A new Underwriters Laboratories requirement brightens LED exit sign retrofit kits, but may confuse your customers. Here's what you need to know to explain the change to them and increase your sales of these lighting products.

It's time to start selling energy-efficient exit sign retrofits again. This is good news for distributors of this product. These exit signs ran into some trouble last August when Underwriters Laboratories (UL), Oak Brook Ill., raised the brightness standards for the popular, energy-efficient, long-life light emitting diode (LED) kits that cost-conscious facilities managers were installing to save energy dollars. On September 1st of last year, no general-use kits from any manufacturer met the new standards.

That was bad news for manufacturers and distributors of these kits. A UL listing is so important to purchasers of electrical products that when UL said "not bright enough," it had a serious and dramatic effect on sales of this excellent "door opener" for distributors and their contractor customers.

The demand for LED retrofit kits has been driven by the exceptional energy and maintenance cost savings they offer as replacements for incandescent-lamp signs. LED signs consume 90% less energy than incandescents and last for decades rather than months or years. The annual energy cost to operate a LED sign is less than $2, versus $35 for a 20W sign with two incandescent lamps. The annual labor costs to replace burned-out incandescent lamps in an exit sign every nine months is estimated at an additional $24.33 per sign. In a building with 10 exit signs, retrofitting with LED signs saves over $560 each year in energy and labor costs. In a building with 100 signs, the savings are over $5,600.

But the kits are coming back, thanks to a breakthrough in super-bright LED technology. One manufacturer's universal or "general" kit (coded EFG for Exit Fixture-General) meets the new standards and has already been UL listed. A general kit meets UL requirements for use in virtually all models of exit fixtures, saving users the expense and inconvenience of purchasing and storing a variety of sign-specific kits, and the risk of installing the wrong kit. It gives building owners and managers the assurance that, within parameters of instruction sheets and markings, any sign they retrofit will both pass the fire marshal's inspection and light the way to safety in case of fire.

General retrofit kits are intended for used in exit fixtures only, which are fixtures that are supplied by one power source only, commonly known as AC-only fixtures. They are not for use in exit lights that contain integral batteries or a second input, AC or DC.

UL raised the brightness requirements in response to concerns from fire marshals that LED-retrofitted kits were not always bright enough-and might not always meet the light-level requirement due to improper installation or use of the wrong kit.

"Exit sign brightness is a life-safety issue," says Steven Altamura, UL senior staff engineer. "These signs guide people out of buildings under all kinds of circumstances, day and night, sometimes in emergencies. They must be visible."

The new UL brightness standard is 6.0 foot/lamberts, significantly brighter than the old standard. That's a big jump in brightness, and one that the industry was not prepared to meet with the LED technology in use last summer. Sales of these energy cost-saving kits was slowed while products that met the new standards were developed.

But, as Altamura emphasizes, energy savings cannot come at the cost of safety. UL took action to ensure that exit signs with retrofit kits perform their critical life/safety function. The decision to revise the standards, and the revisions themselves, were not made in a vacuum.

As primary designated engineer on the project, Altamura consulted with lighting fixture manufacturers and groups such as the Industry Advisory Council, the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), the Electrical Council, Fire Council, fire marshals and firefighters. But UL ultimately set the new standards.

Revising the UL standards required answering some key questions: "How bright is bright enough?" and, "How should brightness be measured?" After meetings, consultations and calculations, the 6.0 foot/lambert brightness standard was selected for general use retrofit kits for exit signs.

This level includes a safety factor over the "sign specific" retrofit kit (type EFS) standard of 4.0. foot/lamberts to compensate for the variety of sign shapes and sizes in which the general kits can be installed. They are UL-listed for standard AC exit signs that meet the markings and instructions on the kit as well as for the possibility of improper installation that reduces brightness.

A properly installed 6.0 foot/lambert exit sign is a bright sign that will perform its intended life-safety function. High UL standards are also set for the uniformity of light across the face of the exit sign to increase readability by eliminating "bright spots" and areas of reduced illumination that could reduce visibility.

UL measuring methods for determining the brightness of exit signs with LED retrofit kits have also been revised to increase accuracy and objectivity. Using test data from its existing Gray Scale measurement system, UL developed rigorous new methods of testing that use specialized instruments rather than human observations.

The several dozen manufacturers of LED exit sign retrofit kits responded to the new UL Code 924 standards in a number of ways. Some abandoned the market. Some obtained UL classification for their products as "specified" kits, certified for use in only one (or some) signs for which they met the brightness standard. Some set out to produce brighter kits that meet the 6.0 foot/lambert standard for general or universal kits.

UL's Altamura makes these suggestions for sellers and buyers of exit sign retrofit kits, based on UL's concern for life and safety, and on the experience gained from the project to upgrade the standards in UL Code 924: Become knowledgeable about exit signs and the retrofit kits because exit sign save lives;

Install the correct "sign specific" kit for a given sign design or a new universal UL listed kit for usein any sign; Install the kits properly; and

Do not install an exit fixture retrofit kit in an exit sign that has an integral battery, or more than one input source (including DC).

The benefits are worth the effort: Major energy savings compared to incandescent-lamp signs, no maintenance labor or lamp replacement expense for more than 10 years, bright, evenly lit signs to guide building occupants and firefighters to exits.

With the new standard, customers can be encouraged to renew their energy and labor-saving retrofit projects without the confusion, added expense and inventory of a variety of "specified" or "sign-specific" kits.

There are more than 100 million exit signs in buildings throughout the U.S. operating 24-hours-a-day, 365-days-a-year. About 65% of these signs are still lit by incandescent lamps. Industry sources estimate that over $2 billion in energy costs could be saved annually if all the incandescent signs were retrofitted with LEDs.

Universal retrofit kits are now available that meet the new UL brightness, performance and construction standards. UL, high technology and the kit industry have together taken a big step to ensure that the energy-efficient future is also a brighter, safer future.

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