Iconic sign gets LED makeover

In a move towards energy efficiency and the demonstrable use of progressive technology, the famous Gillette sign which sits atop a manufacturing plant owned by Proctor and Gamble in the USA has had the fluorescent neon lighting which previously powered it exchanged in favour of thousands of LEDs.

The frame of the sign has been left intact, but now more than fourteen thousands LEDs are illuminating the newly restored piece of marketing heritage.

The sign itself was created to identify the Gillette World Shaving Headquarters, based in South Boston. The sign has been given a makeover as a small part of what has been a total renovation of the plant itself.

The 16 foot tall letters stretch for about 400 feet along the roof of the plant and in the past a total of more than 500 feet of neon tubing was used to illuminate the sign. This cost its owners around �20,000 each year in electricity bills and maintenance, but the new LED sign is considerably cheaper and greener to run, with running costs reduced to a little over �3000 each year.

With all of the installation costs totalled up and a grant provided in order to support the renovation of the sign, its owners at Proctor and Gamble will be able to recover the costs in energy savings after just three years of the LED signs operation.

It was not only the neon lights that had to be replaced, but also the face material that covered the sign in its previous form. The construction only took about a month to complete and it was begun in December 2009 and completed on schedule in early January 2010.

Many iconic signs and lighting displays are having their inefficient older technologies replaced by LED display systems, the Gillette sign being the latest in what is set to be a growing trend.