WAREHOUSE EMERGENCY/EGRESS LIGHTING

[Ragin Cajun]

Working on a 250' x 250' warehouse/production facility. 150' x 240' is 18' high rack storage, 100' x 150' production area, 50' x 90' office, and 50' x 90' misc. Lighting is LED at ~20' AFF. Production and misc. areas are dimmable. The office is mostly dimmable. At the moment the office lights are 120V and the rest is 277V, but the office can be 277V if needed. There is a single 277V lighting panelboard.

I can't in good conscience put in battery packs because of the battery maintenance issues. But going to an emergency generator requires lots of dedicated conduits which are costly and potentially dedicated fixtures. But, even with that it should (?) be the least long term cost. And with dimmable fixtures, it will be interesting how (if) to use any of them for the egress lighting.

What is the "preferred" method(s) to providing emergency lighting for large areas?

Thanks,
RC

 

[ActionDave]

What battery maintenance issues? You test them annually and do what needs done. Why is this any harder than any needed maintenence all the other lights in the facility? Why is having a generator a better option? It's not like they are maintenance free. Far, far from it as a matter of fact.

 

[Ragin Cajun]

ANYBODY WITH COMMENTS, ETC.??

 

[dkidd]

ANYBODY WITH COMMENTS, ETC.??

Posting in caps is bad.

 

[dkidd]

You can use a BCELTS on dimmable fixtures. You might want to consider a central battery inverter instead of a generator.

 

[JFletcher]

ANYBODY WITH COMMENTS, ETC.??

ActionDave already replied. Anyway, most hotels and warehouses here have something like these:

http://www.e-conolight.com/standard...0xp-irjILxzuGNdaq4amX_N9L2BJv6Mz-AaAmaO8P8HAQ

or something similar x 20, 30, 200, etc, and they far exceed 40,000ft². Get an extension pole to test them monthly, replace the whole fixture every 6-8 years or so. The battery and lights will last that long. I dont know of a cheaper method.

Battery back ups to troffer lights are harder to test and the batteries cost 5-10x what separate egress lighting costs. I'd use integrated EXIT signs/elights where possible

 

[iwire]

ANYBODY WITH COMMENTS, ETC.??

OK,

I hate typical EBUs, they are ugly and not that great lighting areas up. I would much prefer a generator feeding the regular lighting.


However, if you have no real need for backup power other than the egress lighting a generator is going to be the most costly way to go. There are the ongoing costs of required upkeep, oil changes, exercising etc.

The up front costs for an emergency genset ATS and seperate wiring clearly much higher.

You can buy a new EBU for little more than the cost of a replacement battery for it.

 

[augie47]

Inspected a ton of warehouse over the last decades. 95% are done as JFletcher notes above.\
Apparently the most cost effective as most were wired by the low bidder

 

[kwired]

Have forklift operator turn on the headlights on the forklift during a power outage:thumbsup:

 

[brantmacga]

What specific fixture ? Most can be ordered with a battery backup factory installed. Your other option would be remote inverters at ground level that are more easily accessible.


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[active1]

ActionDave already replied. Anyway, most hotels and warehouses here have something like these:

http://www.e-conolight.com/standard...0xp-irjILxzuGNdaq4amX_N9L2BJv6Mz-AaAmaO8P8HAQ

Not so much in Vegas hotels.
Too much to maintain. They here and there. Such as a small project inside speced them out.
Most areas went to the nuclear exit signs. Even then it takes a guy months to document and replace when the time is up.
The problem with the EM lighting on a generator is it doesn't always get tested to verify the EM circuits are as plan after construction and remodels.
An example would be 1 breaker was turned off in a main service corridor, turning off every other light to save energy. Except that was in the EM panel.
Or a almost new hotel it was discovered many of the stairway lights were not on the generator after a utility substation explosion.
Despite the generators several hotels here have been closed by the fire department for being totally dark after an electrical failure.
The Paris, Rio, Rail Road Pass, Ballagio, Aria the ones I know of that were closed due to total darkness.

 

[Ragin Cajun]

Thanks for all your input.

I will stick with the battery packs. Much simpler, if nothing else. Plus, no separate conduits for emergency circuits.

Thanks again, RC

 

[Strathead]

Working on a 250' x 250' warehouse/production facility. 150' x 240' is 18' high rack storage, 100' x 150' production area, 50' x 90' office, and 50' x 90' misc. Lighting is LED at ~20' AFF. Production and misc. areas are dimmable. The office is mostly dimmable. At the moment the office lights are 120V and the rest is 277V, but the office can be 277V if needed. There is a single 277V lighting panelboard.

I can't in good conscience put in battery packs because of the battery maintenance issues. But going to an emergency generator requires lots of dedicated conduits which are costly and potentially dedicated fixtures. But, even with that it should (?) be the least long term cost. And with dimmable fixtures, it will be interesting how (if) to use any of them for the egress lighting.

What is the "preferred" method(s) to providing emergency lighting for large areas?

Thanks,
RC

I know you have drawn a conclusion and others have chimed in, but a question, is this a new installation? I assume it is or you would have referenced what was originally in place to feed the fixtures. New or old, the cheapest method is likely to be battery packs, but if it were my facility I would opt for inverters installed in or remote for select LED Fixtures. If I were concerned about maintenance, I would install a single large inverter (UPS) near the main panel and feed the select warehouse lights with the inverter. This would require separate conduits for those lights and a switch leg from the normal lights to the inverter. For the office area I would still use individual inverters in fixtures.

 

[JFletcher]

Not so much in Vegas hotels.
Too much to maintain.

Perhaps in a 3,000+ room hotel maintenance would be high, but dedicated conduits to generators or troffer back-up batteries have a 10+ fold higher installation cost. I worked at a 258 room hotel with ~ 12 conference rooms and a 7,000' sq ballroom, and it took maybe an extra 30 minutes on a complete walkthru (which was done once a shift) to test and document all e-lights and exit signs once a month. The old signs with 2 15W long candelabra base incandescents and no battery backup were still installed when I first started in 2005; THOSE were a maintenance nightmare (bulbs $3ea, ~1500hr lifespan, every day a few would burn out of the nearly 80 exit signs in the building), not to mention a huge liability; no idea how they were grandfathered in for so long.

They here and there. Such as a small project inside speced them out.
Most areas went to the nuclear exit signs. Even then it takes a guy months to document and replace when the time is up.
The problem with the EM lighting on a generator is it doesn't always get tested to verify the EM circuits are as plan after construction and remodels.
An example would be 1 breaker was turned off in a main service corridor, turning off every other light to save energy. Except that was in the EM panel.
Or a almost new hotel it was discovered many of the stairway lights were not on the generator after a utility substation explosion.
Despite the generators several hotels here have been closed by the fire department for being totally dark after an electrical failure.
The Paris, Rio, Rail Road Pass, Ballagio, Aria the ones I know of that were closed due to total darkness.

I imagine the lost revenue for closing a hotel of those sizes for one day would far exceed a lifetime's worth of maintenance/replacements for $15 cheapie e-lights.

eta: the only reason I can see using other emergency lighting systems would be if the local codes required more than 90 minute run time to evacuate, or facilities where essential personnel stayed in the building regardless of power failure.

 

[ronaldrc]

What specific fixture ? Most can be ordered with a battery backup factory installed. Your other option would be remote inverters at ground level that are more easily accessible.


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Is egress lighting the same as emergency lighting?

Ronald

 

[brantmacga]

Is egress lighting the same as emergency lighting?

Ronald

OP said egress and then emergency lighting in the same post, so I just assumed from what I read that he meant emergency.


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[ronaldrc]

OP said egress and then emergency lighting in the same post, so I just assumed from what I read that he meant emergency.


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Thanks for the reply:Ronald

 

[Strathead]

Is egress lighting the same as emergency lighting?

Ronald

Yes egress lighting can be construed as emergency lighting. In reality, it is "emergency egress lighting" that we deal with or lighting that illuminates the paths, determined by code that allow people to see when leaving a building without power.

 

[kwired]

Is egress lighting the same as emergency lighting?

Ronald

Sometimes yes sometimes no.

"emergency lighting" in a hospital operating room is there so the procedure can continue if the normal lighting fails, most likely there is no interest in egress in this location, unless maybe normal power went out because of earthquake, flood, tornado...