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So I came across this over the weekend on Sloan LED's Sign Box II and thought I'd post here for anyone interested to kick it around on their spare time. I didn't even have to do much on this one myself but one thing I did see on the Fluorescent side of things is a lot of fumbling around for something that is pretty simple with the simplest kind of knockdown raceway that anyone can just about pick up from their local hardware stores these days. I thought I would finish, or tell the rest of the story not mentioned, and that's what our expected cost would be using one over the other to save in time and what our customer will expect to pay for it. The Time Elapsed Video The final product with time Let's break this down on cost, and cost of operation and take a look at what we just saw and how it relates to our cost, what we will have to sell it for, and what the consumer will have to pay for. Let's just call this a 6' x 5' double sided cabinet. MATERIALS SHOP COST LIGHT SOURCES (30') 5) 6' Fluorescent T12 800ma Lamps - $6.04 each x 5 = $30.20 5) 6' Fluorescent T8 800ma Lamps - $22.00 each x 5 = $110.00 (Long Life Lamps) SignBoxII 20' Roll @ $390.54 each x 2 = $781.08 10' left over, or waste ($195.27) LAMP SOCKETS / CLAMPS/BRACKETS 10) HO Sockets $1.35 each x 10 = $13.50 Sloan LED's SignBox II LED Bag of 16 SignBox Clamps = $21.84 Brackets $7.62 each x 10 = $76.20 POWER SUPPLIES 1) HO Ballast (48' Load) = $62.95 2) Sloan LED Power Supplies $54.05 each x 2 = $108.10 POWER 8 Hours a day, 365 days a year. Annual cost of operation. T12 10.7 watts per foot x 30' = 321 watts 321 watts x 8hours x 365 days x $.12kwh / 1050 power correction = $107.12 annual cost of operation for 8 hours a day T8 8.37 watts per foot x 30' = 251.25 watts 251.25 watts x 8hours x 365 days x $.12kwh / 1050 power correction = $83.84 annual cost of operation for 8 hours a day Sloan LED's SignBox II 6 modules per foot @ .9 watts = 5.4 watts/foot x 30 = 162 watts 162 watts x 8hours x 365 days x $.12kwh / 1050 power correction = $54.06 annual cost of operation for 8 hours a day TOTAL SYSTEM COST BEFORE LABOR T12 = $106.65 T8 = $186.45 Sloan LED's SignBox II = $987.22 SAVING IN COST OF OPERATION Sloan LED's SignBox II vs T12 49% or $53.06 savings using SignBox in annual cost of operation Sloan LED's SignBox II vs T8 35% or $29.78 savings using SignBox in annual cost of operation MATERIAL COST SAVINGS T12 vs Sloan LED's SignBox II = $880.57 89% Saving using a T12 system vs Sloan LED's SignBox II T8 vs Sloan LED's SignBox II = $800.77 81% Saving using a T12 system vs Sloan LED's SignBox II CONSUMER RETURN ON INVESTMENT USING Sloan LED's SIGNBOX II T12 $880.57 Material Cost Saving / $54.06 Cost of Operation = 16.28 Years T8 $800.77 Material Cost Saving / $29.78 Cost of Operation = 29.55 Years VIDEO SAVING TIME 26 minutes 34 seconds 1 man labor at Journeyman = $33.00 per hour / 2 1/2 hour = $16.50 saving in labor using SignBoxII Now for the question to all of you. How much would you sell that 6'x5' (30sq') double sided cabinet for with simple faces (White with black lettering) as a Fluorescent and as a Sloan LED's SignBox II System fabrication & installation? What will your profit margin be? As a sign shop are we making money paying for and using a higher cost system? In the amount of time it takes to fabricate a complete sign cabinet are we loosing out on money keeping it conventional which has the lower cost and more proprietary (custom)? Now slightly away from this subject an in another subject to think about. What's to keep our trade to becoming as a commodity where the consumer can just go to HomeDepot and put their own LED system in where they just peel and stick? Now a day even schools have wide format printers, so vinyl and printing aren't really apart of the sign trade anymore. The only thing that's left IMO is sign painting, conventional back-lighting and Neon. When it comes to a mom & pop store sign just about anyone now a day can keep up a sheet of plex, anyone can print film, and just about anyone can pick up LEDs from a lighting store. What will keep our industry as a trade and be turned into a commodity which is the direction being pushed by those outside of our trade ? Large sign programs? Are we killing our own trade by not building unique and proprietary signs that does save money for us and the consumer? just some thoughts I'd throw out there since so many light source manufacturers are trying to dictate to the sign shop labor and cost and what they should be charging for retrofits like Ventex markets Are we soon to be just the middleman, the means for manufacturers to sell their products