LED Sign Power Consumption
One of the most important things that should be considered before purchasing an LED sign or LED display is power consumption and electricity ongoing costs. Especially when it comes to high brightness outdoor LED signs, electricity consumption is more of a concern. One of the question we often get asked is, how much is electricity consumption of LED signs? To answer this question, we need to know the electricity consumption of each pixel and number of pixels in the LED sign.
Maximum Electricity Consumption of LED pixels
In theory, LED pixels operate at 5V and pass 20mA of current. Therefore, energy consumption of each pixel will be 5V×20mA=0.1W. knowing the usage of each individual pixel, it is easy calculate total consumption of an LED sign.
Pixel configuration, Scan Driving Method and energy consumption of LED signs
Take a P10 (10mm pixel pitch) full-color outdoor LED sign. The distance between the pixels are 10mm so there are 100×100=10,000 pixel in one square meter and each pixel is made of three red, green and blue pixels. So, we have 30,000 pixels per square meter. Therefore, 30,000 pixel/m2 × 0.1 W/pixel=3000 W/m2. Outdoor LED signs are normally operating on ¼ Scan Driving Method. It means 1 of 4 pixels receive current in same time with high frequency refresh. So, the power consumption would be 3000W/ m2/4=750W/m2. Please note it is the maximum power consumption at maximum brightness.
Energy Saving LED signs
There are some energy saving LED signs with new technology that use lower voltage of 2.8V for LED pixels results in near 50% less energy consumption. But, the question is how much you can save by an energy saving LED sign products. Depends on the electricity rates and total size of your electronic signage, operating an outdoor LED sign with 750W/m2, may cost hundreds of dollar per year. Take a 2m by 1m LED sign, if it operates 24hrs a day and 7 days a week, with average brightness and consumption of 400W/m2, it will be 2 m2×400 W/m2×24hr×365days=7000kW/year. Considering electricity rate of .2 $/kW, it will cost around $1400 per year.
So, energy saving LED sign can save $700 per year for a small 2m by 1m sign. Considering 8-year life-span of LED sign, an energy saving LED sign can save more than $5000 in electricity bill. We provide both normal and energy saving outdoor LED sign cabinets in wide range of sizes and resolutions.
Electricity Costs
Electricity consumption and electricity costs of an LED sign or LED display depends on the resolution, brightness and electricity rate. In the following table you can find an estimation of electricity consumption of indoor and outdoor LED signage. Please note that this table is an estimation of power consumption and depends on product specifications it may be different. Prices are based on average brightness and electricity rates of 2015-2016.
| LED Display Type | Max Brightness |
Average Power Consumption |
Yearly Average Electricity Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| P6 (High Resolution) Outdoor Full-Color |
7000 nits | 375 W/m2 | 650 $/m2 |
| P8 Outdoor Full-Color | 7000 nits | 400 W/m2
| 700 $/m2 |
|
| P10 Outdoor Full-Color | 7000 nits | 450 W/m2 | 790 $/m2 |
| Energy Saving P10 Outdoor Full-Color | 7000 nits | 200 W/m2 | 350 $/m2 |
| Indoor P4 (High Resolution) Full-Color |
1800 nits | 290 W/m2 | 500 $/m2 |
| Indoor P6 Full-Color |
1800 nits | 290 W/m2 | 500 $/m2 |