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Tips When Shopping For Emergency Exit Bars

exit1Adding an emergency exit bar is an excellent safety feature as it bypasses door locks thereby providing you with an instant exit pathway in the event of an emergency. Panic/ emergency bars are designed to permit exit irrespective of the lock system installed in an emergency door. Commonly, these bars are installed on doors labeled “Fire Exit/Door”. Most of these bars come with an inbuilt alarm so that once the door is opened, an alarm is triggered. Depending on the type of bar you are using, there are some that are set in a way such that once the alarm is triggered, all the other emergency exits open automatically.
Resources:
www.beverlyhillslocksmith.org
us.allegion.com
dorma.com

Whether you are shopping for an emergency exit bar for use at home or in your office, there are some shopping tips you need to consider for you to buy the best quality bars. These tips include:

Meeting the set safety requirements

Depending on where you live, there are some safety requirements for emergency exit bars put in place by the relevant authorities. Most of these requirements aim at ensuring that the bars are up to the mark as far as functionality and efficiency are concerned. For instance, in the USA, it is required that these bars can be opened by anyone from indoors without requiring a key. This is because of the reason that in most emergencies, there is usually very little time to get out to safety. The hardware in the bar should be certified and bear a mark of quality as a guarantee of the reliability of the bars.

Compatibility with security systems

Emergency exit bar hardware systems should be compatible with existing security systems in the doors that they are being installed on. These security systems include fire alarm systems and auto-lock security systems. The compatibility of bar hardware systems with other security systems is very important so that in the event of an emergency, neither of the systems fails due to one system overriding the other. An exit bar hardware that is not compatible with other security systems can cause a serious security problem in case the hardware fails to work during an emergency. You can end up remaining trapped in the house or office.

Type of bars

Emergency exit bars come in different dimensions and specifications with different features. The common types are long bar styles (common in large retailers like supermarkets and banking halls) and small lever bar styles (found in homes and small & medium sized offices). Before making any purchase of these bars, be sure to measure the size dimensions of your door so that you purchase a fitting bar.

Self installation- Can you install the bar you want to purchase on your own?

exit2Unless you are experienced in handling emergency exit bars, then you will most likely need professional help in purchasing and installing these bars. Despite these bars not being complicated to install, you may need to hire an expert to install the bar for you especially if there are other security systems on the door. However, if there are no other systems in the door, then you can install the bars by yourself as you only require drilling in screws and reinforcing the bar to the door.

Affordability

When shopping for the best emergency exit bars, it is important to ensure that you consider the cost of each type of bar. There are some bars that are very expensive while others are relatively affordable. While the best quality bars cost an upward of $300, there are other cheaper bars that cost as little as $100. When considering the cost of these bars, it is important to be very careful so that you do not settle for a low quality bar that will most likely be inefficient and unreliable.

Insurable emergency exit bars

Always ensure that the emergency exit bar you want to purchase is insurable. Such bars are a great choice in that in the event of any security breach due to the failure of the bar, you will receive compensation. However, insurance companies only insure the best quality bars as such bars are not only efficient but also their likelihood to fail is next to zero.

Tragedies such as the Colorado theater shootings and the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary could have been more fatal if there were no emergency exit bars installed on the doors. These bars provide a faster and more effective exit avenue for people to use in the event of an unexpected emergency such as a shooting. It is important to note that not all emergency situations require people to remain calm. Others like shootings require quick action as any delays can lead to death.

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The Importance of Installing Proper Emergency Exit Bars

An exit device often becomes necessary and seeks the attention of a building owner when risks or danger arises. These situations therefore call for the installation of additional locks, implementing locking hardware in place, and upgrading or replacing exit devices. However, it is of great importance to understand why an exit bar or any other device exists in the first place prior to attempting making any modifications on it. Special thanks to our friends over at www.ahwatukeelocksmith.net for providing some useful information.

The Importance of Emergency Exit Bars

Primarily, it’s purpose is to ensure life safety by providing a way out to occupants of any room or building. There must never be any other mechanism or lock that might confuse the user or hinder proper use of the exit device. They are typically designed for use even in dark conditions and created to be easy to operate such that children and impaired individuals can manage to figure it out.

Extra building security is required to be set in place when a company realizes that it is losing assets, valuable products or productive work time due to the unauthorized use of exit doors whether by employees or customers. An exit device restricts access from the outside. Know that the level of security change affects the compliance code of your building, the same reason why it’s not as easy as replacing locks, removing them or overriding certain functions. The exact same aforementioned purposes would be best served by an emergency exit bar.

What is an Exit Bar?

exit bar1This type of exit hardware is a locking device, and as its name implies, consists of a bar across the insides of a particular door. Once the bar is pushed, the door latch correlates and is easily released for exiting an area. Touch bar exit devices may be mounted on the egress side of a door, whether for rim, surface vertical, mortise, or concealed vertical applications. Exit locks are commonly used for a property with low occupancy which would be based on local building codes, but is definitely a must on any building or any other property to have appropriate exit devices installed.

The main point is, Every Property Needs Proper Emergency Exit Bars that release quickly and easily to ensure safety and security, and provide an immediate escape route when necessary. It must be systematically aligned to comply with current regulations by exhibiting optimal dependability, reliability, convenience, and making itself clearly visible to anyone who enters a certain room or area.

Exit Bars vs Panic Bars

Among the many types of locks and locking hardware, determining the difference between products can be both difficult and confusing, with the fact that they all seem to appear similar in a myriad of ways not helping at all. For instance, panic bars and exit bars look the same, but have a huge variances in the impact they can have on different situations.

Exit bars and its ultimate purposes have been previously defined above. In contrast to a panic bar, an emergency exit bar may require inputting a key code prior to being able to exit mainly because the code does not require similar life safety standards of the panic hardware, which is also called the crash bar, push bar, or panic device. The panic bar is built for life safety compliance where a mechanism that is composed of a spring-loaded metal bar is fixed in a horizontal position within an egress-opening door. Upon pressing the lever, unlatching the door is immediately achieved for occupants to have a quick exit. It is ideal in any situation, especially for a large assembly or gathering with a huge number of people in one place, thereby preventing any delay or becoming crowded which are deemed highly dangerous in emergency situations.

Installing Proper Emergency Exit Bars

emergency exit barIt’s best to leave the matter to the hands of trustworthy expert technicians. There are various models and installation methods utilized based upon the type of door and exit bar that will be installed, and their expertise can be relied on to make certain that the most appropriate exit device in a state-of-the-art lock or locking hardware is implemented. Whichever type of exit device is best to be put in place, care for both your property and the door itself is displayed during installation. You will receive only the highest quality materials that are bound to exhibit satisfactory operation in the long run. Not only does this guarantee you that an up-to-date code is followed through, but life safety and security measures are deemed the most effective which gives everyone peace of mind.

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