Article
This is an emergency – how the right light can help you out
All public facilities and buildings, even the ones floating a long way from shore, must meet the regulatory standards for emergencies. To exit a building or vessel safely, people need to be able to see where to go and also have enough light to remain calm.
The following values and guidelines are based on the widely used emergency lighting standard EN 1838.
Exit routes must be clearly lit from start to finish and have visible signage to guide people quickly. This means a minimum of 1 lux along the floor centre line and a minimum of 0.5 lux on half of the route width. In open areas of 60 m2 and larger the minimum is 0.5 lux to ensure people don’t panic and can find the nearest exit. Light uniformity in both cases should not exceed a ratio of 40:1 (maximum/minimum).
Emergency lighting is usually battery powered, isolated from other power sources with smart sensors for automatic operation when needed. The response time to reach 50 % power is 5 seconds and to be fully operational with 100 % power in 1 minute. Low power consumption and durable LEDs are an obvious choice for such demands, but to be fit for purpose and efficient, the right optics are essential; LEDiL’s EMERALD lens family is especially designed for efficient emergency lighting. In addition, you can also find other optics from our standard range of optics to suite your needs.
We can’t always predict what might happen, but in case of emergency, the right light, together with good guidelines, can help show the way.
