Emergency and exit light batteries

During an emergency that results in a power failure, emergency exit lights provide illumination to guide people to exit safely. That’s why it is imperative that the batteries used to power exit and emergency lighting are reliable and long-lasting.

Each exit and emergency light has a battery to ensure they are illuminated when the mains power goes off. These batteries need to be good quality and regularly checked to ensure they function correctly.

Just to recap, exit lighting is the green and white ‘Exit’ signs featuring the running person that you see in buildings to highlight the nearest exit. They are required by law to be fitted to every building.

Emergency lights are those that guide you to find the exit during an emergency. Most of the time you probably don’t notice it because it often only comes on after the mains-powered lights go out. There are also commercial emergency light requirements about where and when it needs to be installed in a building. It also needs its own consistent power source in the form of a battery if the mains power goes off.

As soon as the power is lost in a building, the back-up batteries in the exit and emergency lights should immediately take over. When the mains power is restored the emergency lighting batteries need to be recharged.

What are the best emergency and exit light batteries?

In the past, there were many different types of back-up batteries used in emergency and exist lighting, but lithium is now the preferred type of battery because of the superior function.

At Lawell Lighting we use Lithium Iron Phosphate (LiFePO₄) batteries in all our emergency and exit lights. We prefer the LiFePO₄ because they have a:

• longer lifespan and reduced maintenance cycles
• charge faster
• have a wider operating temperature range, making them ideal for all environments including extreme situations
• have high energy density making them more efficient and sustainable
• are safer than other batteries
• can be recycled at the end of life.

This makes lithium, and specifically the LiFePO₄ batteries the best option for powering our LED emergency and exit lights.

These types of batteries were first used about 30 years ago and are now the preferred option in the industry.

How often do you need to check the batteries in emergency and exit lights?

Australian Standards AS/NZS2293 require that every six months, all exits and emergency lights must be tested to ensure they will run for 90 minutes on battery in the event of a power loss.

How long do emergency lights batteries last?

After the power goes out and the battery takes over in emergency and exit lighting, it is required by law to remain illuminated for a minimum of 90 minutes. By using LiFePO₄ lithium batteries, all Lawell Lighting’s emergency and exit lights will remain illuminated for around three hours.

When a technician visits your premises to undertake the required six monthly check they need to perform a test to ensure the lights remain illuminated for 90 minutes without power.

Many systems still run on these manual checks, but automation is starting to be introduced to the industry. At Lawell Lighting, our Lawell Lighting Rambo Premium Universal Exit Light incorporates automatic self-test lights that still allow the system to be tested every six months. Instead of having to manually test, the technician undertakes a walkthrough to check the status of the LED indicators on each fitting, where each fitting displays a pass/fail result on the LED status indicator.

Why choose Lawell Lighting emergency and exit lights?

Lawell Lighting has an extensive range of emergency and exit lights for commercial buildings and to suit many applications in Australia. All Lawell Lighting emergency exit lights utilise high-quality emergency and exit light back-up batteries that exceed industry standards.

Contact our team at https://lawelllighting.com.au/ or call us on (02) 8740 8936 to learn more.