[Question] Emergency lighting

[Harry S]

I would like advice from forum members please. Will it be legal to replace a domestic (built-in) single light switch with a dual switch and use one switch for the existing 250V light and the second switch for a 12V stand-alone off-the-grid emergency light (e.g. a solar panel, battery and LED strip light system), provided of course that the two switches and wiring systems are TOTALLY isolated from each other? An alternative will be to install ceiling mounted pull switches, which I do not prefer for aesthetical reasons.

[HR Solutions]

Why not change the lightbulbs for rechargeable led bulbs whereby if there is a power failure they come on automatically ?

[Dave A]

There certainly are challenges. Consider 6.1.10 of SANS 10142-1 as example:

Conductors that form part of a d.c. installation shall not be run in the same wireway as conductors that form part of an a.c. installation.

Something else that caught my eye - 7.11.5 says all controls of emergency lighting shall be inaccessible to the general public.
At the risk of seeming pedantic, I suggest it might be best to call your 12v lighting system alternative lighting to avoid confusion.