Emergency lighting

[Yorkshire Andy]

Following on from last year's fire I've finally Found time to upgrade our escape lighting..

In our house fire the RCD took out the lighting circuit fortunately the kids were out the front door as it tripped ..



I've a couple of led battery PIR lamps which are fine for not falling over flea tard the cat that sleeps in the stairwell top "well" but not much else at a rush ..

So I added this to the top of the landing..

Just needed a 32 mm hole into the plasterboard and wires into a covenant constant power supply. There's a link out the bedroom light to the landing smoke detector 3' away so I linked into that using some 1mm^ ho5vvf flex (this is suitable for the task) protected by the 6a rcbo at the fuse box standard domestic 6242y (grey solid core domestic cable isn't flexible enough to facilitate maintenance if needed as you draw the battery back through the hole if needed I left 2m of slack to facilitate future maintenance that way I can lower it to avoid working off a ladder at the top of the stairs ..

The wiring box is tiny and I used some boot lace ends and a crimping tool to keep the wire strands tidy and secure..

This was when I tested it on the bench before fitting

The white insulation should carry into the casing and the lid forms a cable grip ..

So ....


To put it simply the power goes off the unit senses the loss of power and switches on the led lights and runs for 3 hours using the latest lithium iron phosphate (life) battery pack

Ignore the brown hole next to the lamp tried to putbit inline with the lighting but there's a blooming stringer between the joists in the way above it's filled just needs a brush of white paint once the filler is dry

There's a green status led that shows all is well it's a tad bright so I rotated the coloured bezel (comes with white silver and black to match the ceiling / other light fittings/ fixtures to cover the led you can still see it but it's not as obtrusive.... Bit bright enough...

[Peter]

Escape lighting is one thing i’ve thought of, but there is a frequently checked torch in every room.

[Yorkshire Andy]

Escape lighting is one thing i’ve thought of, but there is a frequently checked torch in every room.

If it works for you it's good

I've a semi disabled wife (she has great weeks where you wouldn't be able to tell and other weeks and well she's on industrial pain killers along with chronic cognitive disfunction that raises its ugly head..

This in the event of a power cut or a bigger SHTF like a house fire / electrical fault there's no thinking needed I've got 2 hands free to assist her/ the kids out .. or simply to see our way around upstairs and down the stairs hands free etc works for this mad house

Each bedroom has smoke detectors with an inbuilt led lights which looks great and bright until there's a fire and then with the smoke resembles a old mini maglite at best as it eeks through the thick smoke

[Yorkshire Andy]

This is what happened

https://youtu.be/UL5pbg--kC8?si=pfC6LGTwJSSlU2U1


Little miss alerts me... This was a panic shout hence I was up off my arse at the first shout id herd a pop like someone poppinga bag of crisps ..


Make my way to the hallway
Lad claps his hands over his lugs fire means alarms and he's not impressed with loud noise

Lights go out

PIR battery light decided to run flat and go dim

Open front door having had a quick run down off little miss who nearly comes down head first in her bid to escape (my bedroom light)

Usher kids out and put her in charge of little man

Go up stairs as alarm kicks off at that point I delegate her to ring 999

First extinguisher fails and just goes hiss..

I yell empty at work we've drilled this that on the yell of empty anyone who's a warden is drafting extra fire extinguishers to the fire area ready to pass to those attacking the fire (but auto pilot and no backup)

Next clonk sounds is the hose on the bigger foam unit slapping the cylinder body as the pin is pulled. And i go from main bedroom to little misses and finally quell the flames fast enough using the 3l foam ... Much bigger spray coverage than the smaller "home" extinguishers and bigger volume of extinguishant per second...

[Frnc]

I used to have smoke alarms that had built in lights, but two of them kept doing false alarms, so I think I only have one now.

I have three AAA motion lights, one at the top of the stairs that also lights the landing, one at the bottom of the stairs, and one in the prep room. These work so well we often don't bother turning the light on. They last for months, and then go dim gradually, so I have plenty of time to charge them. https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07Q9JFH1Y/

I keep a head torch on my bed, and a hand torch next to it.

All rooms have fire escape ladders and smoke alarms.

I test the RCD trip switch every 6 months. It kept tripping a couple of years ago and eventually the electricians realised it was the actual switch and replaced it. I'm not sure if it was a new part, but it works.

[Arzosah]

This is what happened

https://youtu.be/UL5pbg--kC8?si=pfC6LGTwJSSlU2U1


Little miss alerts me... This was a panic shout hence I was up off my arse at the first shout id herd a pop like someone poppinga bag of crisps ..

You did so well on that, you really did. My own fire preps have taken a leap forward since you started posting in detail about fires, and I thank you for those posts.

[Yorkshire Andy]

This is what happened

https://youtu.be/UL5pbg--kC8?si=pfC6LGTwJSSlU2U1


Little miss alerts me... This was a panic shout hence I was up off my arse at the first shout id herd a pop like someone poppinga bag of crisps ..

You did so well on that, you really did. My own fire preps have taken a leap forward since you started posting in detail about fires, and I thank you for those posts.

When you read the statistics

This should be high on priority to any prepper and that's just the reported fires / calls to the fire service... So the real number will be much higher..... Where someone's put it out and not called it In...

[GeeGee]

This is what happened

https://youtu.be/UL5pbg--kC8?si=pfC6LGTwJSSlU2U1


Little miss alerts me... This was a panic shout hence I was up off my arse at the first shout id herd a pop like someone poppinga bag of crisps ..

You did so well on that, you really did. My own fire preps have taken a leap forward since you started posting in detail about fires, and I thank you for those posts.

Totally agree that video when you watch it is pretty scary kids in the house not knowing what type of fire etc your worst nightmare ..someone moved pretty damned sharpish Andy ! Levitation off that chair
Little miss deserves all the praise she can get !
Thanks from myself also ....
Smoke alarms checked carbon monoxide monitor checked everything switched off when not in use ...

[Peter]

[quote=Peter post_id=237693 time=<a href="tel:1729450262">1729450262</a> user_id=8717]
Escape lighting is one thing i’ve thought of, but there is a frequently checked torch in every room.

If it works for you it's good

I've a semi disabled wife (she has great weeks where you wouldn't be able to tell and other weeks and well she's on industrial pain killers along with chronic cognitive disfunction that raises its ugly head..

This in the event of a power cut or a bigger SHTF like a house fire / electrical fault there's no thinking needed I've got 2 hands free to assist her/ the kids out .. or simply to see our way around upstairs and down the stairs hands free etc works for this mad house

Each bedroom has smoke detectors with an inbuilt led lights which looks great and bright until there's a fire and then with the smoke resembles a old mini maglite at best as it eeks through the thick smoke
[/quote]

We live in a bungalow so no stairs to worry about thank goodness, and with a street lamp across the road it’s never completely dark.

We have three smoke detectors, the hall outside the kitchen door, rear porch again just outside the kitchen back door and the box room where the CH boiler is.

We are both in our eighties so the usual mobility problems would stop us climbing out of a window, so it’s important for us to make sure we can get out of the door quickly without having to look for keys, so on the inside of the front and back door its just turn a knob, could be a life saver.

[Frnc]

If it works for you it's good

I've a semi disabled wife (she has great weeks where you wouldn't be able to tell and other weeks and well she's on industrial pain killers along with chronic cognitive disfunction that raises its ugly head..

This in the event of a power cut or a bigger SHTF like a house fire / electrical fault there's no thinking needed I've got 2 hands free to assist her/ the kids out .. or simply to see our way around upstairs and down the stairs hands free etc works for this mad house

Each bedroom has smoke detectors with an inbuilt led lights which looks great and bright until there's a fire and then with the smoke resembles a old mini maglite at best as it eeks through the thick smoke


We live in a bungalow so no stairs to worry about thank goodness, and with a street lamp across the road it’s never completely dark.

We have three smoke detectors, the hall outside the kitchen door, rear porch again just outside the kitchen back door and the box room where the CH boiler is.

We are both in our eighties so the usual mobility problems would stop us climbing out of a window, so it’s important for us to make sure we can get out of the door quickly without having to look for keys, so on the inside of the front and back door its just turn a knob, could be a life saver.

Doors left like that are ok as long as they are not breakable glass. Someone smashed the glass in ours a few years ago, close to where the Yale can be opened by a turn, so from then on we've mortice locked it at night. I keep my key on a loop of paracord on a hook on the inside of my bedroom door, so it's pretty well impossible not to be able to find it. I assume the lodgers keep theirs handy. The back door has two mortice locks - we don't have our own keys for those, we keep a couple in a safe place.

Re smoke alarms, I would consider putting more in, personally. I have them in every room, hall and landing. In the kitchen it's a heat alarm. There is also a CO alarm in one lodger's room as it is above the boiler, which is in the cellar.