The University of Leeds has reduced its maintenance costs by installing central battery systems from Cooper Lighting and Security to power the emergency lighting in the School of Music.
During the extension and refurbishment of the department, which is centred around the Clothworkers Centenary Concert Hall, it was decided to use several Menvier CeaGuard CG48 central battery units with slave luminaires, rather than opting for self-contained emergency luminaires throughout the building.
According to Alan Hansell, the University’s technical officer responsible for fire alarms and emergency lighting, the main factor in the decision was the need to minimise maintenance costs. “If you have hundreds of self-contained emergency luminaires installed around the building, each one has to be checked regularly, and batteries frequently need to be changed because they have a life of only 3-5 years,” he said.
“With a central battery system, battery life tends to be longer – sometimes 10 years or more – and when they do eventually need replacing, it’s a quick job carried out at just one location.”
Another benefit of the CeaGuard CG48 system is that it also handles the regular checking of emergency luminaires, automatically performing the requisite weekly functional tests and annual full-duration tests using mainsborne signalling, which eliminates the need for any additional cabling.
“We’ve used the CeaGuard units in other buildings at the University,” continued Hansell, “and they have proved to be the best option for us – both in terms of life-cycle costs and ease of compliance with legislation.”
A total of six CG48 central battery units have been installed in the School of Music, and all are networked to an application controller, which provides central control and monitoring facilities. In the event of a mains failure, the CeaGuard units deliver emergency power to over 200 Eurolite, Vistral, Weatherlite and Safe Edge slave luminaires.
For further information on the Cooper Lighting and Security range of central battery systems, visit www.cooper-ls.com.
Cooper Lighting
+44 (0)1302 303200
