Emergency Wall Packs to Stay on While Emergency Power (Gen) is On?

[rmerz01]

(NJ) Trying to wrap up a job at a school with an emergency back-up generator. Inspector just said that in the event of a utility outage, he wants the emergency wall packs (that have batteries) to stay on even while the generator is on. I can't even begin to wrap my head around being able to make this happen that would be code compliant. Re-circuit it to a normal power panel (not backed up by generator)?
Is this something anyone has heard of before? What was your solution? TYIA

 

[dkidd]

Connect the wallpacks to the normal lighting circuit. makes sense to me.

 

[Johnhall30]

Use a UL924 emergency lighting relay. You run an emergency circuit to the lighting relay, and also a normal switch leg what you want it to be controlled of of, and a normal hot leg that will sense if normal power is ON or OFF. In the event normal power is OFF, the relay will turn on the light from the emergency circuit

 

[dkidd]

Use a UL924 emergency lighting relay. You run an emergency circuit to the lighting relay, and also a normal switch leg what you want it to be controlled of of, and a normal hot leg that will sense if normal power is ON or OFF. In the event normal power is OFF, the relay will turn on the light from the emergency circuit

That won't function as required. The wallpacks are unit equipment with batteries.

 

[Johnhall30]

That won't function as required. The wallpacks are unit equipment with batteries.

I dont understand. The battery pack would kick on during the time between the power outage and generator startup, then the fixture would be powered on by the generator

 

[HHSINSP]

What article did he cite?

 

[tom baker]

The issueI see in an extended outage the wall pack battery is good for 90 minutes, and the generator could easily run for hours. Then if the genny quits there is no lighting

 

[zbang]

I'd kinda expect the lighting circuits to be on the generator, or at least some of the lighting circuits.

 

[roger]

(NJ) Trying to wrap up a job at a school with an emergency back-up generator. Inspector just said that in the event of a utility outage, he wants the emergency wall packs (that have batteries) to stay on even while the generator is on. I can't even begin to wrap my head around being able to make this happen that would be code compliant. Re-circuit it to a normal power panel (not backed up by generator)?
Is this something anyone has heard of before? What was your solution? TYIA

See 700.12(F)

 

[steve66]

Why would he want that? If the generator shoots craps, then the emergency lights will come on, just like they should. The only reason I can imagine him wanting this is if areas aren't adequately lit by the backup generator.

I also agree with Tom. If the idea is to keep the building occupied, you don't want the emergency lights dying after 90 min.

I'm assuming the generator is not being used as an "emergency generator".

But yes, recircuit to a normal panel would be the easiest way to make the inspector happy.

 

[steve66]

See 700.12(F)

That's right, the emergency lights go on the same circuit as the normal lighting in the same area.

So correction to my earlier post - you can't just put the emergency lights on a normal power panel.

 

[tom baker]

Good comment, Steve66. Is this an Articke 700 generator? Or a 701/702 that are commonly called “emergency”?

 

[nhee2]

See 700.12(F)

** 700.12(I) in the 2020 NEC.

However where does that say the emergency lights need to be fed from emergency generator? (assuming Article 700 generator, but maybe that is incorrect)

 

[roger]

** 700.12(I) in the 2020 NEC.

However where does that say the emergency lights need to be fed from emergency generator?

It doesn't, that was the point.

 

[rmerz01]

Good comment, Steve66. Is this an Articke 700 generator? Or a 701/702 that are commonly called “emergency”?

Forgive me as this question isn't anything I've had to answer before. There are (4) ATS's and there is a combination of 700, 701 and 702 loads.

 

[brantmacga]

What do the stamped drawings say about it ?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[acrwc10]

(NJ) Trying to wrap up a job at a school with an emergency back-up generator. Inspector just said that in the event of a utility outage, he wants the emergency wall packs (that have batteries) to stay on even while the generator is on. I can't even begin to wrap my head around being able to make this happen that would be code compliant. Re-circuit it to a normal power panel (not backed up by generator)?
Is this something anyone has heard of before? What was your solution? TYIA

There is no need for the wall packs to have anything other than normal power running to them, the battery is the “emergency” power source. If this wasn’t the case you wouldn’t need batteries at all. If this is a school the question is, what age group is it for? Collages for example have a different requirement than an elementary school. Because of the age and ability of the occupants. There is no need for “extended run time” for the lights either, the main reason for the wall packs is to exit the building safely, not stay there and finish classes. The amount of fuel required for a generator isn’t as much as you would think either, they are not required to run indefinitely. (For a school)