fire exit sign

[Deleted member 26818]

You need to consider what the light is intended to do.
Some installations such as Cinemas, Theaters or even Night clubs require emergency exit signs to be lit whenever the installation is being used.
Other installations only require the light to be lit in the event of a power failure.
Other's again only require the light to be lit in the event of a fire.
In most cases, feeding the light off of the locall lighting circuit rather than a dedicated circuit is preferable, as it will light up on battery if that local circuit fails, rather than wait for the whole installation to fail.

 

[KINKY]

BS5266 does not specifically tell you where you can and cannot feed a self-contained emergency light from.

You can feed the light from where ever you like.

All that matters is the emergency lighting operates upon failure of the normal lighting.

In my opinion the sensible solution is to feed the self-contained emergency lighting from the same MCB/fuse (via key switch) which feeds the normal lighting in that area.

 

[Deleted member 26818]

Ther's no real need for a key switch, as testing can be achieved through switching off the relevant MCB.

 

[KINKY]

But aren't you supposed to be able to see the change over from mains to battery operation from the test switch?

BS5266 does not mentioned this.

 

[KINKY]

Ther's no real need for a key switch, as testing can be achieved through switching off the relevant MCB.

It would make duration testing of the emergency lighting very awkward.

Say if it was schedule to be done late one day and its dark outside, you don’t want to lose your normal lighting, especially if the school is occupied.

 

[UNG]

View attachment 9587
dunno if you can get this, think it's Attathed lol

This looks to be an old document as it does not mention The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 which supersedes a lot of the legislation mentioned

 

[KINKY]

Ther's no real need for a key switch, as testing can be achieved through switching off the relevant MCB.

Just found this:-

BS5266-1:2011 8.3.3

Each emergency lighting system should have a suitable means for simulating failure of the normal supply for test purposes (i.e. without interruption of the normal supply)

 

[KINKY]

This looks to be an old document as it does not mention The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 which supersedes a lot of the legislation mentioned

Yeah just had a look, it’s really really old.

BS5266-1:2005 was revised in December 2011, Superseding BS5266-10:2008 as well.

 

[Amp David]

But aren't you supposed to be able to see the change over from mains to battery operation from the test switch?

The LED or neons on the fitting will indicate this

 

[a1guvner]

Found this, answers a few things

View attachment 9590

 

[KINKY]

Found this, answers a few things

View attachment 9590

Yeah there are some key facts but BS5266-1:2005 is way out of date.

 

[a1guvner]

Yeah there are some key facts but BS5266-1:2005 is way out of date.

Just got this last year from the NICEIC stating it was new and just released by the BSI, been well had over, good of the nic knocking out their old crap along with the old PIR's

well miffed

 

[Deleted member 26818]

Just found this:-

BS5266-1:2011 8.3.3

Each emergency lighting system should have a suitable means for simulating failure of the normal supply for test purposes (i.e. without interruption of the normal supply)

The problem I have with such a method, is that would not show whether the Lux levels are sufficient. Only by interupting the normal supply could that be assessed.

 

[a1guvner]

The problem I have with such a method, is that would not show whether the Lux levels are sufficient. Only by interupting the normal supply could that be assessed.

I normally if say i have a local grid switch with one key a one switch my load from the key would also feed the switch so i am not interupting the normal supply to areas not on test

 

[KINKY]

Just got this last year from the NICEIC stating it was new and just released by the BSI, been well had over, good of the nic knocking out their old crap along with the old PIR's

well miffed

Sorry my mistake, I’m getting my years mixed up.

BS5266-1:2005 was superseded in December 2011