Cost

Although LED's typically have a much higher purchase price, they are far more energy-efficient and longer lasting than their conventional counterparts which leads to lower total costs when factoring in electricity savings and reduced maintenance and disposal costs.

Exit Sign Costs

Currently, LED’s are far more cost efficient than incandescent and fluorescents. They are available in the a variety of styles (including stencil, matrix and edge-lit models) and price levels. In the short term, it may be cheaper to continue using incandescent bulbs in existing incandescent-lit exit signs. However, it is more cost-effective to replace existing incandescent and fluorescent-lit exit signs with new LED exit signs or to upgrade them using an LED retrofit kit.

Energy and Global Warming

Incandescent exit signs typically contain two 15- or 20-watt bulbs that draw 30-40 watts in total, whereas LED exit signs consume as little as less than one watt and no more than 10 watts. Since exit signs are lit all year around, 24 hours per day, each LED exit sign retrofit can save about 300kwh, preventing the release of half a ton of CO2 annually. Replacing incandescent-lit exit signs with new LED signs or retrofitting existing signs to use LED lamps is one of the easiest and most cost effective energy efficiency retrofits available to public and commercial facilities. Fluorescent lamps are another common bulb used in exit lighting, and although more efficient than its incandescent counterpart, they still use up to 10 times more energy than LED exit signs.

Hazardous Substances, Health and Safety

Incandescent signs, which contain lamps that typically have a rated life of 500 to 5000 hours, are likely to become partially or fully unlit more often than LED exit signs, creating safety hazards for building occupants during emergencies, and risking fines by fire marshals. Frequent bulb changing poses occupational risks for workers who must climb ladders to remove fragile glass bulbs that may contain lead solder in their bases. Lead is a known neurotoxin and causes learning and developmental disabilities. Fluorescent lamps used to light exit signs generally have a rated life of 5000 to 10000 hours, which is longer than most incandescent lamps but still far shorter than LED’s, which can last 25 years or more. Replacing fluorescent lamps can expose workers and occupants to mercury, a persistent and bio-accumulative toxic chemical known to cause damage to the brain, nervous system and heart of humans and animals. Mercury can be released during lamp manufacture, storage, transportation, installation, recycling or disposal.

End of Life Management

A typical incandescent exit sign bulb lasts just 500-5000 hours (about 1 – 6 months) and must be replaced about twice per year. In comparison, red and green LED exit sign lamps typically have a rated life of 50,000 to 200,000 hours (6 – 25 years, and some with a 25 year warranty). At the very minimum, 10 incandescent bulbs are disposed of for every one LED required to light the same exit sign.