Emergency Monitoring

Delmatic systems provide advanced automated testing and monitoring of emergency lighting.

No longer is it necessary to manually initiate emergency lighting tests and conduct out-of-hours walkabouts for visual inspection. Instead, the Delmatic system schedules automatic function and duration tests in accordance with EN50172 and tracks the performance of every emergency light fitting.

Comprehensive performance data including lamp, ballast and battery pass/failure, as well as test date and duration are relayed to a network PC providing detailed records for statutory logging and maintenance: asynchronous testing avoids the risk of all emergency fittings having a low battery level simultaneously.

New legislation requires developers to automate the testing of the entire emergency lighting system within a building – not just within areas controlled via a lighting management system – and Delmatic offer solutions to test and monitor all types of emergency lighting within both controlled and non-controlled areas.

Delmatic offer emergency testing and monitoring for Self-Contained Emergency Fittings or Central Battery/Static Inverter systems. Systems can provide testing and monitoring as part of a Dali network using Delmatic Dali products or third-party Dali Emergency devices including EmPro units, as well as test and monitor non-Dali sources using emergency photocells and battery monitoring devices.

Emergency lighting – the options

Emergency lighting can be provided by means of local self-contained batteries mounted within individual fittings or by a central battery wired via a dedicated network to emergency fittings.

Local battery systems use self-contained battery packs which receive an unswitched mains supply that charges the battery: an integral change-over device swaps the supply to the emergency lamp to the battery when mains power is lost. Traditional installation necessitated the installation of dedicated keyswitches to enable testing of emergency lighting and visual inspection by maintenance staff to verify the operation of emergency fittings.

Central battery systems (static inverter systems) typically incorporate self testing and monitoring: dependent upon the central battery arrangement the changeover device from AC mains to AC battery or DC battery may be located centrally, remotely (for example per floor).

Local battery emergency light testing and monitoring
The emergency lighting test and monitoring arrangement is mainly dependent upon the emergency light source and Delmatic offer testing and monitoring using Dali emergency monitoring devices as well as test relays with battery and photocell monitoring devices for non-Dali fittings.

Dali Emergency Devices

Delmatic systems provide emergency light testing and monitoring within a Dali network in conjunction with third-party Dali Emergency devices (such as the EmPro units) or dedicated Delmatic Dali products.

Dali Emergency is an extension to the original Dali standard and incorporates additional character sets for testing and monitoring emergency lighting. Dali emergency devices, available from a variety of vendors, can connect to the Delmatic Dali buswire or modules allowing complete management & monitoring of emergency lighting through the head-end graphical software.

The Dali emergency monitoring devices monitor a range of information related to the emergency fitting including battery charge, discharge, test performance etc, and this information is collated by the Delmatic lighting control modules and relayed to the head-end or networked PC for analysis and logging.

Emergency battery monitoring devices and photocells

Certain light sources are not available with Dali gear so cannot be tested and monitored using Dali devices and Delmatic offer emergency monitoring photocells and emergency battery monitoring units to test and monitor operation of these emergency fittings.

The maintained feed to the battery pack is controlled by a normally-closed relay which charges the self-contained battery packs within emergency luminaires. Upon receipt of an emergency-test command from the system, the emergency-test relay opens, causing a loss of maintained feed to the battery and resulting in a change-over within the emergency pack such that the emergency lamp is powered from the local battery supply. The device subsequently monitors the battery output (battery monitoring) or lamp output (photocell) during test conditions.

Central battery emergency light testing and monitoring

Central battery systems may incorporate self-testing and monitoring or may integrate with the lighting management system for control and monitoring. The lighting management system automatically sets all emergency lights to maximum load upon commencement of a scheduled test and instructs the static inverter to simulate a mains failure for the specified test duration: the system monitors lamp or ballast failures and relays pass/failure data to the network PC for logging and maintenance purposes.

Delmatic frequently combine Dali lighting management with central battery systems as a single Dali controller can address, switch, dim and monitor Dali luminaires fed by both normal and central battery supplies. Upon mains failure the emergency Dali fittings default to central battery operation and may set to 100% level or to a programmed lighting level.

Project Inspire, UK – local battery and Dali control (image: proj-inspire.jpg) The Delmatic systems at the Defence Science & Technology Laboratory complexes at Porton Down & Portsdown West provide occupancy detection & daylight-linked Dali dimming together with comprehensive Dali testing & monitoring of emergency lighting throughout the buildings.

	The Shard, London – Local battery and Dali site-wide emergency control. The Delmatic system at Europe’s tallest building provides comprehensive emergency light testing and monitoring of lighting throughout the building.
	107 Cheapside, London – local battery and DSI control. The Delmatic system controls lighting throughout the shell & core and 15,000 sq.m tenant office areas. The system provides occupancy detection and daylight-linked DSI dimming as well as testing and monitoring of every emergency luminaire in the building.
	Masdar MIST – central battery and Dali control. At the Masdar Institute of Science and Technology, the central battery emergency lighting is controlled by Delmatic Dali modules and emergency fittings default automatically to a lower level upon swapping of the supply from normal AC to emergency DC voltage.
	Emirates Towers, Dubai, UAE – central battery integration. The Delmatic system at the iconic Emirates Towers integrates with the central battery emergency lighting system for coordinated switching, operating and testing of emergency lighting.

Emergency monitoring software

The Delmatic Lightscape graphical software provides comprehensive testing and monitoring of the emergency lighting installation. Tests may be initiated from the head-end PC with the time, date and duration of the test logged as well as additional information including premature termination of the test by the user: alternatively, tests may be programmed to operate automatically at intervals and durations specified within EN 50172. Tests may also be manually initiated and terminated by authorised users from the floor routers or programmed keyswitches.

Tests may be carried out across one or more floors (or areas of a floor) and for one of a number of preset durations (or a custom duration) and the carrying-out of the test (date, duration etc) are logged under the test log: asynchronous testing avoids the risk of all emergency fittings having a low battery level simultaneously.

Comprehensive performance data including lamp, ballast and battery pass/failure, as well as test date and duration are relayed to the network PC providing detailed records for statutory logging and maintenance: pass/fail data is displayed within a schedule viewable/printable and exportable from the head-end PC.