about photoluminescent suppliers and photoluminescent films & tapes at www.Jessupmfg.com.