The ROI of LED signage comes down to a handful of numbers you can check before you buy. What it costs to run on your tariff, what it stops you paying for, and how many years to count.
For a Perth business, power is the number that moves the most. This PinnacleLED guide shows how to price each one on WA terms for a business case finance will accept.
What does a watt cost on a Perth power bill?
On Synergy's standard business tariff, every 100 watts running 12 hours a day costs about $132 a year.
The Synergy Business Plan (L1) tariff covers Perth businesses using under 50,000 units a year. From 1 July 2026 it charges 33.13 cents per kWh including GST for the first 1,650 units a day. That's about 30.1 cents once you claim the GST back.
To price any sign, screen or lightbox, use one formula:
Run 100 watts through it for 12 hours a day and you get 438 kWh a year. At 30.1 cents, that's about $132 a year, or about $660 over five years at today's rate. Every extra kilowatt is ten times that.
Use the rate printed on your own bill if you're on a different tariff. Larger sites on demand or time-of-use plans will get a different answer from the same formula.
Will an LED sign cut your power bill or add to it?
It depends on what the screen replaces. LED usually cuts the bill against an old illuminated sign and adds to it against unlit print.
If the screen replaces a fluorescent or neon lightbox, the saving is the difference in average watts between the two. Read the tube count and wattage off the fittings, then compare with the average power on the screen's spec sheet. Use the average figure, not the maximum, because a screen rarely runs at full output all day.
If the screen replaces a printed poster with no lighting, power is a new cost. That's fine, as long as the print and labour savings in the next section outweigh it.
Brightness and dimming decide which side you land on
An outdoor screen needs high brightness to stay readable in full Perth sun. It doesn't need that brightness at 9pm.
An ambient light sensor turns brightness down as daylight fades, and a schedule switches the screen off after trading hours. Both cut the average watts that go into the formula. Our guide to choosing the right brightness for your LED sign covers how to set it for your site.
Ask for average power at your planned brightness and hours, not just the maximum. That's the number your business case should use.
What do you stop paying for with an LED screen?
You stop paying for printed campaign changes: the print, the freight, the install visit and the staff time.
Pull your print invoices for the last 12 months and count each change across every sign. A typical change carries several costs:
Artwork resized for each sign format
Printing and finishing
Freight to each site
An installer visit or staff time to swap the print
Disposal of the old print
On a screen, the same change is a content update. Our content strategy and CMS service sets up how those updates run across your screens.
Multi-site and regional WA businesses
The print column grows with every site and every campaign. Ten stores running eight campaigns a year is 80 print changes. A content update to ten screens takes the same effort as one.
Regional WA sites add more to each change. Freight takes longer, and an installer visit can mean travel from Perth. A screen update reaches a store in Karratha the same way it reaches one in Subiaco.
How many years should a Perth business case cover?
Five years is a defensible horizon, because that's the ATO's effective life for most LED advertising screens.
The ATO's 2025 effective life determination lists LED advertising screens and digital LED advertising panels at five years. Digital LED billboard screens sit at six, and static advertising panels at ten. Effective life sets the depreciation schedule, so it's a horizon finance already recognises.
Effective life is a tax figure, not a promise about the hardware. Regular servicing is what keeps a screen performing across that period, so put a maintenance allowance in the cost column. Our guide to LED display maintenance and signage lifespan covers what that involves.
Check the depreciation treatment for your install with your accountant before relying on it in the case.
Where does sales uplift fit in the business case?
Treat sales uplift as upside on top of the cost case, not as its foundation.
A screen can lift sales of the items it promotes. How much varies by site, category and content. Published uplift figures rarely match your foot traffic or product mix, so finance can pick them apart.
Measure your own by comparing sales of promoted lines before and after the screen goes live. Or promote some lines on screen and hold others back as a control. After a quarter, you'll have a real number to add to the case.
How do you put the LED signage business case together?
Build it in three columns, keep the third one conservative, and divide the upfront cost by the annual net saving.
| Column | What goes in it | Where the number comes from |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Power | Running cost of the screen, minus the sign it replaces | Spec sheet average watts, your hours, your tariff |
| 2. Costs you stop paying | Print, freight, install visits, staff time, disposal | Last 12 months of invoices, times sites |
| 3. Sales uplift | A conservative estimate, or zero until measured | Your own before and after sales data |
The three columns of an LED signage business case, and where each number comes from.
Annual net saving is column 2 plus column 3, minus column 1 and your maintenance and content costs. Then:
If payback lands inside five years on columns 1 and 2 alone, the case stands without the uplift. Upfront costs are in our guides on LED video wall costs in Australia and outdoor LED shopfront signs in Perth.
LED signage ROI: common questions
How do I work out what an LED screen costs to run in Perth?
Multiply the screen's average watts by its daily hours and 365, divide by 1,000, then multiply by your tariff. On Synergy's L1 tariff, 100 watts for 12 hours a day costs about $132 a year ex GST. Use average power at your planned brightness, not the maximum.
Will an LED sign reduce my power bill?
Usually, if it replaces a fluorescent or neon lightbox. If it replaces unlit print, it adds a running cost, which the print and labour savings need to cover. Auto-dimming and switching off after trading hours keep that cost down.
How many years should an LED signage business case cover?
Five years is a sound horizon. The ATO's 2025 effective life determination lists LED advertising screens at five years and digital LED billboard screens at six. Confirm the depreciation treatment for your install with your accountant.
Request an engineering review
The ROI of LED signage depends on your site, your tariff and how often your content changes. The most useful first step is an accurate spec.
Request an engineering review. Send us your site details and current signage. We'll assess the site and specify the screen, with its average power at your brightness and trading hours.
