Exit Lights

 I wanted to talk a little bit about exit lights. They are necessary in commercial buildings and retail properties. They tend to be one of those fixtures that we don't pay much attention to unless we lose power and find it difficult to exit a dark building.
A common problem with exit lights is most of them are made out of plastic, and as the plastic ages it gets brittle.  So if and when you do have to work on them they can crack and fall apart easily. The older ones use incandescent lamps which also  contribute to worsening the condition of the plastic due to heat from the lamps and they burn out. The batteries tend to wear out over time and can be difficult to find exact replacements to fit the battery space in the fixture.
My personal opinion is most of the time it is more cost efficient to just replace the whole fixture in most situations rather than replacing parts. Unless it is a high end exit sign made of metal or something other than plastic that is built to last.
Most of the newer ones use LED lamps which is much better than incandescent lamps but they are still made with a plastic frame and can become brittle over time. 
So basically to sum it all up check out your exit lights and make sure they all work.  Push the test button if they have a back up battery and see if your battery is good. If they do need repair, consider replacement as an option.