Attribute Schema Library
Attribute schemalighting

Emergency Lighting Attributes

Emergency lighting is the battery-backed egress equipment sold alongside the normal luminaire package: self-contained unit equipment ("bug eyes"), exit/emergency combos, remote heads, emergency LED drivers, and central inverters. Buyers are contractors pricing a job, facility maintenance replacing units that failed the annual test, and spec writers assembling a submittal for the AHJ.

The spec that decides the sale lives in a catalog-number suffix, not a description. ELM6L UVOLT LTP SDRT encodes voltage range, battery chemistry and self-test capability in three tokens. Ordering matrices multiply the same way — capacity x rating x self-diagnostics x options — and a catalog that flattens that into one description string loses every field a buyer filters on.

Two things then drift. Battery chemistry moved NiCd to NiMH to LiFePO4 under unchanged catalog numbers, so any chemistry field tends to be copied from a superseded datasheet. And the numbers that set order quantity — spacing at 1 fc average, remote capacity in watts — sit in tables and drawings inside PDFs, never in the feed.

Core

Every SKU needs these. Without them the record is not a product, it is a row.

Product Type
enum
Emergency unit, self-contained (2-head)

Separates unit equipment from combos, remote heads, emergency drivers and inverters. Nothing else filters correctly until this is right.

Manufacturer Part Number
identifier
ELM6L UVOLT LTP SDRT

The catalog number carries the option string. Buyers cross-ref and re-order on it, and it is the join key to the datasheet.

Input Voltage
enum · VAC
120-277 VAC, 60 Hz

Must match the panel. Universal-voltage units span 120-277 V; some go to 347 V for Canadian jobs, and 220-240 V is a separate build.

Total Emergency Lumen Output
number · lm
1,100 lm total (2 heads)

The headline comparison number and the input to any coverage estimate. Must be emergency output at rated load, not normal-mode output.

Number of Lamp Heads
number
2 (adjustable, round)

Drives corridor spacing and whether one unit covers an intersection. Also determines which wire guard and remote accessories fit.

Battery Type
enum
Nickel-metal hydride (NiMH)

Sets runtime behavior, temperature tolerance, replacement pack cross-ref and lithium transport handling. NiCd, NiMH, SLA and LiFePO4 are not interchangeable.

Emergency Runtime
number · min
90

NFPA 101 requires 90 minutes at rated load. Remote-capacity models quote longer figures with no remotes installed; the code number is the one at load.

Mounting Type
enum
Wall or ceiling (universal backplate)

Wall, ceiling, recessed or end-mount decides whether it lands on the existing 4 in. box. Conduit entry location matters on surface work.

Differentiating

What buyers actually compare on. This is where catalogs win or lose the filter.

Housing Material and Finish
enum
Injection-molded thermoplastic, white

Thermoplastic, die-cast aluminum, steel or fiberglass. Steel is required for some municipal approvals; fiberglass for washdown and corrosive areas.

Remote Head Capacity
number · W
12 W (up to 32 W with LiFePO4)

Watts of remote load the battery carries for the full 90 minutes on top of its own heads. Decides whether the drawing's remote heads can be fed.

Spacing at 1 fc Average
text
6 ft path x 30 ft spacing (1 W heads, 9 ft mount)

Path width x unit spacing at a stated mounting height. This is what converts a lumen number into a quantity on the takeoff.

Self-Test Type
enum
Self-testing / self-diagnostic (SDRT)

Manual, self-diagnostic, self-testing/self-diagnostic, or networked. Healthcare and AHJ-driven specs call it out explicitly.

Operating Temperature Range
range · °C
10 to 40 (damp-listed); 20 to 30 (standard)

Standard indoor units are narrow (roughly 20-30 °C). Damp-listed builds widen it; cold-weather packages with heaters go below freezing.

Compliance & identifiers

Standards, regulatory data, and the identifiers channels reject you for missing.

UL 924 Listing and Location Rating
enum
UL 924 listed, damp location

The product listing for emergency lighting equipment, plus dry, damp or wet location. Wet work also needs a NEMA or IP figure.

Enclosure Rating
enum
NEMA 4X / IP66

NEMA 4X / IP66 is the testable claim for washdown, parking decks and exposed facades. 'Weatherproof' in a description is not specifiable.

CEC Title 20 Compliant
boolean
Yes

California appliance efficiency regulation. Non-compliant SKUs cannot ship into the state and should not surface to a CA ship-to.

City of Chicago Approved
boolean
Yes (red letters, steel housing)

Chicago mandates red letters and drives housing material on egress equipment. Buyers filter on it directly for jobs inside the city.

Country of Origin
identifier
Mexico

Required for duty, government and Buy American jobs, and for the electrical data pool. Changes by plant without a catalog-number change.

The fields that aren't in the schema at all

What most emergency lighting catalogs are missing.

The table above is the schema most catalogs already have. These are the attributes that usually aren't in it — each one surfaced by a signal from the live market rather than by an audit of what's already there. This is what Anglera's Schema Foundry does on a real catalog, in this category.

Supplier signal
+ Remote Head Capacity (W)

Ordering matrices sell remote-capacity variants as suffixes (-D4, EV4) and the datasheet states the wattage. Catalogs carry the suffix in the description string with no numeric field behind it.

Buyer picks a unit that cannot carry the remote heads on the drawing. Remotes never hold the full 90 minutes, and the whole order comes back.

Supplier signal
+ Spacing / coverage at 1 fc average

Datasheets publish a spacing table: a Dual-Lite EV is rated 30 ft spacing on a 6 ft path with 1 W heads, 52 ft with the 2 W option. Catalog pages carry lumens only, and lumens give no quantity.

Quantity on the takeoff is guessed. Contractor over-buys, or misses the 0.1 fc minimum along the egress path and fails inspection after install.

Search signal
+ Self-Test Type

The capability is encoded in catalog suffixes (SDRT, -I, ST) rather than a field. Buyers searching 'self-testing emergency light' match only what the description string happens to spell out.

Healthcare and AHJ-driven specs require self-testing/self-diagnostic. A catalog that cannot filter on it never makes the shortlist and the RFQ goes elsewhere.

Supplier signal
+ Operating Temperature Range

Datasheets split standard, damp-listed and cold-weather-with-heater builds into distinct temperature bands. Catalogs commonly collapse all of it into one indoor/outdoor flag.

A standard unit lands on a loading dock or freezer vestibule. Battery capacity falls off and the unit fails the 90-minute annual test.

Supplier signal
+ Battery chemistry as a governed field

Chemistry migrated NiCd to NiMH to LiFePO4 across datasheet revisions while catalog numbers stayed put. Where a value exists it is usually legacy description text, not the current revision.

Replacement-pack cross-refs return the wrong battery, and lithium units ship without the dangerous-goods declaration carriers and marketplaces require.

How Schema Foundry finds these

Messy in, governed out.

The same value, spelled every way lighting suppliers spell it. A filter only works once they agree.

Input Voltage
120/277V120-277 VACUVOLTUniversal120V/277V 60Hz120/277/347
120-277 VAC, 50/60 Hz

UVOLT is a catalog suffix, not a voltage — on some Lithonia units it spans 120-347 V. Never map a suffix straight to a range.

Battery Type
NiCadNi-CdNickel Metal HydrideLiFePO4LithiumSealed Lead Acid
Nickel-metal hydride (NiMH)

'Lithium' alone hides whether it is LiFePO4, which behaves differently on temperature and changes shipping classification.

Emergency Runtime
90 min1-1/2 hours1.5 hr90-min120 minutes
90

Remote-capacity models advertise 120 minutes with no remotes installed. The code-relevant figure is 90 minutes at rated load.

Location Rating
DampDamp Location ListedIndoor/OutdoorWet LocationWeatherproofNEMA 4X
Wet location (UL 924), NEMA 4X / IP66

'Weatherproof' is marketing. A spec writer will demand a NEMA or IP figure, and washdown areas will not accept damp-listed.

What buyers ask

Every one of these should be answerable from the attributes above. If it isn't, that's a gap.

  • How many units do I need for a 120 ft corridor at 1 fc average?
  • Will this run two remote heads for the full 90 minutes, or do I need the high-capacity model?
  • Is this the self-testing version, or does someone still push the button every 30 days?
  • Will it hold 90 minutes on a loading dock that drops below freezing?
  • Is this Chicago approved? The letters have to be red.
  • What chemistry is the battery now — the old catalog number was NiCd.
  • Is it damp listed, or do I need NEMA 4X for the washdown bay?
  • What's the input voltage? The panel is 347 V.

What channels require

The same SKU, different mandatory fields per destination.

IDEA Connector / ETIM (electrical data pool)
GTIN / UPCManufacturer Part NumberUNSPSC or ETIM classCountry of OriginPackage dimensions and weightSpec-sheet and image URLs
Distributor's own site filter rail
Product TypeInput VoltageTotal Emergency Lumen OutputNumber of Lamp HeadsBattery TypeSelf-Test Type
Submittal package for the AHJ
UL 924 Listing and Location RatingEmergency RuntimeSpacing at 1 fc Average / .ies fileInput VoltageSelf-Test TypeDimensional drawing
Amazon Business
GTIN / UPCBrand and Manufacturer Part NumberItem dimensions and weightCountry of OriginLithium battery / dangerous-goods declarationMain image

Emergency Lighting data, in practice

What's the difference between self-diagnostic and self-testing/self-diagnostic?

Self-diagnostic monitors the battery, charger and load transfer circuit and flashes a fault code when something is wrong. Self-testing/self-diagnostic additionally initiates the tests NFPA 101 requires — a short functional test every 30 days and a 90-minute test annually — and reports the result without anyone touching the unit. Manufacturers bury the difference in catalog-number suffixes (SDRT on Lithonia, Spectron -I on Dual-Lite), so it is invisible to search unless you carry it as its own field. Model it as an enum: Manual / Self-diagnostic / Self-testing + self-diagnostic / Networked.

Why doesn't lumen output answer 'how many units do I need?'

Because the code is written in footcandles on the floor, not lumens at the head. NFPA 101 asks for initial illumination of at least 1 fc average and 0.1 fc minimum along the path of egress at floor level, permitted to decline to 0.6 fc average and 0.06 fc minimum at the end of 90 minutes, with maximum-to-minimum not exceeding 40:1. That is a spacing and distribution question. Manufacturers publish spacing tables against a stated path width and mounting height — the same fixture family can go from 30 ft to 52 ft spacing purely on the head wattage option. Carry path width, spacing and mounting height, and link the .ies.

How should remote capacity be modeled?

As watts, not a boolean. Remote capacity is the wattage of remote heads a unit's battery can carry, in addition to its own heads, for the full 90 minutes. Datasheets state it plainly; vendors then express it in the catalog as head counts ('2 LED remote capacity') or as a suffix. Normalize to watts and keep a separate compatible-remote-head list, because a 12 W unit feeding three 5 W heads is over capacity and will fail the annual test even though the catalog says it 'has remote capacity'. Note also that runtime claims on remote-capacity models are usually quoted with no remotes installed.

Which standards actually apply to this category?

UL 924 is the listing for emergency lighting and power equipment — units, exit signs, emergency drivers and inverters — and it is the one buyers filter on. NFPA 101 (Life Safety Code) Section 7.9 sets the illumination levels, the 90-minute duration and the testing regime. NFPA 70 (NEC) Article 700 governs emergency systems, including the unit equipment provisions. Beyond those: the location listing (dry/damp/wet), a NEMA or IP enclosure figure for washdown and outdoor work, CEC Title 20 for California, and City of Chicago approval, which drives letter color and housing material. Don't attach general-luminaire standards to unit equipment.

More lighting schemas

DownlightsHigh Bay FixturesLamps & BulbsLED FixturesLighting Controls

Run this against your own emergency lighting.

Bring the category. We'll show you which of these attributes your catalog is missing — and the ones we find that aren't on this page yet.

Book a demo