[emergency lighting comparison] Whelen ION-T vs. regular lights - Leipzig MHD ambulance [GER | 2021]

Check the description for more information 🔽
After noticing a tremendous difference in brightness for dozens of times I decided to make a dedicated video comparison! 🙂 This video compares some regular integrated lights (in the left & right corners) with 4 additional Whelen ION-T in the center of the rear of the current Leipzig Malteser ambulances.

The difference couldn't be crazier! In real life the standard integrated lights are visible for around 200m (650ft) until they become invisible during sunny days. At the same the ION-T's are still clearly visible for at least 1Km (0.6 miles).
For references:
0:00 taken after astronomical twilight
1:10 taken around sunset (sun is already hidden by buildings)
1:49 night time video
You can clearly see the difference in the 1st and 3rd clip. In the 2nd clip you need to take a closer look at the glare around the lights and stop the video.

Everyone who's following my channel for some time probably knows that I'm not a big fan of integrated/ design emergency lighting for a variety of safety, functionality, maintenance and financial reasons. I hope that this video makes agencies think a bit deeper about emergency lighting and possibly overthink certain standard lighting solutions, especially when those are some type of integrated or design lights.
I think it'd be a very legitimate question to ask why those ION-T's aren't the standard lights.

You can also email me if you have any questions: [email protected]

An alternative and better option...:
... would be the use of 2 Whelen L31 or L41 beacons. Why?
Synchronization! You can sync the beacons with the ION-T and create proper flash patterns. All on-off. Left-right. Inside-outside (ION-T - beacons). Left beacon & 2 ION-T on the right in phase 1 and right beacon & 2 ION-T on the left in phase 2, etc.
The L31 are the brightest beacons I ever saw while the L41 are cheaper and have the same blue color (with a slightly white touch) as the ION-T.
Think further with programmable systems! Even simple ones like Whelen Smart Logic let you do extensive programming with the lights. You can easily change flash patterns or have different patterns for different situations (responses, scenes, night time scenes, responses during the fog, low power, cruise, turn off specific modules, cycling patterns etc.).



Leipzig, Sachsen (Saxony), Germany, February 23, 2021.