Reviewing the Best Emergency Lights & LED Exit Signs

The Three Types of Emergency Lighting

Three configurations provide safe egress from a building. Each has its own job, and most buildings need all three working together.

Emergency Light Fixtures

Emergency light fixtures sit dormant on mains power and switch to an internal battery the moment supply is lost. A fire, an outage or a lightning strike all trigger the same response, and the fixture illuminates the escape route until people are out or power returns.

They come in several mounting configurations depending on the building:

• Wall-mounted
• Recessed wall-mounted
• Drop ceiling mounted
• Ceiling mounted

Look for tempered glass lenses and aluminium housings on anything going into an industrial or high-traffic setting — these fixtures often sit untouched for years and then have to work first time.

Exit Signs

LED exit signs are required in public buildings and workplaces, mounted over doors and along egress routes so they remain visible in a power outage or in smoke.

Check your lettering colour before ordering. This is the detail that most often causes a re-order. Some jurisdictions require red lettering, others mandate green, and the requirement is set locally rather than nationally. Confirm with your authority having jurisdiction rather than assuming.

Combination Exit Signs With Lights

A combination unit puts emergency lamp heads on the exit sign itself. When power fails, the sign stays lit and the heads illuminate the floor beneath it.

On most jobs this is the efficient choice: one device, one mounting point and one set of wiring satisfies both the marking requirement and the illumination requirement at the same location. Where a doorway needs both anyway, a combo unit usually costs less than two separate fixtures.

Why LED Has Replaced Everything Else

For emergency fixtures in particular, LED is not a marginal improvement. These units run continuously and have to work unattended for years, which is exactly where LED's advantages compound:

If you have older fixtures still in service, replacing them with current LED exit signs and emergency units usually costs less over the life of the building than continuing to maintain what is there.

The Supporting Components

A few things worth specifying alongside the fixtures themselves:

Emergency Ballasts and Drivers

An emergency ballast or driver turns an ordinary fixture into an emergency one. It sits inside the housing, charges from mains, and on power loss drives the existing lamp at reduced output for the required duration.

This is often the cheaper route on a retrofit — rather than adding dedicated emergency fixtures, you convert fixtures that are already in the right places.

Power Inverters

Emergency lighting inverters work at the circuit level rather than the fixture level, converting DC battery power to AC so existing fixtures keep running through an outage.

They suit larger buildings where converting individual fixtures would be impractical, and where you want the normal lighting scheme to stay on rather than switching to a sparse emergency layout.

Protective Covers

In gymnasiums, warehouses with forklift traffic, or anywhere a fixture is exposed to impact, a wire guard or polycarbonate cover is a small cost against replacing the unit. Worth considering wherever a fixture sits within reach of moving equipment or a ball.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long do emergency lights have to stay on?

Life safety codes generally require at least 90 minutes of illumination along the means of egress after a power failure. That duration is what determines battery sizing in an emergency fixture. Confirm the requirement that applies to your building with your local authority having jurisdiction, since adopted code editions vary.

How often should emergency lighting be tested?

The usual regime is a brief functional test monthly — around 30 seconds using the test button, to confirm the unit switches to battery and the lamps illuminate — plus a full-duration test once a year, running the unit for the whole required period to prove the battery still holds charge. Keep a written log of both, because the log is generally what an inspector asks to see. Self-testing fixtures perform these checks automatically and indicate faults with a status light.

Should exit sign lettering be red or green?

It depends on your jurisdiction. Some require red, others mandate green, and it is set locally rather than by a single national standard. This is worth confirming before you order, because it is the most common reason an otherwise correct exit sign has to be sent back.

What is the difference between an exit sign and a combination unit?

An exit sign marks the route. A combination unit does that and adds emergency lamp heads that illuminate the floor beneath it during an outage. Where a doorway needs both marking and illumination — which is common — a combination unit is usually cheaper and simpler than installing two separate fixtures at the same location.

Can I convert existing fixtures instead of buying emergency ones?

Often, yes. An emergency ballast or driver fitted inside an existing fixture will run its lamp at reduced output on battery power during an outage, which converts a standard fixture into an emergency one. On a retrofit this is frequently cheaper than adding dedicated emergency fixtures, particularly where the existing fixtures are already positioned along the egress route. For larger buildings, a central inverter achieves the same at circuit level.

How long do LED exit signs last?

The LED source in a quality exit sign typically runs up to 10 years in continuous service. The battery is usually the component that needs attention first, which is what the annual full-duration test is designed to catch. Because exit signs are lit 24 hours a day, the reduction in both lamp changes and energy draw is where LED pays back against older technology.