Domestic emergency lighting

[mattylad]

I have many, I have to carry one when I go down into the cellar because er indoors is in the habit of turning the light off on me because I can't hear her shouting "is anyone down there?"

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Warn her that if you can't hear her shouting when you are down there then nobody would be able to hear her if she were down there shouting...

 

[mattylad]

Nah BAS, pointless exercise, she's a woman!
They don't understand practical stuff, so I carry a torch, also just in case power goes off too.

I notice that there are some 8w weatherproof fittings in our recycling pallets returned from a site, might just recycle them myself

 

[radioredcat]

I assume you feel the need for emergency lighting because youve done a bodged wiring job in your own houses using dual main rcd boards.

Thats one of the reasons they do not comply with the regs, but they are a bodgers delight.

And now you bodgers are installing and paying for emergency lights instead of individual rcbo's as called for in the regs.

If the wiring was done properly, and you're that nervous, all you need is some plug in night lights.

And I can assure you that even the most sophisticated systems are not designed for two simultaeneous faults/problems - because they don't happen.

Our wiring is ok the problem here is the incoming dno's wiring.
I you don't get power cuts then you are blessed with good fortune you certainly wouldn't like to live here,Up to feb this year we were having several power cut's per week short couple of seconds enough to cause computer problems and then there's the long ones 4-8 hrs.
I invested in a ups which runs my security pc,tv and lamp so power goes off i shut the pc down leaving the tv and lamp which gives us 40 mins of backup.
Anyway touch wood since they replaced our substation we havn't had any but emergency lighting is a good idea.
Incidently we live in what is locally dubbed (powercut alley)

andy

 

[Pensdown]

So RF, sparkyspike, graham, eric and malatron are all bodgers in holmslaw's eyes.....

You can add me to that list.

RF - Whats your thinking behind linking the EM lights to your smoke detectors?

If the power is on the lights will work via the switch and if not the EM's will come on anyway?

 

[RF Lighting]

I assume you feel the need for emergency lighting because youve done a bodged wiring job in your own houses using dual main rcd boards.

As always you are quite correct with your wildly inaccurate assumptions, and it is of course my inability to design an installation which has forced me to install emergency lighting.

I would be stunned to see emergency lighting forming part of a properly divided commercial installation wired in steel containment, and with no RCDs at all. Obviously that circuit would never ever loose power, so there is no need for emergency lighting

Anyway, back to the serious points.

Did you use a std 11w fitting or did you use the packs you can hide away and connect to your existing fittings??

I've used some flush mount 1W LED emergency lights.

I don't think an 11W brick light looks all that attractive

I've also linked them into my smoke alarms which will switch them onto maintained mode should they ever detect smoke.

Can you give us more info on that? Have you got regular interlinked alarms, or a fire alarm system with a panel?

They are just standard domestic mains smoke alarms made by aico

I have linked them to the emergency lighting with the use of a relay base, as suggested in this thread


The fitting looks like this. It is about 45mm in diameter, so quite discreet.

 

[RF Lighting]

RF - Whats your thinking behind linking the EM lights to your smoke detectors?

If the power is on the lights will work via the switch and if not the EM's will come on anyway?

I just figured why not. It's pretty easy to do, and doesn't cost much.

 

[holmslaw]

..

 

[breezer]

I’ve got a torch

so have I, but it keeps setting off the smoke detectors

 

[aptsys]

The fitting looks like this. It is about 45mm in diameter, so quite discreet.

They look almost identical to mine, but larger and mine were designed for standard lighting hence the reason they're hooked up to my Premier panel and aux power supply unit.

I'm surprised they fitted 2.1Ah batteries to your unit (unless they are the cheapest) as they will probably last 7 hours or more...

 

[ericmark]

I used the torch option in my caravan I had forgot about that unit which can be set to auto switch on torch on power failure.
As to being a "bodger" do remember these were fitted between 1989 and 1994 when RCBO's were not so common as they are today and there was no requirement to have the whole house on RCD protection and many electricians were telling me to do so would invalidate my insurance for freezer goods.

With the exception of merlin gerin three phase boards finding a board to take double pole RCBO's seems to be hard and bulky and one has to choose between switching all lives or circuit segregation and one has to decide what is best option.

Do remember with caravans we use a single RCD for all circuits and the regulations does not say you must use more than one RCD it leaves you as the tradesman to select the method which best fits the installation.

I do question should we be required to make out a risk assessment as it is possible that due to something like emergency lamps or even street lighting that we select a certain approach but unless this is documented then someone could change things without realising the impact they have on the installation.

For example removing street lighting could as well as changing the speed limit on the road also change the requirement for emergency lighting.

Eric

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Nah BAS, pointless exercise, she's a woman!
They don't understand practical stuff, so I carry a torch, also just in case power goes off too.

Would she not understand the risk of being shut in the cellar, with nobody able to hear her cries for help, and how that risk might increase if she keeps turning the lights off when you're down there?

 

[Click-Sure]

My ELECSA assesor said he hadn't seen any above a CU until the week he came to see me, and I was the 4th that week to have the idea!

Untitled

• Click-Sure
• 12 Jul 2008
• 6

 

[Pensdown]

That looks like a nice job Click-Sure. It's a pity the customer didn't go for RCBO's

 

[Click-Sure]

I am the customer

I'm waiting to collect enough surpless merlin gear from commercial jobs to build a much more robust solution, multiple RCCB's and mcb's.