When an emergency occurs at your workplace and the power is turned off, your first plan of action should be to evacuate the premises as quickly and safely as possible. Exit signs and emergency lights illuminate the way and help people see clearly. Without it, you will have a much harder time finding your way out. That's why having effective lighting is critical, and that's why it's required by law. In this article, I'll show you how long emergency light batteries last so you can prevent emergency lights from not working.
If an accident causes a light to go out, the emergency light should stay on to guide you quickly to the nearest exit.
After a power outage, emergency lights can remain on for up to 3 hours to ensure that everyone in the building can navigate out. When the power is reapplied, these lights will renew themselves and will be able to start working again if they need to be activated.
Emergency lighting can be seen on exit signs, fire equipment, emergency doors, escape routes and stairs.
For continuous recharging of the internal battery, emergency lighting is connected to the building's power supply to provide backup power. This means that during a power outage, emergency lights remain in place, allowing people to quickly find an exit if they need to leave the building.
Types of emergency lighting you can expect to see in the workplace.
✱Escape route lighting
✱Open area lighting, such as basement lights
✱High-risk area lighting
✱Standby lighting
Emergency light
If an accident causes a light to go out, the emergency light should stay on to guide you quickly to the nearest exit.
After a power outage, emergency lights can remain on for up to 3 hours to ensure that everyone in the building can navigate out. When the power is reapplied, these lights will renew themselves and will be able to start working again if they need to be activated.
Emergency lighting can be seen on exit signs, fire equipment, emergency doors, escape routes and stairs.
For continuous recharging of the internal battery, emergency lighting is connected to the building's power supply to provide backup power. This means that during a power outage, emergency lights remain in place, allowing people to quickly find an exit if they need to leave the building.
Types of emergency lighting you can expect to see in the workplace.
✴Escape route lighting
✴Open area lighting, such as basement lights
✴High-risk area lighting
✴Standby lighting
Emergency lights and lighted exit signs are lit using batteries. These batteries are rechargeable to ensure the continued readiness and activity of the emergency lights. Within the emergency light, the hardware also activates the battery and keeps it powered.
There are three types of batteries for emergency lighting
◮ Nickel-cadmium batteries
◮ Nickel-Metal Hydride batteries
◮ Lithium Iron Phosphate batteries
Emergency lighting is activated when there is a power outage or when the usual light source fails. Thus, emergency lighting runs through batteries and is not dependent on the main power source.
Most emergency lighting systems are made from incandescent bulbs, although modern systems have high-intensity light-emitting diode LEDs.
Emergency lighting is often built in high-rise buildings, including apartments, university dormitories, modern businesses and buildings. Emergency lighting provides adequate light for residential hotels, clinics, classrooms, stores and approved buildings.
Codes often require emergency lighting in any open space larger than 60 square meters. A high degree of fear exists in the event of an accident, so it is necessary to light the environment to prevent injury.
Regulations require that emergency lighting will be installed within a horizontal span of 2 meters above the fire or equipment. In some cases emergency lighting is provided to improve the health of personnel working in extremely unsafe environments.
For all emergency lighting, the battery check button appears as usual. By clicking the check button, the emergency lighting unit changes from AC power to emergency battery power. It allows you to display the remaining battery charge.
According to UL (Underwriters Laboratories), a fully charged battery in good condition can power an emergency light for at least 90 minutes. The UL 924 rating is only available for batteries that meet or conform to UL's stringent inspection procedures.
Some of today's emergency luminaires have a self-check feature that allows the unit to operate monthly and annually. These inspections eliminate the need for maintenance and improve the reliability of emergency lighting.
After a power outage, emergency lights can remain on for up to three hours, ensuring that everyone has enough time to find their way out. When power is turned back on, the lights can be reset so they can start running when needed.
Emergency lighting batteries have a life expectancy of four years, but in some cases they can survive longer than that.
Emergency light owners will follow OSHA guidelines for daily routine maintenance once a month and once a year. If the 90-second or 90-minute emergency alarm check is not satisfactory, the emergency light batteries will need to be replaced.
Fortunately, the required maintenance is both quick and easy, as most new fixtures have a one-click test feature that allows you to read the batteries properly. By clicking this check button, the unit's disconnect circuit will be triggered and the battery will be tripped.
The light does not come on when the battery is dead. It needs to be replaced by the charger.
In short, replacing emergency light batteries does not require an electrician because you can accomplish this task. Knowing the life span of your emergency light batteries will allow you to comply with the law and be prepared for emergencies before they occur. Remember, it's best to be prepared at all costs.
