Phil Brown, NVC Lighting’s Director of Product & Marketing, explains how Bluetooth technology is making the most reliable emergency test systems appropriate for an even wider range of projects.
Emergency lighting is required wherever the public has access to a building or where people are employed and in multi-occupancy facilities such as HMOs, student accommodation and care homes. Unlike most lighting, it’s not just a case of installing the unit and then it’s ‘job done’ as long as it’s working.
The insurance policy
Emergency lighting is like an insurance policy. You hope you won’t need it, but it’s there just in case you do, so it must be reliable should the worst happen. This means that it needs to be tested every month with an annual full discharge test, typically for three hours per fitting annually. That’s the law, by the way.
There are three levels of emergency testing systems: manual, self-test and addressable self-test.
Addressable self-test is the premium solution of these options. This is because testing is fully automated so it’s never omitted and done at zero cost. Testing can be scheduled to take place at an appropriate time for the building occupants, for example avoiding teaching times in schools and performance times in cinemas. The test results are then automatically sent to the responsible person and put in a file to be checked later, as is the case if manual testing systems are used.
Until recently it was hard for an electrician to up-sell a customer to addressable self-test solutions as they required a DALI network. And while these are still the right solution for many larger buildings, for some they’re considered too expensive to install and too difficult to commission. Now, that’s all changed…
Easy and profitable installation
The latest addressable self-test systems offer the benefits of automation, scheduling, and proactive fault reporting at a lower cost. Using Bluetooth mesh technology, rather than a wired DALI network, and an App on your phone or tablet, up to 42,000 emergency fittings can be linked in a single system. Testing is automatic and carried out to a prearranged schedule with full test results available via the App, whenever it’s required by the responsible person.
This is a solution that an experienced electrician can be confident to install not only relatively easily but also profitably. Addressable self-test was always a great solution – now it is lower cost and easier to install thanks to Bluetooth mesh technology.
Addressable self-test systems using Bluetooth can be fitted across NVC Lighting’s wide range of commercial, industrial, and public sector lighting products, both in dedicated emergency fittings (such as exit signs) and in converted fittings, such as panels, battens, and downlights.
It’s been a while coming, but finally we now have an addressable self-test emergency lighting system that is as profitable for the electrician to sell as it is for the customer to use.
Browse the latest online NVC Lighting catalogue here
