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Coloring Pittsburgh’s Skyline: Catch the LED Light Show on Gulf Tower


Pittsburgh will probably have the merriest 4th of July this year. With the Six-Story LED Light Show in place at the Gulf Tower, Grant Street and the entire Golden Triangle will witness a livelier skyline from that day on.

According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the KDKA Weather Beacon is set to be lighted at about 10 minutes before the city’s firework display. The top floors of the Gulf Tower will come alive at 9:25pm followed by festive 30-minute light show to celebrate the Beacon’s launch. After the entire fete, the lighting fixture is set to report the weather every half an hour by giving off different light signals. For five minutes, bright lights will display the current range of temperature, precipitation, humidity and wind speed.

It was in 1932 when this idea took off. For several decades, reporting the weather through flashing neon lights was both entertaining and helpful to Pittsburghers. This gave Rugby Realty the confidence to continue their creative public service efforts until energy costs skyrocketed. For a time, operating costs amounted to powering 28 homes. Ballooning expenses from this pursuit prompted the management to switch to high-pressure sodium lights in the ‘70s.

Aside from the weather, the lighting fixtures will also be used to celebrate important holidays including St.Patrick’s Day, Valentine’s Day and Christmas. At least 20 other holidays will be made brighter by the Beacon – except for the Earth Day where it will be turned to off to be one with the event’s cause. Celebrating momentous but spur of the moment sporting highlights like Pirate home runs will also be taken care of by the Beacon. 

The 4 foot long fixtures are fitted with 185 LED lights that are expected to consume only 60 watts of electricity. This energy consumption is a far cry from the 400 watts consume by the 104 high-pressure sodium vapor lights which were previously in place. The LEDs are expected to last for a time since they are rated up to 100,000 hours.

If these gigantic LED light fixtures can save that much electricity, what more can your scrolling LED sign do for your company? Don’t miss out on the chance to put forward an entertaining and cost-effective way to get your customer’s attention. Take your cue for Pittsburgh’s Weather Beacon. 

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