technical guide emergency lighting

This application guide contains information on: q

Non-maintained emergency luminaires
Maintained emergency luminaires

Sustained emergency luminaires

Testing emergency lighting

Egress mode upon changeover to a standby generator

Load shedding upon changeover to a standby generator

Automatically bypassing circuits from a load controller

Glossary of emergency lighting terms

There is a common requirement for emergency lighting to be used alongside general lighting connected
to a control system. There are a few different ways of achieving this, the most appropriate method is
dependent on the type of emergency lighting fixture and control equipment used. Following is a
description of several different techniques and their respective deployment methods. Sometimes it will
be necessary to combine two or more techniques to achieve the desired outcome.

self-contained luminaires
There are three common types of Self Contained Luminaires (also known as Single Point Luminaires):

maintained luminaires
This is an exit or emergency luminaire, where the lamps used for emergency lighting also operate under
normal supply. The lamps used in these luminaires are often fluorescent, with a dimmable ballast and
can be controlled in exactly the same manner as a normal dimmable fluorescent luminaire.

Supply:
230V
1 Phase

Normal

L
N
E

Maintained Emergency
Lighting Luminaire

Maintained
Battery Pack

Neutral
Dimmable Ballast
Lamp

DALI / 1-10V / DSI

DALI /1-10V / DSI

DALI / 1-10V / DSI

AUX

D-

+15V

D+

GND

SHIELD

DyNet
RS485

Maintained Luminaires have two line inputs. One is connected to the controlled lighting output of the
load controller. The Maintained input is connected to the load side of the load controllers circuit
breaker, which supplies power to charge the internal battery and to use as a signal to turn the lamp on
in the event of a power

Philips Dynalite Technical Guide Emergency Lighting

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failure.

In this example the Maintained Luminaire is also used for Normal Lighting, its ballast is

dimmable so ballast control lines are shown. Commonly used control protocols are DALI, DSI and 1-10V.

non-maintained luminaires
This is an exit or emergency luminaire, where the lamps used for emergency lighting only operate when
the normal supply fails. The lamps used in these luminaires are often incandescent such as the small
Spitfire halogen lamp and the larger, sealed beam flood lamp units.

Supply:
230V
1 Phase

Maintained Emergency
Lighting Luminaire

Normal

L
N
E

Maintained

Battery Pack

Neutral
Dimmable Ballast
Lamp

DALI / 1-10V / DSI

DALI /1-10V / DSI

DALI / 1-10V / DSI

AUX

D-

+15V

D+

GND

SHIELD

DyNet
RS485

Non-Maintained Luminaires are connected to the load side of the load controllers circuit breaker, which
supplies power to charge the internal battery and to use as a signal to turn the lamp on in the event of a
power failure. This connection method allows full control of the normal lighting while providing for
emergency lighting in the event of a circuit breaker trip or power supply failure.

sustained luminaires
This is an exit or emergency luminaire with two or more lamps where at least one lamp operates in nonmaintained mode and is only illuminated when normal supply fails. The other lamp operates on the
normal supply only. This is identical in functionality to having a Non-Maintained Luminaire and a Normal
Luminaire both in the same housing.

Supply:
230V 40A
1 Phase

L
N
E

Normal

Neutral

Maintained

Normal Lighting Luminaire

Lamp

Non-Maintained
Emergency Lighting Luminaire
Lamp
Battery Pack

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AUX

+15V

D-

D+

GND

SHIELD

DyNet
RS485

Philips Dynalite Technical Guide Emergency Lighting

Sustained Luminaires have two line inputs. One is connected to the Normal lighting output of the load
controller. The Sustained input is connected to the load side of the load controllers circuit breaker,
which supplies power to charge the internal battery and to use as a signal to turn the lamp on in the
event of a power failure. In this example the normal half of the sustained luminaire is used for normal
lighting, it is dimmable through leading edge. This method can also be applied to dimmable ballast
control lines that use protocols DALI, DSI and 1-10V.

essential supply load shedding

Some sites are equipped with a standby generator, which will automatically start upon failure of normal
supply and after operating parameters are reached, will switch part or all of the site from the normal
supply circuit to the generators output, resulting in the site being re-energised some 10 to 20 seconds
after normal supply failure. Quite often the standby generator is coupled with a UPS (Uninterruptible
Power Supply), which ensures there is no power dropout during the changeover period. In theory, the
lighting system should operate as it would on normal supply, but in practice it is often desirable to
modify its behaviour. Two common reasons for doing this are:

The Standby Generator does not have the power capacity required to operate the site normally.
In this case it is desirable to place the lighting system into a load shedding mode.

The site should not be occupied while normal power is not available. In this case it is desirable
to place the lighting system into an egress mode.

To change the operating mode, the lighting system must be made aware that the generator has now
come online. This is typically carried out via a relay that actuates when the generator is online, (or
sometimes via a relay that actuates when the normal supply fails) providing a dry contact signal to an
input unit on the lighting control network, such as a DDMIDC8 Multifunction Input Interface. Once the dry
contact signal is detected, the DDMIDC8 will then transmit a network message along Dynet to activate
the required load shedding.

1 Phase
40 AMP
Standby Generator

DBC410

Dry Contact

EL1

CH1
CH2
CH3
CH4

DDMIDC8

CH1
CH2
CH3
CH4

Lighting Control Network

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egress mode
To meet the load shedding requirements of the project the DDMIDC8 unit can lock out all control user
interface devices such as wall mounted control panels, touchscreens, motion detectors etc, to prevent
occupants from interfering the required action and selects a global egress lighting preset, which is predefined to illuminate egress paths and reduce lighting in workspaces to assist in alerting occupants that
something is amiss. When normal power is restored the DDMIDC8 restores normal control functionality.

load shed mode

The DDMIDC8 can instruct all load controllers to use a different set of presets than the normal ones.
Consider the example of a room with two channels of lighting and a control panel that recalls four
presets:

HIGH

MED

Panel

Normal Presets

Load Shed Presets

HIGH

1 - CH1= 100%, CH2 = 100%

5 - CH1= 60%, CH2 = 20%

MED

2 - CH1= 70%, CH2 = 70%

6 - CH1= 60%, CH2 = 20%

LOW

3 - CH1= 40%, CH2 = 40%

7 - CH1= 40%, CH2 = 20%

OFF

4 - CH1= 0%, CH2 = 0%

8 - CH1= 0%, CH2 = 0%

LOW

OFF

During normal operation, presets 1-4 are recalled from the control panel.

In load shed mode the

DDMIDC8 uses a part of the DyNet featureset called Preset Offset, which instructs the load controllers
to recall presets 5-8. This function can target a single or group of rooms or more commonly, the whole
site. If it is desirable that no lighting is on at all in particular rooms in load shed mode, then all load
shed presets are set to 0%. This method has the advantage of minimal impact on the site, as lighting
levels in particular rooms are not disturbed if they are already off or at low levels.

maintaining circuits by bypassing load controllers

When there are only a small number of circuits to be maintained when a site changes over to a standby
generator or UPS, a simple solution is to bypass the lighting control system with contactors that connect
the circuits to be maintained directly to the essential supply.

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Philips Dynalite Technical Guide Emergency Lighting

Non-Essential
Supply

Essential
Supply

DBC410
EL1
Contactor

Lamp

CH1
CH2
CH3
CH4

Load Controller
CH1
CH2
CH3
CH4

In this scenario the non-essential supply is used to hold a contactor closed, connecting the lamp to the
load controller. When the non-essential supply fails the load controller will be de-energised as will the
contactor, which will connect the lamp to the essential supply.

glossary of emergency lighting terms

anti-panic area lighting - The part of emergency escape lighting provided to avoid panic and provide
illumination allowing people to reach a place where an escape route can be identified.
central battery system - An emergency lighting system where the exits and emergency lighting are
supplied from a common power source when there is a power failure (usually for all the emergency
luminaires on one lighting sub-circuit, but sometimes for all emergency luminaires in a complete
building).
combined mode - An exit or emergency luminaire with two or more lamps where at least one lamp
operates in non-maintained mode. Typically refers to a two-lamp luminaire where one lamp operates on
the normal supply only and the other only when normal supply fails. Also known as Sustained Mode.
emergency lighting - The lighting provided for use when the supply to the normal mains lighting
installation fails.
emergency luminaire - A luminaire designed for use in an emergency lighting system. Exits can serve as
emergency luminaires if classified in accordance with the relevant local standard. Emergency luminaires
can be designed to operate as both normal lighting and emergency.

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escape route lighting - Lighting provided to ensure that the means of escape can be effectively
identified and safely used when a location is occupied.
exit luminaire - An emergency luminaire designed to serve as an Exit sign.
high risk task area lighting - Emergency lighting provided to ensure the safety of people involved in a
potentially dangerous process or situation and to enable proper shut down procedures.
luminaire - A lighting fixture, the housing of which includes items for fixing, protecting and operating
the lamps.
maintained luminaire - An exit or emergency luminaire where the lamps used for emergency lighting
also operate under normal supply.
non-maintained luminaire - An exit or emergency luminaire where the lamps used for emergency
lighting only operate when the normal supply fails.
normal lighting - Standard electric lighting luminaires operating from the normal supply.
rated duration - The manufacturers declared duration for a battery operated emergency lighting unit,
specifying the time for which it will operate after mains failure. This is normally one or three hours
when fully charged.
recharge period - The time necessary for the batteries to regain sufficient capacity to achieve their
rated duration.
self contained luminaire - An emergency luminaire or exit sign with all control gear and battery pack
housed within the luminaire. Also known as a Single Point Luminaire.
single point emergency lighting system - Emergency lighting system using self-contained emergency
luminaires and exit signs.
single point luminaire - An emergency luminaire or exit sign with all control gear and battery pack
housed within the luminaire (also known as a Self Contained Luminaire).
slave luminaire - An emergency luminaire without its own batteries, which is designed to work in
conjunction with a central battery system.
standby lighting - The part of emergency lighting that may be provided to enable normal activities to
continue in the event of a mains supply failure.
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Philips Dynalite Technical Guide Emergency Lighting

sustained luminaire - An exit or emergency luminaire with two or more lamps where at least one lamp
operates in non-maintained mode and only illuminates when normal supply fails.

The other lamp

operates on the normal supply only. Identical in functionality to having a Non-Maintained Luminaire and
a Normal Luminaire both in the same housing (also known as Combined Mode).

2011 Dynalite Intelligent Light Pty Limited (ABN 97 095 929 829). All rights reserved. Not to be reproduced without permission. Dynalite, DyNet,
DLight and associated logos are the registered trademarks of Dynalite Intelligent Light Pty Ltd.

Philips Dynalite Technical Guide Emergency Lighting

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