» Planning of the addressable emergency light system
» Structure of the system
» Addressable emergency light control panel NEPTO-254
» Cabling
» Luminaires
» Advantages of the Neptolux system


The purpose of the emergency exit lighting is to guide people safely out of the building in emergency situations, such as fire, power failure, lighting failure and other situations deviating from the normal. In sudden exit situations it is important to prevent panic and secure rapid and safe exit.

The exit lighting includes usually two different lighting types, exit signs and route lights. The exit signs are constantly on and shows the right passage direction. The route lights turn on only in fault and alarm situations and sufficient quantity of light is ensured at the exit routes to secure safe exit and rescue operations.

The addressable emergency light system consists of a control panel with separate keypad, exit and route lights with separate batteries and low-current cabling. Normally the control panel feeds necessary operating voltage to the luminaires. In emergency situations of failure in mains supply the control panel and luminaires operate with own batteries for the time implied by the EN standard EN50272-2.


Planning of the addressable emergency light system

Planning of the emergency exit lighting is to be made according to stipulations in EN standard EN1838. The standard gives detailed information on the placing of the luminaires, amount, technical requirements and what kind of luminaires should be in different places. Other EN standards related to emergency exit lighting are EN60598-2-22, EN50171, EN50272-2 and EN50172.

The EN50172 particularly attends to the responsibility of the possessor of the building in respect of regular maintenance and functional testing of the emergency light system. The possessor/owner of the premises should assign an expert person to supervise the maintenance of the system. Functional tests of the equipment should be performed daily, monthly and annually and the system should be serviced at regular intervals. Addressable emergency light systems automatically make these functional tests and store the event data in the transaction memory of the emergency light central unit. When necessary, the data can easily be transferred to a service company or the GSM telephone of the possessor.

Emergency exit lighting is compulsory among others in business premises, meeting halls, production and warehouse areas, workplaces, nursing institutions and car parks. To some extent, exit lighting is also necessary for instance in common spaces of multi-storey buildings, such as stair halls.

Already at the planning stage, it is often wise to hear the local fire inspector’s opinion of the exit routes and placing of the luminaires. This would minimize necessary changes when the building is completed. Also the design of the luminaires influences the general impression and architecture of the premises. It is important to consider these issues when drawing up the plans.


Structure of the system

The Neptolux system is based on an addressable battery-backed emergency light control panel and addressable battery-backed luminaires and low-current cabling.

System diagram »
Eelumdat (NA88) »

Addressable emergency light control panel NEPTO-254

As the control panel of Neptolux emergency light system operates the battery-backed control panel NEPTO-254, which normally feeds operating voltage to the luminaires and continuously tests itself and the luminaires. In case of power failure the control panel secures data communication between the control panel itself and the luminaires by own battery capacity. During power failure the luminaires function with own batteries. The electronics of the luminaires prevents deep discharge of the batteries during long-lasting power failures.

Altogether 254 exit signs and/or route lights can be connected to the two address buses of the emergency light control panel. The use of the control panel is performed by the NEPTO-KLG keypad (max. 8 pcs) with graphic display placed nearby the entrance or reception. The keypad display shows fault and alarm data immediately or it can be searched from the transaction memory.

Maintenance and testing operations can be done from the keypad or also from remote keypad.


Cabling

Instead of fire resistant cables, fire alarm KLMA 2x0.8+0.8 cables are used in the Neptolux emergency light system which also are used in fire alarm systems. The cable of the address bus from the control panel does not have to be returned.


Luminaires

Concerning installation, connections and maintenance Neptolux offers a quite new solution. At the connection stage the exit signs and route lights do not have to be opened, but the wires are connected to detector base YBN-R/3, which also is used in Prodex fire alarm systems. The luminaire is fixed to the YBN-R/3 by turning. The material is fire resistant ABS plastic, fire class UL94 V-O.

Grouping of luminaires into exit sign and route light groups is not necessary. Exit signs and route lights may be freely placed in the detector bus and the control panel recognizes the type of luminaire by address electronics. The addressability makes it also possible to control locally the fire areas and group control panels. When necessary only the route lights and exit signs of a specific area remain on in alarm/fault situations. Phase control is done by Nepto I/O unit.

The addresses of the luminaires are set by programming unit TCH-B100.

> installation guide

Highest safety
Advantages of the Neptolux system:

- planning of the system does not require complicated dimensioning
- exit signs and route lights in the same bus
- battery back-up for each luminaire
- length of bus 500/1000 m
- 127 luminaires in one bus
- cabling is not expensive
- easy installation
- easy service and maintenance
- automatic testing
- alarm data of the system can be directed to a service company by transfer units
- cost-effective system in implementation and maintenance