The Difference Between Maintained and Non-Maintained Emergency Lighting
During a power outage or emergency, ensuring that people can safely navigate through and exit your building is essential. Whether it’s a commercial or public building, you have a legal responsibility for people’s safety, which is why emergency lighting is so important.
This month at Surrey Tech Services Ltd, we’re going to clarify the difference between maintained and non-maintained emergency lighting, with some use cases and how you can choose the right type for compliance with safety legislation.
What is emergency lighting?
An emergency lighting system is designed to illuminate the path to safety in the event of a power failure or other emergencies, such as a fire.
This type of lighting is required to help your building meet fire safety regulations and the appropriate industry standards (covered by BS 5266 specifically for emergency lighting).
Ultimately, the key purpose of emergency lighting is to aid in the safe evacuation of a building’s occupants and to minimise the risk of injury.
Types of emergency lighting
We’re going to give you an overview of the two main types of emergency lighting, used for escape routes, open areas and high-risk task areas.
Maintained emergency lighting
Maintained emergency lighting is a system that remains on at all times, but can switch to battery power during a failure at the mains. This gives you continuous operation for both normal lighting and in an emergency.
Where is maintained emergency lighting used?
- Hospitality
- Cinemas
- Theatres
- Healthcare
What are the advantages of maintained emergency lighting?
- Excellent for high-occupancy and public areas
- Dual-purpose functionality that means you don’t need two lighting systems
Non-maintained emergency lighting
Non-maintained lighting is the kind that only activates during an actual power failure. It is not active during normal operation conditions. There is no normal switch for this lighting as it will only automatically trigger in an emergency. It is ideal for spaces that don’t need emergency lighting during normal operation hours.
Where is non-maintained emergency lighting used?
- Offices
- Warehouses
- Car parks
- Common areas in residential buildings
What are the advantages of maintained emergency lighting?
- Energy-efficient as it isn’t on during normal operating hours
- Cost-effective solution to meet compliance in areas with low ambient light requirements
What type of emergency lighting do I need?
Choosing between maintained and non-maintained emergency lighting? Here are the key considerations to keep in mind:
- What type of building do you have and how is it used?
- What are the occupancy levels and visibility requirements during normal operating hours?
- Are you seeking an energy-efficient solution?
- Are there compliance requirements for your business or premises?
Whether you need maintained emergency lighting to ensure continuous illumination is provided or non-maintained emergency lighting for illumination only in an emergency, look no further than our team at Surrey Tech Services Ltd.
Operating across London and the Home Counties, you can count on us as experienced commercial electricians. Simply call today for expert advice on emergency lighting and the safety of your building.