Udec Corporation

While traveling on the highway one finds multiple exit signs which give directions and as a guide in getting people on the path towards their destination. Similarly in offices, hotels and other buildings, the need for installation of these signs is important and must. There are rules and laws that have been laid down to ensure that the safety of the people visiting or working in the premises is taken care of. The signs when fitted in many places around the building save cost and acts as a prevention to any chaos or unexpected losses. With advance in technology, the lights in the sign boards are created to be lit through the day and they consume less or no energy at all.

The main criterion for an effective Exit sign is that it should be visible through smoke or fire and must be water resistant. This will also come in handy incase the board needs to be moved to a different location where water sprays during fire related emergencies. Across the USA, there are more than a million such signs found and these are all installed keeping in mind the size of the building, the number of exit doors available.

Most offices and residential buildings have single entry but multiple exit doors; this is so people have an alternative way of getting out of the building in case of any emergency. For the same purpose, it is essential for the builders to install good exit signs which give people a sense of direction. The Fire Exit for example, is a way of getting people out of the building without approaching the main entrance. These signs should be fitted with a light and must be near the exit doors. In case of large buildings, sign boards must be suspended from the ceiling enabling people to find their way to the door and into safety. In most offices, there will be multiple sign boards at different locations through the floor with a text or an arrow pointing towards the door.

These signs could also be made using LED bulbs, which glow in darkness making sure people don’t get stranded and panic doesn’t set in. The Exit signs should be different from other sign boards and visible across long distances to serve the purpose. Some buildings have these signs glowing through the day and make sure there is nothing blocking its visibility

It is always a good idea to have emergency lighting, whether in the house or in the office building. There have been a host of natural and man made disasters over the last decade that should make you rethink your approach to emergencies. It has been a few years since Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast states, but it should still serve as a reminder as to the power of mother nature. It became obvious after the storm had passed that the majority of the Gulf Coast population was entirely unprepared for the calamity that had struck. In addition, the government, on all levels, was also unprepared to deal with the problem. The infrastructure of all of New Orleans collapsed, and the people were left to fend for themselves. The hurricane served as a reminder that we should always keep emergency supplies in our house, including food that can be stored for long periods of time, large amounts of bottled water, and of course, emergency lighting. It would also be wise, if you live in an area prone to natural disasters, to keep a generator of some sort. By preparing for the worst, you can avoid, or at least minimize your risk in the event of an emergency.

When it comes to emergency lighting, most people think of small lighting systems located in buildings like apartment and condominium complexes, hospitals, schools, and business high rises. There are other needs for emergency light fixtures. For example, have you ever been to a football or baseball game at night? The field is lit up almost as if it were daytime, but it takes a long time for high these high intensity discharge lamps to power up. A particularly dangerous scenario would be a power outage due to a lightning strike or some other form of failure. For this case, there is emergency lighting available. Udec Corporation carries a couple different types of athletic field emergency egress lighting. The Model SL900-TD14 uses eight lamps that are run off of a high frequency ballast. The fluorescent lights use the latest fluorescent technology, and provide up to fifty percent more light than standard fluorescent lights. If the systems are placed on opposite sides of the field, together they can provide an average of 1.0 foot candle. In addition, once the power comes back online, the emergency light fixtures will remain powered for an additional fourteen minutes. This is to ensure that the normal field lights have enough time to fully power up.  

The other day I was watching a show on the World Trade Center attacks that made me think about emergency lighting fixtures. The show featured several survivors as they recalled those harrowing events. Many of them worked on the very stories of the building that were hit. I have been to New York, and I have seen how incredibly large the buildings are. I can’t imagine having to traverse all those stories without the aid of an elevator. These people had to descend story after story of stairs to get to safety. Along the way, they were passed up by many firemen. It was sad to think that those escaping were the last people to see those brave souls alive. Despite the chaos, they were somehow able to make it down and were aided by the many emergency lighting fixtures along the way. There recollections were remarkable, and they all had one thing in common. They all seemed so grateful to be alive. Of course they were saddened about the loss of life, and many of them lost friends in the process, but they had gained a valuable new perspective on life. There stories were only possible because of a simple light fixture that guided their steps to safety.

Maintaining your emergency lighting system can be costly and time consuming. Many states require that emergency lights are tested for their battery supply and functionality on a regular basis. This equates to thousands of dollars spent on man hours that could be better spent elsewhere. Fortunately, there are products that address this issue. Some companies offer systems that allow a single user to monitor an entire buildings system of emergency lighting from one remote location. These systems initially cost more than manual labor, but they end up paying off in the long run. There is also another benefit to consider. For manually serviced lighting systems, there is a natural lapse of time between maintenance services. During this period, it is feasible that something could happen to make the lighting system inoperative. This is to the determent of the buildings safety. A lighting fixture could break or a battery or other power supply could fail. Those scenarios would be avoided if a user were able to monitor the status of the emergency lighting system remotely. The status of the fixtures would be continuously available and would only take a short period to scan and diagnose. Because of this, purchasing a remote viewing station may pay off immediate dividends.

Do you own or run a business with emergency lighting requirements? Whether you are required by law, or your industry has a need for emergency lighting, it is best that you understand where your company stands. Lighting is a fundamental part of any company, but particularly for one that is open during non business hours. Some companies require auxiliary power to ensure their refrigerators, computers, or other vital equipment runs during a power outage, but lighting is the most basic of these needs. Consider the possibility of losing power to your building. Your customer and employees would need a way to navigate the building. Considering that it would be rare for a customer or employee to carry a flashlight with them, emergency lighting would be the most paramount of needs. In addition, your state laws may require that your company provide a lighting source in the case of a power outage. Perhaps you lease a building or an office space that does not meet this requirement. In this case you would have to be able to provide the lighting source yourself. This is something to always keep in mind when deciding on the location of your company.