Lighting Services Blog

In many of the older, wet-type (lead antimony) batteries, they are shipped with a liquid installed called sulfuric acid.  This electrolyte is energized during the charging process to maintain the proper voltage in the battery.

Emergency Lighting System batteries are like spark plugs.  At 30 or 40 thousand miles, would you just change one defective spark plug?  No.  You will probably change them all because most likely they have the same mileage on them.  Banks of batteries in large AC or DC emergency lighting systems are quite similar.  When one battery fails, the balance is not far behind.  As with the spark plugs in your vehicle, the replacement of all the batteries at the same time, when one fails is, in the long run, much more cost effective.  A major portion of the cost to perform either of the above-mentioned tasks includes travel, labor, shop time, disposal of old material, etc.  Drive to the auto repair shop 4, 6, or 8 times to replace one park plug or replace and dispose of 6, 12, 20 or more batteries one at a time versus replacing all your plugs or batteries at one time is much less costly.

You've heard about "emergency lighting," but what do you REALLY need to know?

1. Emergency lighting is required by the NFPA Fire Code whether your facility is located in Connecticut or any other state.
2. Emergency lighting is sometimes called emergency "egress" lighting and is required to be present and operable within your facility.
3. The NFPA requirements call for a monthly 30-second tests to be sure that the battery keeps the lamps lit brightly to ensure safe egress in the event of a power outage or other emergency. By just pushing the test button for a few seconds you are not testing the strength of the battery back-up power.
4. The NFPA requirements call for an annual 90 minute full-load-test to insure all of your emergency lighting systems will opperate for a full 1.5 hours in the event of an extended emergency.
5. Emergency lighting can be provided within overhead lighting fixtures (such as a flourscent power packs or floursecent emergency packs), individual wall-mounted units (as part of an exit sign, or separate "two-headed" units), or as part of a central emergency lighting system (32v DC system, inverter, or generator).
6. The different types of emergency lighting require different steps by which to follow to complete the testing properly.
7. Regardless of the type of emergency lighting your facility has, it must be inspected regularly to meet fire code requirements and insure you are prepared for a life-safety emergency.