Should emergency lights show a green or red light?

[green-foam]

How long do they last if you turn the mains off?

[Tom Sutton]

Is it emergency escape lighting and what is your question.

[Guest advice please]

Hi Folks

Can the small led be covered up to prevent glare in a bedroom when dark its enoying to our hotel guests .

Thanks

[AnthonyB]

Not completely as you can't inspect it correctly otherwise. If you can block the glare that faces the bed, but still allows it to be seen from other angles that might be OK.

[Guest tom 2017]

can anyone tell me why the light keeps flickering on an channel vale emergency exit led

[Tom Sutton]

It appears the self test facility is operating check out the the instruction manual, http://channeltest.co.uk.gridhosted.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Vale-Issue-1-02.2014.pdf

[Guest curtis]

On 3/3/2013 at 14:27, green-foam said:

To add to the above. You do not see many emergency lights with a RED led, but I did see one.

 

i have one with the red indicator light on, I've switched the lights out and they indicator light is still red. does it take time to charge up or is their an issue with the ballast 

 

 

 

And below is the more common emergency light with a green LED

 

 

 

[green-foam]

1 hour ago, Guest curtis said:

i have one with the red indicator light on, I've switched the lights out and they indicator light is still red. does it take time to charge up or is their an issue with the ballast

Neither. If the red (in your case) LED is still lit when you turn the lights off  then it means that your EL is still be powered and still being charged.

EL should only come on when there is a power failure to the light or the relevant test switch has been operated.

Switching off lights near an EL should not remove the supply to the EL, so the EL will not come on.

You need to find where the EL are fed from and turn that off to test them.

You may want to get some one in to do it for you / show you next time.

 

[Guest del249]

On 17/10/2017 at 17:46, Guest curtis said:

 

Hi

we have emergency lights in our office. all show red LED . ( no greens on this older fitting) have just tested the system and 2 units do not light. I assume it is better to change the whole unit rather than trying tubes and batteries ?  any advice most welcome.:-)

[green-foam]

Doubtful it is the tube (I assume it has hardly ever been lit) So that means the batteries have probably failed, they only have a working life of 3 -  5 years at most. Safelincs can supply you with batteries from just under £12 Click here

Or you can as you suggest change the whole fitting. Safelincs can supply EM lights  starting from just over £15 Click here

 

[Guest Dave]

Just to ask the question with regard to the charging LED indicators...

Am I right to say that when the indicator is on (EL not on test) the batteries are charging and that when you place in test mode the LED should go out to indicate it is powered only by the batteries?

Reason i ask is all but one in our offices do that... and i'm trying to check if this is normal or should the fact that the green charge LED being on all the time (in normal and in test) mean the unit is faulty?

 

 

[AnthonyB]

The single light on a standard EL fitting (green or if a very old unit red) shows the mains supply to the fitting is on and the batteries should be charging, if the unit is still showing it's LED it would imply it's mains feed is still on and the light is fed off a different circuit to the one on the test switch you used......or that something else is wrong.

If it has more than one LED then it's likely to be a self testing unit and could have a meaning specific to the fitting. 

[Guest Linda Melrose]

What does it mean when your emergency  light which is normally green turns white without the power being turned off

[AnthonyB]

Do you mean it goes from being unlit other than the green LED to fully illuminated?

[green-foam]

I would assume you have a single LED emergency light, normally they are green, but in a power failure they change to white. (See example images) If it is showing white that means the unit has no mains, or it has failed, I would check that it has mains first.

 

Below are two images of the same light. Yes it is one LED it has been developed for sole use as an emergency light. When the unit has mains it lights up as a not bright green, in a mains failure it changes to a bright cool white and like other emergency lights, it will last for 3 hours. They are small and unobtrusive and can directly replace "down lights"

[green-foam]

For clarification purposes.

 

This is a bulkhead emergency light with a RED LED to indicate it is charging.

So long as the main light stays on for 3 hours or more when it is tested (Once a year) there is no need to change it.

 

 

This is a bulkhead emergency light with a Green LED to indicate it is charging.

It should be tested once a year to make sure the main light stays on for a minimum of 3 hours.

 

All new bulkhead emergency lights have a green charging LED, but if yours has a RED LED, it only means it is old, it is NOT illegal.

So long as it is looked after and lasts for 3 hours or more when tested it can stay.

Safelincs can supply replacement batteries from £11.00 Click here

Safelincs can supply new bulkhead emergency lights from £14.00 Click here

 

 

[green-foam]

For clarification purposes.

 

Below are two pictures of the same light. (Not shown is the power-supply and battery)

The light has a diameter of only 19 mm. It is two LED's in the same package.

It is usually mounted in the ceiling, so all that is seen is the light itself.

 

When "normal" the LED shows a "dim" Green light (As shown below)

 

When the mains fails it shows a bright white light (As shown below) which lasts for a minimum of 3 hours

 

[Guest Rowie146]

As a Health and Safety officer I always noted Red as being faulty and Green as satisfactory especially when the lights are identical model. If there is a variation on the meaning of the colours I would appreciate any guidance as I inspect properties every week and currently report Red lights as faulty.

[green-foam]

If an emergency light only has ONE LED it does not matter if it is red or green. New lights all have a green LED to indicate charging, Old lights have a red LED to indicate charging. So long as they last for at least 180 minutes when running on batteries there is no need to change them, but the cost of new batteries for some lights is almost the same cost as a complete new emergency light.

The change to green LEDs came into being to avoid confusion.

Some emergency lights have a self test feature, these usually have TWO LED's One red, One green, if everything is normal just the green LED will be on, if there is a fault the green LED will go out but the RED LED will flash along with a buzzer beeping several times once an hour. The number of flashes and beeps are to signal what the problem is.

So if you see an emergency light with a constant green or red LED there is nothing to worry about.

[AnthonyB]

10 hours ago, Guest Rowie146 said:

As a Health and Safety officer I always noted Red as being faulty and Green as satisfactory especially when the lights are identical model. If there is a variation on the meaning of the colours I would appreciate any guidance as I inspect properties every week and currently report Red lights as faulty.

A standard EL fitting will either have a single Green LED or, if a rather old fitting a single Red LED. These signify that the fitting has a live main supply in and should be charging (but is no guarantee the blub or LED tray works or that the battery is holding a charge hence the monthly & annual test regime)

As green-foam says some fittings are self testing, carrying out the monthly & annual test regime automatically. These use either three (red, amber, green) or more commonly two (red/green) LEDS which give a message on their status that depends on which ones are lit, whether they are steady lit, slow flash or fast flash, indicating a variety of status' (e.g. on test, healthy, blub fault, battery fault, etc). The exact combinations can vary by manufacturer so the product booklet should be obtained.

Fittings that are slaves off a central power source (such as a central battery) have no status LED at all.

[Guest M.Abdille]

On 01/07/2014 at 17:44, Guest BennyMurp said:

Does the green light indicating the batteries are charging have to stay on 24/7 or can a unit be used where this light switches off when the batteries are charged? Query then on how to identify emergency lighting

The green light steady means it charge and is good but red light or flashing red light means battery need to replace and after change the battery it go back green 

[green-foam]

On 16/06/2021 at 09:41, Guest M.Abdille said:

The green light steady means it charge and is good but red light or flashing red light means battery need to replace and after change the battery it go back green 

That depends on make and model of emergency light, most only have a single green LED, not a red and green LED

[AnthonyB]

On 16/06/2021 at 09:41, Guest M.Abdille said:

The green light steady means it charge and is good but red light or flashing red light means battery need to replace and after change the battery it go back green 

Only on some self testing fittings - which the majority aren't!

[Guest Sharon]

We have emergency lighting in my flats and someone has pit black tape over the green light. Will this stop the emergency lighting coming on if its needed? 

[green-foam]

It is known that some folk put black tape over the Single charging LED on emergency lights to prevent the bright glare. In an ideal world this should not be done, but it does not affect the workings of the light. It is like changing a lampshade on a table light, its still the same light, but it looks different.