Understanding Emergency Lighting And Introducing DF DALI Emergency Power Pack

From Traditional Emergency Lighting to Smart DALI Emergency Solutions

Emergency lights are a familiar sight in daily life. They are designed to provide continuous illumination and indicate evacuation routes when normal lighting fails due to mains power outages, fixture failure, or emergency situations such as fires or earthquakes.

In most buildings, emergency lighting and normal lighting are designed as two independent systems. However, with the development of lighting control technology, more integrated and intelligent solutions are now available.

Common Emergency Lighting Design Approaches

1. Emergency luminaires with built-in batteries
This type of product, such as an emergency downlight, integrates batteries and emergency circuits inside the luminaire. Under normal conditions, it operates as a standard light. When the mains power fails, it automatically switches to battery power and provides emergency illumination.

2. Conventional luminaires with external emergency power packs
Another common approach is to add an emergency power supply and battery to standard luminaires. The same light source is shared for both normal and emergency operation.
During normal operation, the AC mains supply powers the luminaire and charges the battery. When a power failure occurs, the inverter inside the emergency power pack automatically converts the low-voltage DC energy from the battery into the required output to keep the light source operating.

These traditional solutions are widely used, but they have one clear disadvantage: high maintenance costs. Manual inspection is required to regularly check batteries, emergency drivers, and system status to ensure reliable operation.

What Is DALI Emergency Lighting?

DALI emergency lighting systems take advantage of DALI's bidirectional communication capability to continuously monitor the status of emergency luminaires, detect mains power conditions, and automatically perform functional and duration tests.

DALI emergency lighting is defined under the EN / IEC 62386 open standard. In the DALI protocol:

Emergency control devices are defined as Type 1

Ballasts are defined as Type 0

Halogen transformers are defined as Type 3

This standard allows emergency devices to coexist on the same DALI line with other DALI devices, including ballasts, transformers, LED drivers, and various types of luminaires. As a result, emergency lighting and normal lighting can be integrated into a single control system, significantly reducing installation complexity and long-term maintenance costs.

When a mains power failure occurs in a building equipped with a central emergency power system, the DALI controller can issue emergency commands to all drivers. The system can automatically reduce the output current (for example, to around 30%) to ensure sufficient brightness for evacuation while extending battery runtime.
Additionally, only luminaires along pre-defined escape routes can be activated, improving evacuation efficiency and safety.

If a building does not have a centralized emergency power system, emergency lighting must still be provided by adding emergency drivers with batteries to luminaires or by installing standalone emergency lights.

DF DALI Emergency Power Pack – Product Introduction

DF has launched a new DALI emergency power pack designed to meet modern smart building requirements. Based on the official specification, the product offers the following key features:

Electrical & Battery Specifications

Input voltage: AC 90–280V

Power factor (PF): 0.43–0.52

LED output voltage: 12–60V

Emergency output power: 3–5W (maximum 8W)

External driver support: Yes (recommended total lamp power ≤ 18–20W)

Battery: 7.4V 2200mAh lithium battery (or higher capacity optional)

Charging current: 0.25A

Emergency Operation

Maintained / non-maintained modes: Selectable

Emergency duration: 1 hour / 2 hours / 3 hours selectable

Emergency changeover time: < 0.5 seconds

DALI Communication & Control

Protocol support: IEC 62386-102 / 202

Control method: DALI system control

Interfaces: DALI, AC input, driver IN/OUT, LED load, battery

DALI interface protection: High-voltage protection above 260V

Monitoring, Testing & Safety

Status indication: Mains power status, charging status, and emergency system status (internal indicators)

Fault detection:

Battery open/short circuit

Load open/short circuit

Functional test: Manual TEST button for emergency testing

Advanced Operating Modes

The DF DALI emergency module supports automatic switching between seven operating modes:

Normal mode

Emergency mode

Extended emergency mode

Rest mode

Inhibit mode

Function test in progress

Duration test in progress

System Capabilities

When integrated into a DALI system, the DF emergency power pack enables:

On/off control

Lighting scenes

Grouping and addressing

Real-time status monitoring

Automated functional and duration testing

With the increasing demand for smart, reliable, and low-maintenance emergency lighting solutions, DALI emergency systems are becoming the preferred choice for modern buildings.
DF's new DALI emergency power pack combines compliance, intelligence, and reliability, helping designers, installers, and facility managers reduce maintenance costs while ensuring maximum safety during emergencies.