Battery Technology (Sealed Lead Acid Vs Ni-CD Vs Ni-MH)
As technology advances, newer battery technologies are starting to be adopted and used in emergency products, however there are pros and cons with using some of these technologies.
Environmental Problems
The heavy metals used in some batteries are causing huge environmental and health problems. Of the three main battery types used in emergency lighting, NI-CD is the worst as it contains metals that cause high levels of contamination and are more deadly to humans than the other two technologies. NI-MH batteries offer a cleaner alternative to NI-CD and have a higher energy density which leads to less waste. Sealed lead acid batteries contain less harmful metals than NI-CD, however Sealed lead acid batteries as the name suggests contains lead which is another metal which is harmful to humans.
Currently countries around the world are looking at regulating the recycling of both NI-CD and Sealed Lead acid batteries, currently NI-CD batteries need to be returned to Europe to be recycled. In the coming years it is likely that recycling these devices will become the responsibility of the suppliers.
Battery Life
New batteries like NI-MH have a higher energy density and hence are a smaller. Heat tends to impact NI-MH batteries more than NI-CD batteries, so using more advance dual rate chargers play an important role in ensuring long battery life.
Typically the combination of single rate chargers and NI-MH batteries will not yield the highest possible life from the NI-MH batteries. This means that charging a NI-MH battery in an emergency product is more expensive due to the need for a more advanced dual rate chargers.
As a proactive company we have committed ourselves to using NI-MH batteries with dual rate chargers. This is a solution we believe will ensure maximum environment benefits while maximizing the life of our batteries.
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