Exit signs are an essential part of any safe and secure building plan. Much of it is regulated by fire codes, and you should be aware of your local laws when installing these. You want to make sure that you have your exits appropriately covered with egress lighting so that people can get out in case of an emergency. If you're unsure of that, contact your local fire inspector, and he can help you determine what you need. If it's new construction, that will be specified by an engineer. If you have any questions regarding light output and what kind of light you may want to use, we can help you with that.

There are two kinds of exit signs that are used today in most commercial lighting applications. There’s the kind of exit that merely is wired to power and has no battery backup, and then there is an exit with battery backup or possibly emergency lighting heads. These are the two most popular that are used, and even though there are other types, this becomes the standard for most applications. A battery backup for any exit has to keep the exit lit according to code for typically 90 minutes, although there are some local codes that 120 minutes after the power goes out. It’s all about losing power in a building and providing a way for people to get out and making exits clear during a fire or other kinds of emergencies. This is probably 95 percent of all the exit signs that you’re going to see out in the marketplace. So whenever you see an exit with a couple of emergency light heads on it, you know it’s a battery backup. If you don’t see that, you need to look for the test button, and if you see that, then you know it also has a battery backup. If you don’t see that, it’s just a straight exit that goes to power. Although there are other types like self-luminous exits which require no power at all, they are a smaller portion of the marketplace.

Most exit signs come with red letters although we have choices for green lettering as well. It becomes a preference, but some people believe that the green sometimes works better for certain types of applications rather than the red exit sign. It’s all about making an emergency egress easy to find for people during a fire or emergency. You would have to check with your local codes as to what colors are acceptable, but most often red or green is acceptable in most places. If you own a commercial building, it’s good to check with your local fire inspector as to what the parameters are for your exit signs that you’re looking to purchase. Although we have many different types of exit signs, it’s always important to know which your city requires which might be different than what you would like to see. It’s all about staying in compliance with the law and making sure that you have the best possible exit sign/emergency light combination so that people can be safe. It all gets down to local safety codes although there are some national fire codes as well, the local codes can augment that.

If you have an existing exit of any type and you don’t need to replace it, and you want to save energy and money, then you can consider lighting retrofit. An exit light retrofit is probably one of the easiest ways to save energy, and it will improve the light output of your exit over incandescent. Although very few people have incandescent exit signs anymore, there are a few of you who could upgrade to a simple screw-in LED type of light that will give you the energy savings that will pay for themselves very quickly. Make sure to download our free spreadsheet which is on the left-hand column of our website that will calculate energy savings that you can get from going from one type of light source to another. You can put in the data for your exit signs you have now with the incandescent lamps you may have or fluorescent for that matter, and then compare it to an LED retrofit kit. Most people will find a payback in under a year because these do operate 24 hours a day. It’s a quick and easy which makes it kind of a no-brainer and you won’t have to change light bulbs for a very long time. It’s one of the easiest ways to save energy in your commercial building, and it will help with reducing the cost of maintaining fire exit signs. There’s never been a better time to take a look at saving energy with not only exits but almost any general lighting you have in a building. We have LED solutions that will work for you that will give maximum energy savings while maintaining or improving light output for almost any situation.

If you’re looking for a more significant quantity of these exit signs that you see here, we can help you with pricing in bulk, so call or email us with that information. If you’re unsure about which one might be a good choice for you, we can also offer that expertise that will best work for your application. Keep in mind that we also have batteries for the exit signs and emergency lights that are very specific to each type of exit regardless of brand whether it is Lithonia lighting, Emergi-Lite, Cooper or whatever brand you have.