Emergency Battery Lighting Information

In all commercial facilities, regulations require the installation of emergency lighting, which automatically comes on to illuminate work areas and egress routes in the case of power loss. This lighting must provide a minimum of 1 foot-candle of light, measured 1 foot above the floor. Lighting must remain lit for a minimum of 90 minutes after power loss to allow adequate time to vacate the facility.

• 
  Emergency Light
  $16.99
  Compare
  Add To Cart
• 
  LED Emergency Light
  $23.99
  Compare
  Choose Options

Call us right now at 800-480-0707 to speak with a customer service representative who can answer any questions you might have about products, applications, and code compliance.

Emergency Battery Lighting is designed to provide this lighting requirement in the case of an emergency situation which causes loss of power. These lights are wired in to the building’s power grid, providing them both with electricity to charge the internal battery, and a signal to inform them of a loss of power situation.

View Most Popular Emergency Battery Lights

A large variety of styles of emergency battery lighting is currently being manufactured to meet the needs of the multitude of applications requiring emergency lighting.

Anatomy of an Emergency Light

All emergency battery lighting, regardless of its exterior design and materials, contain the same basic components:

• Battery – Both lead-acid and nickel-cadmium batteries are used to provide power to the lamps in case of power loss. These two rechargeable battery technologies have been in use the longest, making them both the most trusted and the lowest cost.
• Circuit Board – The circuit board maintains the battery at full charge at all times. To do this, it also needs to convert the AC current from the building’s power grid to DC current. It is also the component that recognizes the power loss situation and turns on the lamps.
• Transformer – The building provides power to the emergency light at 120 VAC. This needs to be dropped down to the operating voltage of the emergency light. A transformer performs this function.
• Lamps – Because these units are battery powered, DC lamps are used. Depending upon your unit’s particular design, a wide range of voltages and wattages are available.
• Test Switch – All emergency lights are provided with test switches for performing the monthly and annual tests.

 

A variety of emergency battery lights are available at affordable prices. We offer an emergency battery light for every type of project.

Choosing Emergency Battery Lighting

There are a number of factors you want to take into consideration when choosing your emergency battery lighting units:

• Area that it will be used – Offices require more attractive units, often plastic cased emergency lights, while factories and warehouses require more rugged, steel cased units to protect them from damage.
• Area to be lit – The voltage and wattage of the units you choose will be determined by the amount of area you need for that unit to cover.
• Hazardous locations – In the case of areas that where hazardous materials are used, stored or transported, special lighting is required. See “Class 1 Div 1 Emergency Lights” and “Class 1 Div 2 Emergency Lights” for more information about these applications.
• Models currently in use – Whenever possible it is advantageous to use the same model of emergency light throughout your facility. This reduces the amount of types of bulbs and other spare parts that your maintenance department needs to keep in stock.
• Combination emergency light and exit sign – When you need to install emergency lights at building egress points, or when those lights illuminate corridors leading to egress points, installing combination units can reduce both your purchase and installation costs.

Maintenance and Testing of Emergency Battery Lights

All emergency battery lights feature an easy push button for simple testing of the battery backup system. OSHA requires monthly and yearly tests.

Both monthly and annual testing of all emergency lights and exit signs is required by OSHA regulations. The unit comes equipped with a test button to facilitate this test. Pressing it interrupts power to the light, allowing a full functional test.

Monthly tests require pressing the test button for 30 seconds and verifying that the lamps come on. You must also check each unit for physical damage and alignment of the light beams. Change bulbs or repair as needed.

Annual testing requires everything that the monthly test requires, plus a 90 minute full functional test, checking the battery and leads for corrosion, testing both battery and charging circuit voltages, and cleaning the unit. 

Learn More About Testing Emergency Lights

Emergency battery lighting is important for all types of facilities, without it building occupants could be left in the dark during a power outage. This situation is not ideal and it's extremely important to have code compliant and well functioning emergency battery lighting. Emergency lighting is the more popular term for this type of lighting, since it is inherent to all emergency lights to contain a battery for operation. Emergency lighting fixtures must operate for at least 90 minutes after a power outage. This power of course comes from the battery inside.

Extended Run Time Emergency Battery Lighting

If 90 minutes isn't enough, choose a model that featrues an extended run time - up to 24 hours! Emergency battery lighting fixtures are offered in many differnty styles, configurations, and designs. When choosing emergency lighting fixtures it's important to analyze the project and figure out what combination of price point, construction, emergency run time, and design would work best for each individual applicaiton. We have a full team of emergency battery lighting experts that can help find the right model, so please do not hesitate to call us right now - we are open 24/7!