The Exit Light Co

02/06/2024

ADA History- The Journey to Our Present

Recently, The Exit Light Co has introduced our own line of ADA signs to fill this important role in the market. Made with top quality materials and adhering to code-mandated requirements, it seemed like a natural extension of our life-safety product offering. Here is a brief history of the ADA sign.

The signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act had a dramatic impact on the lives of millions of Americans. Before its introduction, many people struggled to access basic services. Buildings, sidewalks, restrooms, and public transit proved to be difficult to navigate or, for some, completely unusable.

Section 504
The Rehabilitation Act of 1973 was the first federal civil rights protection law for people with disabilities. Section 504 prohibits discrimination against individuals with disabilities under any programs receiving federal funding. Prior to its introduction, some children were completely excluded from schools. This law has a notable impact on public education opportunities to this day. Nevertheless, many Americans still could not access businesses that serve the public such as churches, theaters, restaurants, hotels, gyms, private schools, and shops.

Americans with Disabilities Act
For decades activists fought for increased rights and to uphold those granted under 504. The ADA bill was first introduced in 1989. Activists became frustrated when the bill was stalled. On March 13, 1990 over 1,000 people marched from the White House to the U.S Capitol in protest. In a powerful display, about 60 of the participants then abandoned their wheelchairs and mobility devices to crawl up the 83 steps leading to the Capitol. This became known as the “Capitol Crawl” and helped push legislation forward. A few months later the bill was signed into law.

Our World Today
The ADA changed the way our world is built. Ramps, elevators, sidewalks, public transit, and restrooms have all been adjusted to ensure everyone has access. Public communications now include interpreters and closed captioning. This law also opened up jobs for many Americans by prohibiting discrimination against qualified individuals with disabilities in the workplace.
Today publicly accessible buildings include signs designed to help the visually impaired navigate public spaces. These signs include raised lettering, Braille, and sometimes a pictogram. They help those with and without visual impairments to locate, offices, restrooms, stairs, and much more.

Visit https://www.exitlightco.com/category/ada-signs.html to see our line of ADA compliant signs.

08/02/2023

A Brief History of the Exit Sign

They are everywhere! “EXIT Signs” are so ubiquitous that most people rarely ever pay attention to them. Even so, all public buildings (restaurants, offices, and even large residential buildings like hotels or multi-unit condos) are required to have emergency lighting and exit signage to clearly illuminate egress locations and provide well-lit, easy to follow direction to them. In the event of an emergency, when every second counts, they provide a potentially life-saving path to quickly get out of the building.

Yet these signs did not exist a little over 100 years ago. It took a deadly industrial accident, one of the worst in American history, to bring about the changes to code and regulations resulting in the EXIT sign.

On March 25, 1911 a fire burst out in the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory, located on the 8th, 9th, and 10th floors of the Asch building in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of New York City. This event would go down in history as one of the deadliest fires ever, with 146 garment workers losing their lives.

Many of those who died fell or leapt to their deaths, being unable to get out of the burning areas of the building. It turned out that the stairwell doors had been padlocked, a common practice of the times, to discourage employees from stealing product or leaving early.

The resulting media coverage and public outcry led to the establishment of new fire safety regulations including new standards regarding building egress.

Following the recommendations of the state commission, the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) ratified codes for the first Exit signs. The NFPA had been founded in 1895 by a coalition of Insurance companies. Their purpose was to establish a standardized set of guidelines to help reduce and hopefully eliminate death, injury and economic loss caused by fire. The NFPA guidelines and codes were codified into the basic building codes and standards used throughout the US today. Similar regulations are also used throughout the world.

The Exit Light Company has compiled some useful history and data behind the various codes and regulations. [ https://www.exitlightco.com/Fire-Codes-Regulations.html ]

So the next time you are in a public building, take a minute to look around and make note of the exit signs. Remember, they are there for your safety.

06/13/2023

Which Power-Free Exit Sign is Right for You?
Picture the scene… a centuries old brick building receives the designation as a protected historical site. The owners want to open a museum on the premises and begin the daunting task of bringing it up to code for public use. The fire marshal says all that’s left is the matter of egress lighting…

What to do? An exit sign is required to be mounted on that beautiful brick wall but there is no electricity at that location.

Many find themselves in this predicament, whether it’s a historical site or not. Do you really want to shell out upwards of $1000 to have an electrician run power to a location that doesn’t have it? There must be a better way right?

Enter the Power-Free Exit Sign options

Tritium Exit Signs

In the blue corner we have the self-luminous tritium exit sign. These signs are lit by tritium gas, which is contained within hermetically sealed, phosphor-lined glass tubes. Electrons emitted by the gas bombard the phosphor causing it to produce illumination. This all happens without the need for any outside power or intervention. It’s the same technology used in watch hands and firearm optics. Click here to see our full line of tritium exit signs.

Tritium Pros:
Set and forget – truly self-contained and maintenance free
Easy installation – no electrician needed
Code compliant – meets UL924 and NFPA 101 life safety standards

Tritium Cons:
High cost – starting in the upper $200’s, there is a high entry cost
Disposal – the costs don’t stop at the purchase price. Once the lifespan has expired, there is a high cost for disposal as well
Paperwork – due to their nature, these need to be registered with the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission

Photoluminescent Exit Signs
In the red corner we have the photoluminescent exit sign. Made with photoluminescent pigments, these signs can absorb and store energy from ambient light. In the case of sudden darkness, such as a power outage, the photoluminescent material is immediately visible. Think ‘glow-in-the-dark’ toys from childhood, only much better quality. Click here to see our full line of UL listed photoluminescent exit signs.

Photoluminescent Pros:
Set and forget – maintenance free. No need for batteries, bulbs or even testing
Easy installation – no electrician needed
Code compliant – meets UL924 and NFPA 101 life safety standards
Low cost – UL Listed exit signs starting in the $40 range, so these offer the most value when installation costs are factored in

Photoluminescent Cons:
Light charging – 54 lux light requirement at installation location needed to maintain the “charge” of the photoluminescent pigment (light can be from manmade or natural sources), so these are not suitable for dark locations

And the Winner is…
In our opinion, the low cost and ease of installation make photoluminescent exit signs the clear winner. The one caveat is the light requirement needed to keep the photoluminescent material functioning correctly. There is a place for tritium where this light is not available, but the high initial cost as well as price of disposal make it a harder pill to swallow. If you have any questions, please contact our award winning customer service team at 877-352-3948.

06/13/2023

Our customer service representatives have done it again! Congrats to the team.

The Exit Light Co. Inc. has won the coveted Pulse Award for excellence in customer service! This award has been presented to The Exit Light Co. Inc. by pulseofthecitynews.com

01/01/2019

Another fantastic feedback. Thank you to all our customers who take the time to review our service.

12/17/2018

We've recently Partnered with Reviews.io to help us collect more feedback on our Business. We're proud to see excellent responses like these coming in from happy customers.

Thanks to all our customers.

11/15/2018

https://youtu.be/JlnKcHrkOyU
We recently launched this video showing how we Installed an LED Exit Light Combo

An Exit Light Company Electrician demonstrates the process of installing an LED Exit Sign. In this demonstration we use the COMBOG2 (https://www.exitlightco....

08/05/2013

We have been included in the Google Trusted Stores program! http://www.exitlightco.com/blog/positive-shopping-experience-exit-light-company-recognized-inclusion-google-trusted-stores-program/

Positive Shopping Experience at The Exit Light Company Recognized Via Inclusion in Google Trusted Stores ProgramPosted on July 19, 2013The Exit Light Company, a provider of quality and economical exit signs and emergency lighting products, has been awarded a Google Trusted Stores badge. The Google T...

04/23/2013

Starting this week - Weekly Safety Meeting Topics

Tips, Tricks & Treats for Exit Sign & Emergency Lighting Buyers and Installers

04/16/2013

Our thoughts are with the victims of the Boston Marathon bombings and their families

03/22/2013

Any businesses participating in Earth Hour? Make sure your exit signs and emergency lights work!