What's the difference between traditional glass neon and LED neon?

The main differences between glass neon signs and LED neon signs are:

• Affordability: LED neon signs are cheaper than glass neon signs and easier to replace light tubes. Glass neon signs are pricier to purchase and costly to repair.
• Durability: LED neon flex is made of high quality, flame retardant PVCs and is flexible. Traditional neon signs are made of fragile, breakable glass that shatters easily.
• Energy Efficiency: LED neon signs have a low power usage with an input voltage of 24V/120V whereas the traditional glass version uses an input voltage of 3KV-18KV.
• Safety / Suitability for Home Decor: The lower voltage means LED flex signs remain cool to the touch and there’s no glass to break. Glass neon signs are not usually considered suitable for homes with children due to the safety risks from breakages, mercury and neon gas.
• Ease of Installation: LED neon signs generally do not require a specialist installation team. Unless they're very large or you need them to be installed in a specific manner, they can be hung or wall mounted as you would any other piece of wall art. The weight, fragility, and power requirements of traditional glass tube neon signs usually require specialist installation.
• Easy to Maintain: Neon look LED signs are practically maintenance free. Depending on the placement and climate, traditional glass neon light signs will require maintenance which must be carried out by a trained professional.
• Lightweight & Portable: LED flex is considerably lighter than glass neon tubes making LED signs lightweight enough to use just about anywhere including bedroom décor, portable party lights, for events, and much more.
• Noise: LED neon signs are very quiet and produce virtually no buzzing sound. Glass neon signs, on the other hand, are famous for "the buzz".
• Interference: LED flex signs will not cause interference with your TV, Wifi, etc... Glass neon signs can cause interference with infrared remote controls.
• Brightness: 210 Lm/m makes LED flex neon brighter than traditional glass neon which produces a warmer light at 197 Lm/m.
• Lifespan: LED neon flex signs will keep shining for approximately 100,000 hours of use. Glass neon signs offer approximately 10,000 hours of use.
• Nostalgic Appeal: The vintage neon look can be recreated using LED flex but it won’t be exactly the same.

We’ve highlighted the differences we are most frequently asked about in our Glass Neon vs LED Neon Signs infographic page.