10 Questions You Should to Know about Portable Explosion Proof Lighting

Working in confined spaces or areas exposed to explosive and flammable gasses, such as hydrogen, methane, propane, and other hydrocarbons, can be very dangerous. In Canada many workers are injured or killed in confined spaces, with 60% of the fatalities being among the rescuers, according to the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety. This is why hazardous area lighting, like Explosion Proof LEDs, is necessary and required by law to ensure people's safety.

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Standard lighting poses a threat to workers in confined spaces like tanks, vents, pipes, sewers, tank cars and manholes, because some luminaires can cause explosions by igniting combustible gas, vapor, particles or fiber that start an explosive chain reaction or a fire. Similarly, the oil and gas, petrochemical, textile and even grain processing industries may be subject to accidents while using regular duty lighting, given that electrical equipment such as switches and relays can easily spark during standard operation.

Explosion Proof LED Lights contain and isolate potential spark triggers in safe housing material, such as aluminum, preventing explosions.

If you're looking to upgrade your hazardous area lighting equipment, you should consider LED lights not only because they're more environmentally friendly, but because they are cost-efficient and the safest lighting source in the market today.

When you're looking for Explosion Proof LED Lighting, there are seven things you should know:

1. Explosion Proof does not mean that the lighting source -whether it's an LED or not- doesn't spark; it just means that the items susceptible to spark are isolated in explosion-proof boxes that contain ignition repeatedly, avoiding propagation outside the box. In the same vein, 'explosion proof' does not mean your LEDs will survive an explosion, just that they won't be the cause for an external explosion.
2. Explosion Proof LEDs are bump and break resistant. Traditional hazardous area lighting used fluorescent or incandescent bulbs that had to be treated delicately, because they break easily. While they do not pose a fire hazard, they can be dangerous in confined spaces where workers may cut themselves or broken pieces or inhale the toxic fumes from the fluorescent bulbs. LEDs are stronger in general; they use heat-resistant materials and tempered glass, which is stronger and long-lasting, in addition to being free of mercury and toxic substances.
3. Explosion Proof LEDs are very energy efficient, they use up to 90% of the energy to provide light and have no heat or conversion loss to account for, this means that they use a lot less power to function and have low wattage consumption. Organizations save on-site energy from portable generators and other in-situ sources, providing more sustainable and profitable operations. In other words, you'll save money running explosion proof LEDs for the same or better light output your current explosion proof lamps give you.
4. Flexible Options: LEDs come in modular designs that can be combined to allow light outputs to be easily increased or lowered to match required light levels, this allows a multitude of options to be used. From dish umbrella, to column and polygon shapes you can set them up to meet your needs, easily adapted to existing access points all while saving energy and money.
5. Explosion Proof Lighting is classified by ratings and zones. Ratings are used by professionals, like engineers, architects and electricians, to find the ideal place for the light source to be used in, as well as under what conditions they will perform best. When you're shopping around for options look at the Certifications: Class I, Division 1, Class I Division 2 and Zones 0, 1 and 2. Class I, Division 1, encompasses Zone 0 and Zone 1 areas, while Class I, Division 2 only qualifies for Zone 2 areas.
   • Zone 0 is a hazardous location where an explosive gas, vapor or liquid atmosphere is present continuously or for long periods of time.
   • Zone 1 is a location with frequent presence of ignitable gas, vapor or liquid exist under normal operating conditions, between 10 to 1,000 hrs/year
   • Zone 2 is a location where flammable gas, vapor or liquid is not present or unlikely to be present during normal operating conditions, and unwanted or hazardous substances will only be present for 10 hrs/year or 0 to 0.1% of the time.
6. Explosion Proof LEDs Save Your Operation Money: LED explosion proof lights and fixtures are very affordable compared with their incandescent or fluorescent counterparts, they can be fitted to just about any corporate or individual budget, with an easy offset over time, where they essentially pay themselves back, considering that they last longer, won't require replacement bulbs and consume very little power to provide clear, crisp and cool lighting.
7. Long Lasting Investment: most LED lights have a 50,000 hours estimated life span, making them the safest and most effective investment in hazardous area lighting equipment for your company or team. With low wattage options and high lumen output, these are bright, efficient and cost-effective luminaires for dangerous work, regardless of the space or industry.

OSHA has set standards and requirements for explosion-proof lighting for businesses to use proper electrical equipment in hazardous locations. Hazardous (classified) locations are any areas containing flammable vapors, liquids or gases, or combustible dust or fibers. It is only with the proper selection of certified explosion-proof lighting, will you be certain your lighting is safe to use in these environments (won't cause an explosion). [as seen in the picture above]

In order for explosion proof lighting to maintain their certification, all repairs must be handled directly by the manufacturer (OEM). However, we do offer protective accessories designed to prevent the need for costly repairs and unnecessary downtime. Our user-replaceable blast shields provide a protective layer for the primary lens. Our blast shields can be easily replaced out in the field. We also offer our overspray protective bags. A simple cost-effective option to provide an overall outer protective layer against the various damaging elements common to work sites.

Link to SAFER-Ex

Most explosion proof lights are not intended for use in wet locations and should not be used in areas where they could be exposed to any moisture. Our KICK-IT TOUGH' product line is certified as suitable for wet location use, up to Type 6P . They are built to be used in locations where exposure to water is commonplace. Our products have been put to the test in some of the most demanding marine environments. Watch this video to learn more! 

When it comes to explosion proof light requirements, our KICK-IT TOUGH' line consumes an incredibly small amount of power per lumen.  Thanks to LED technology and proprietary optics, our lights require such a small amount of power that they can actually be used at full capacity while plugged into a 12V inverter in a vehicle. [800mA ' 2.2A]

The majority of certified explosion proof lights on the market were originally designed for 'fixed' installation then modified, re-purposed, or represented as portable. These re-purposed lights are no longer certified and have limited mounting possibilities. Their increased bulkiness prevent them from offering a truly portable experience.

Our KICK-IT TOUGH' LED Safety Lights are purposely-built, deliberately compact and certified as portable luminaires [UL 153, UL 844]. They have been built to provide a wide range of mounting options and to be easily re-positioned. We have magnetic & mechanical knuckles for various surface mounting. We also offer ladder & hook mounts, and stand alone mounting with our a-frame, tripod, quad-pod & hand-cart stands. Our KICK-IT TOUGH' lights can be mounted in virtually any location and offer a level of portability unmatched by any other product in the industry.

Traditional incandescent bulbs generate light by moving energy through (heating) a small wire element which emits light as a result. Naturally, this heat cannot be contained entirely within the bulb.  This heat radiates out into the environment causing overheating and potentially hazardous temperatures.

Western Technology's KICK-IT TOUGH' LED technology produces higher light output while using less power, and generating lower amounts of heat. [T-code: T-5 or T-4]

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