How Lead & LED’s Shed Light in Emergencies

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Lead batteries have long been at the heart of emergency electrical lighting. Because the simple technology delivers affordable, dependable solutions. The earliest designs used lead-acid batteries and incandescent light bulbs to illuminate exit signs and stairwells during blackouts. Nowadays, of course we have more advanced ways to shed light in emergencies.

Lead-Acid Installations Once Shed Light in Emergencies

shed light in emergencies
3-Watt Light Bulb: Sokolshok: CC 3.0

Advanced emergency planning evolved, as city trading stores burgeoned into modern skyscrapers. Feeling ones way to the exit door was no longer acceptable, nor stumbling down long staircases in the dark.

Huge lead-acid battery banks stored 120-volt DC charges. Remember, Edison’s light bulbs took power from the national grid, and that was all we had.

The switching technology must have seemed like a miracle at the time. Relays and transistors sensed the moment the mains supply failed, and quickly turned on emergency lights at strategic points. While these may have shed light in emergencies, the best they could manage was a dull glow. If there was smoke present, they were almost no good at all.

The Revolutionary Arrival of Calcium Batteries and LED’s

shed light in emergencies
While the Crew Sleeps: NASA: Public Domain

While early lead-acid batteries were cheap and reliable, they were relatively high maintenance despite having antimony in their plates.

Replacing this with calcium resisted corrosion, and most importantly gave off less gas. This reduced battery size to the point where batteries fitted neatly into light ballasts.

But the real game changer has proved to be the light-emitting devices themselves. LED lights containing diode clusters shed brilliantly bright light, that we can aim, rotate, and focus too. Their batteries are small enough to fit into the bases of the fittings. Tiny transformers convert mains and battery current to low voltages required by devices that shed light in emergencies nowadays. The image is of the International Space Station while the crew sleeps.

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About Author

I tripped over a shrinking bank balance and fell into the writing gig unintentionally. This was after I escaped the corporate world and searched in vain for ways to become rich on the internet by doing nothing. Despite the fact that writing is no recipe for wealth, I rather enjoy it. I will not deny I am obsessed with it when I have the time. I live in Margate on the Kwazulu-Natal south coast of South Africa. I work from home where I ponder on the future of the planet, and what lies beyond in the great hereafter. Sometimes I step out of my computer into the silent riverine forests, and empty golden beaches for which the area is renowned. Richard

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