The emergency lighting system is a system designed to turns on the lights automatically when a power failure is experienced. Nowadays most of the people have emergency lights with battery backup set up at their home or workplace.
And installing emergency lighting is not all, there are certain things like use, testing, battery and many more that needs be considered for emergency lights with battery backup.
Here is some information in such consideration, which will be helpful for you if you are planning to setup emergency lighting at your home/workplace.
Connecting light to Emergency Power
As the name suggests “Emergency lighting”, this light system is for emergency purpose where the lighting is crucial part. You don’t have to connect all the lights to the system because it not going to be cost-effective for you. You should determine which light is essential and needs to be connected to emergency lighting system.
For example; Operating rooms is an important area for hospital compared to others. Whichneeds 24/7 lighting. But patient room might not need all lighting, connecting few lights to the emergency lighting system can be just good enough to perform regular task.
Emergency Lighting Battery pack
The battery is very crucial part ofan emergency lighting battery pack and you need to be very careful while selecting the battery. There are many emergency lighting battery packs like Nickel-Cadmium, Nickel-Metal Hydride, and Lithium-ion to choose for emergency lighting system which might be overwhelming.
Every battery has its own pro and cons, you need to choose according to your need what suits the most. Whether you need long-life battery or fast-charging battery or portable battery you can read the article regarding how to choose best battery for emergency lighting and decide the battery pack you need.
Testing, Care, and Maintenance
It is another important thing to consider for emergency lights with battery backup. Testing should be done while installing the emergency light to ensure it will function as it’s supposed to during power outage.
And once the emergency lighting system its setup, it should be taken proper care and maintenance. It helps to make sure the system is functioning properly and the battery backup lasts for a longer time. In case of any damage, you can repair it and stay illuminated during power cut.
Proper Use
People often take the manual/guide as granted and doesn’t bother reading it. Which lead to consumers not following the recommendations included in the manual. Bad charging habit, Moisture, and Excessive heat all play an important role in the early death of a battery.
So, if you want your battery to last for a longer period and get high return on investment, always read the instruction properly and use the battery accordingly.
When should emergency lighting battery be changed?
The batteries of emergency lighting should be changed if they failed to perform as per their capacity or at the end of their expected life, whichever comes first.
Depending on the quality and type of battery, each has a different life expectancy. Some can last for 4 to 5 years while some last for just 2 years.
Battery performance needs to be checked annually, emergency light should be left to run on battery and check how long it lasts. If you feel like it not giving enough backup you should change it immediately.