Carousel Lights: Outdoor Neon Signs in Hospitality
Outdoor neon signs are a great way to catch the attention of pedestrians passing by and guests on their way in. Many restaurants, bowling alleys, hotels, and recreational spots or hangouts use neon signage to brighten up the exterior areas and improve the ambience, especially in the evenings when it’s easy for a business to blend in and miss new customers. If you’re in the service industry and you’re looking for ways to improve your space so that you can bring more footfall through the door, it’s a good idea to consider using outdoor neon signs to stand out among the crowd and grow your business.
What Are Outdoor Neon Signs?
Outdoor neon signs are glass tubes filled with neon gas, which illuminate a space with an ambient glow. These tubes can be easily customised with unique lettering to create a personalised message that speaks to the restaurant and its goals. To be installed in a safe and secure way, outdoor signs must be carefully planned from start to finish, with power sources, mounting, location and maintenance all considered beforehand. If these aspects are handled attentively, then neon signs have the potential to last for many years.
If you don’t want to go the route of traditional neon signs, you can opt for an energy-efficient alternative with LED replica neon signs to produce a similar effect. LED signs are perfect for eco-conscious businesses looking to reduce energy consumption.
How Do You Install Outdoor Neon Signs?
The first step to making and designing long-lasting exterior neon signs is to determine a location to mount the sign, preferably somewhere that is not overly exposed to harsh weather or sunlight. This location should also be placed close to a power source with a reliable electrical outlet.
After the preparation has been completed and you’ve found the perfect spot to secure your new outdoor neon sign, you can get ready to purchase and mount the signage. At this point, you can ask your supplier for any needed assistance with purchasing the right brackets. Or, alternatively, if you are not keen for wall-mounting, then you also have the option of setting up a hanging sign or a freestanding sign. Once all of this has been locked in, you can look forward to guests and staff loving the new and impressive look and feel that the space now offers. From there, it’s just a simple matter of maintenance and care, which will usually not entail anything more than double-checking waterproofing seals or removing dust and debris.
Advantages of Having Outdoor Neon Signs
There are many pros to having outdoor signs at your bar, restaurant, bowling alley or whatever other hangout you may be hosting. Decor makes a huge difference in the industry, and is often the thing that makes businesses stand out. If you’re looking for a couple of good reasons to invest in an outdoor neon sign, then consider the following benefits below.
Iconic Cultural Significance
Most of the coolest bars, hangouts, restaurants and bowling alleys are associated with trendy decor and moody lighting. Retro diners, for example, have become an iconic style imitated by many, with particular lighting to match. The appeal of these diners is in their iconic lighting, which are usually shown in bright neon colours above bars or front doors. Bars that dip into this kind of retro appeal usually end up evoking the dazzle of Times Square, Las Vegas or Route 66. These pieces of decor add a vintage feel while emanating cosmopolitan trendiness, creating perfect Instagram-ready moments.
Immediate Recognition
As a business, when you have memorable decor that guests can quickly and easily identify, you’ll slowly start to create a loyal audience. Decor plays a major role in the bigger picture of brand visibility and marketing, both of which are incredibly important in positioning your business amongst the local industry. When it comes to restaurants and bars especially, there is high competition, so a strong marketing strategy can make a big difference. This will not only improve your number of guests, but it will also get you noticed online. Influencers, foodies, online magazines and more will all take notice of your vibe.
Durability and Energy Efficiency
Businesses love these outdoor signage options for their easy maintenance and immediate appeal, but more than that, it’s their energy efficiency that makes these signs both an aesthetic and a practical purchase. Outdoor neon signs have a lower power consumption than most other outdoor alternatives, including incandescent bulbs. They do all of this all while offering 360-degree illumination, leaving a cool glow on everything, and yet still lasting up to ten years or more. These outdoor signs are also much safer, allowing for reduced threat of overheating which can lead to fire risks. For even better energy-consumption, LED neon signs can be used.
Customisation and Personalisation
Thanks to the options to customise lettering, there is ample room to decipher exactly how you’d like to communicate with your guests. Maybe you use your slogan, your company name or you go a step further and evoke a call to action. Whatever you choose, it can be the deciding factor in how your guests come to recognise your space and the sense of welcome that they feel. This eye-catching attraction will definitely help to give you a unique energy and set you out among the rest.
Curating Beautiful Restaurants, Bars and More
Most humans are hard at work day in and day out, with little opportunity to rest and relax in between it all. Consequently, we tend to seek out some fun and recreation, often in the form of heading to restaurants, bars and bowling alleys, all synonymous with enjoyment. Today, many of these establishments use outdoor neon signs to set a mood, communicate with patrons, advertise a promotion, and much more. With neon signage in place, businesses can transform any outside areas, whether in a spot for guests to hang out or as a sign to draw more customers in.
Outdoor neon signs, particularly traditional neon signs, add an unmatched retro feel to a businesses, bringing back a nostalgic mood that many long for. Like an old-school diner or roller rink, the illuminating and vibrant glow instantly draws people’s attention and many find themselves fully embracing the mood being set. For hospitality businesses, like restaurants, bars and hotels, adding an outdoor neon sign to a space is an eye-catching backdrop. The right neon sign encourages people to pose in front of the sign and take pictures, which naturally ends up online. As such, neon signs can promote user-generated-content, which essentially means your guests promoting your establishment at no cost to you. Unlike traditional lighting and signage options, neon adds a sense of retro wonder and rustic charm, and you can get as creative as you want with them, allowing you to truly bring your brand image to life from the outside.
Getting an Outdoor Neon Sign For Your Business
We can quickly see the many benefits that outdoor neon signs offer your business, so how do you go about getting one? At Carousel Lights, the process is simple. You send us your design or idea, we prepare a mock design with specs and send it back to for review, and once approved, we get started on making your neon sign based on your vision.
For outdoor neon signs, the process is generally the same as with indoor neon signs, but there are a few additional considerations to keep in mind to make sure they’re suitable for exterior use. The neon glass tubes are produced in the same way as with indoor signs, but it’s incredibly important to let us know at the beginning of the design phase that you’re planning to use a sign outdoors. That way, we can sufficiently prepare and produce a sign of the highest quality.
One of the main differences between indoor and outdoor neon signs lies in the transformer used. As not all of the smaller electronic neon transfers are rated for outdoor use, we use Siet transformers, specifically created for outdoor use. We find that neon signs often need the ability to be dimmed more than indoor neon signs, as the change is ambient brightness is far more noticeable in exterior settings. Carousel Lights can therefore supply you with exterior-rated neon dimmers for your signage if needed.
And if traditional neon signage made from hand-bent glass tubes don’t appeal to you, consider the more energy-efficient LED faux neon signs, which are also perfectly suited for outdoor use.
At Carousel Lights, we have two options for replica neon products: Neon Ultra and Neon SuperFlex. Replica outdoor neon signs are sealed with silicon to ensure that it withstands the outdoor elements so it may be used in exterior locations.
Why Choose Carousel Lights?
The short answer? We’re the best in the business, with decades of combined experience working with some of the world’s leading brands and agencies. As the UK’s most renowned sign maker, we can work from an initial concept to a fully detailed specification to bring your vision to life.
We work with a full range of materials including traditional glass neon, LED neon flex and lightboxes, and are highly skilled at turning complicated designs into real life custom neon signs. Our client base covers industry leaders in Retail, Hospitality, Film and TV, Exhibitions and Fitness. As such, no matter what type of outdoor neon sign you need, we can assist.
Buy Outdoor Neon Signs With Carousel Lights
For all these reasons and more, business owners need to keep in mind the importance of having the right lighting setup for their space. When deciphering where you’ll put your neon signs, or how you’ll install your strip lighting and overheads, don’t forget to take a step back and really consider how this lighting and sign will impact the space overall, and whether or not it will suit your brand, positioning, and long-term market strategy.
With enough careful consideration and thought, you’ll find that the customisation, colour choice and placement of your neon signs will all play a huge part in how your customers react to your exciting new lighting scheme, look and feel. If you’re interested in rejuvenating your space, call Carousel Lights today and see how we can help you transform your restaurants, bars, hotels, bowling alleys, and more.