Although advances in general lighting technology have been widely publicized, it is easy to overlook similar advances in emergency lighting. China Emergency Light Manufacturers emphasize the key factors of the specification

　　As with most lighting technologies, there have been some major changes in emergency lighting in recent years; especially in the areas of automatic monitoring and testing, the use of LED light sources and the emergence of wireless communications. For electronic review readers, the wider use of LEDs is not surprising, but automatic monitoring and testing and wireless communication may not be as familiar - and they can play an important role.

　　The basic principles remain unchanged. The fundamental purpose of emergency lighting is to automatically start in the event of a power failure. This ensures that the light level is sufficient for people to find a safe way.

　　The main difference between general lighting and emergency lighting is that safety is of the utmost importance, and other factors, such as energy efficiency, are secondary considerations. However, the introduction of LED light sources for emergency lighting has clearly led to a reduction in power consumption of these systems, thereby bringing financial and environmental benefits to the end user. However, the main financial savings come from the introduction of automated systems and the ability to simplify monitoring, testing and ongoing maintenance. These systems are discussed in more detail below.

　　Another consideration is that the often overlooked factor is the visual appearance of emergency lighting accessories. It can be said that in the past, compliance with emergency lighting legislation was usually achieved at the expense of aesthetics. Many luminaire manufacturers are now offering stand-alone LED emergency accessories to complement their general lighting products, so there is no need to sacrifice aesthetics for compliance.

　　basis

　　The basic elements related to emergency lighting are “maintained” or “not maintained”. Maintain emergency lighting is always on and remains open in the event of a power failure. It is usually used in public places where people may not be familiar with the exit route.

　　Non-maintenance emergency lighting occurs only in the event of a power failure and is often found in workplaces where people are more familiar with escape routes.

　　The emergency lighting is powered by a battery system that can be stand-alone (in or near the luminaire) or a central battery system that serves multiple luminaires.

　　Emergency lighting products can be classified as stand-alone (such as illuminated exit signs or bulkhead luminaires) or converted power illuminators that contain emergency lighting components for operating lighting equipment; if power fails, battery output is reduced . Most luminaire manufacturers will offer emergency options in their product portfolio. From an aesthetic point of view, it looks the same, but it has additional components for emergency operations.

　　Monitoring, self-testing and control

　　Given the important role of emergency lighting in promoting safe evacuation of buildings, it is surprising that construction operators often overlook the maintenance of such systems. However, emergency lighting legislation and emergency lighting implemented by building control personnel is a legal obligation.

　　In some cases, buildings require permission from the local fire department, and in order to meet the requirements of this license, maintenance and test logs must be kept and inspections provided. This is the responsibility of the building operator to ensure that emergency lighting is monitored and tested on a regular basis.

　　The old method of testing lighting systems was to isolate the mains and monitor the emergency lighting by walking around the area - ensuring that all accessories work and meet the required duration. This is obviously a difficult and expensive task and a major drain on the maintenance of large buildings.

　　Control technology has been used to try to ease the burden on building operators. The introduction of self-test emergency luminaires helps reduce the amount of work associated with legislative compliance. These systems typically test all of the basic aspects of emergency lighting fixtures, for example, the overall LED may flash to indicate a problem.

　　These systems still require someone to walk around the building and check each indicator separately

　　The next development is the reporting system, which provides centralized monitoring and testing of emergency lighting. Some lighting companies use their own proprietary control protocols for this purpose; however, it is beneficial to use an open protocol such as DALI as the basis for the monitoring system, especially since it is the most commonly used protocol for general lighting solutions.

　　These reporting systems can operate with or without a permanent connection to the computer. For relatively small stand-alone sites, a permanent connection is usually not required, and simply connecting a function for configuring, viewing, and printing reports is usually sufficient. A permanent software interface is ideal in larger buildings or for monitoring multiple sites. This will mark faulty light sources, batteries and components to quickly resolve any issues.

　　Cost comparison

　　When installing monitoring and reporting systems, it is clear that additional costs are required to cover the additional cost of data line installation, commissioning, and components. However, these costs are only standard controlled lighting interfaces and may already provide a cabling infrastructure for power lighting.

　　Importantly, in assessing the return on investment, the cost of the monitoring and reporting system must be compared to the cost of hiring someone to patrol the building on a regular basis, with separate visual monitoring of each emergency luminaire. The same principle applies to facilities management companies engaged in lighting emergency lighting. In making such comparisons, the return on investment for centralized monitoring and reporting can often be done very quickly.

　　Walk wireless

　　A recent development aimed at having a positive impact on costs is the introduction of wireless emergency lighting systems that do not require a separate data bus. This reduces the cost of installation and commissioning and makes the retrofit of existing buildings easier. It also reduces the risk of errors associated with installing communication cables.

　　A key consideration in this regard is not to overlook the critical aspects of the security of the system; any mobile application or wireless communication system must take this into account. Therefore, the system should have built-in emergency capabilities to ensure that the fixture defaults to standard automated testing in the event of a wireless network failure.


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