Exit & Emergency Light
Exit and Emergency Lights are fixtures designed to help guide people to safety in the event of an emergency such as a fire or natural disaster. They’re built to operate with or without building supplied electricity, so how exactly do they work and what should you know about them? Below we’ve outlined some important information regarding these unsung heroes!
Power Source: Exit and emergency lights are powered by the regular electrical supply in a building during normal operation.They also have a backup power source, typically nickel-cadmium batteries. These batteries provide power when the main power fails.
Charging: The batteries are continuously charged during normal building operation via the electrical supply which ensures the batteries are always ready to activate the lights if needed.
Sensing Loss of Power: Exit and emergency lights have a sensor that detects when the main power drops out. This acts as the trigger to switch over to battery backup power and activates the lights.
LED/Fluorescent Lamps: Most modern systems rely on LED or fluorescent lamps instead of bulky incandescent bulbs. These draw much less power for longer runtimes.
Brightness: Exit and emergency lights are designed to provide heavy illumination rated from 30 to 100 foot-candles to light the way.The lights are bright enough to cut through smoke and clearly illuminate exit pathways.
Run Time: Building codes require emergency lighting to provide a minimum of 90 minutes of illumination.Sophisticated systems can provide multiple hours of run time by using larger batteries and efficient LEDs.
Placement: Lights are strategically located throughout exit pathways, stairwells, corridors and anywhere required for safe egress.Directional arrow boxes indicate paths and directions to follow to exits and areas of refuge.
Inspections: Exit and emergency lights are to be inspected and “load tested” on an annual basis to ensure the backup power supply and lights are in working order during an emergency.So in summary, specialized bright lighting combined with automatic activation and backup power sources make exit and emergency lights invaluable safety systems in buildings. They provide critical illumination when standard lights fail during emergencies!
If you are in need of new Exit and/or Emergency Lights, Inspections, or Repairs feel free to give us a call at (817) 809-8677 or email us at info@ighsafety.com for a free quote.