Aluminium Stair Nosing 85x32mm Photoluminescent Glow Edge

When the lights go out, this step edge is still visible. It is a surface-mounted aluminium stair nosing, 85mm across the tread and 32mm down the riser, and along its front edge runs a photoluminescent strip that charges from ordinary room lighting and then glows green in the dark. Behind that strip sit two full-length anti-slip PVC insert channels, split by a bare mill aluminium rib. There is no wiring, no driver, no battery and nothing to fail: the profile is fitted exactly like a conventional screw-fix nosing and the glow is simply part of the extrusion. It is specified for escape stairs, stairwells without borrowed light, hotels, student accommodation and any flight where a power cut would otherwise leave people feeling for the edge.

Why it works

The glow strip is the whole point

The strip is a strontium aluminate phosphor, not paint and not a coating that wears off. The manufacturer publishes its performance: a green emission peaking at 520nm, an afterglow brightness of 455 mcd/m² measured ten minutes after excitation, a highly visible afterglow lasting more than 600 minutes, and a total afterglow duration of more than 3,000 minutes before it decays to 0.32 mcd/m². In plain terms: ten hours of clearly useful light from a full charge, and it recharges every time the lights are on. Light fastness and chemical stability are both rated Excellent.

Two insert channels, not one

Behind the glow strip the tread carries two anti-slip bands running unbroken end to end, rather than the single narrow strip most nosings use. On a busy flight nobody puts a foot in the same place twice, and two bands spread the grip across most of the 85mm tread so a short stride and a long stride both land on insert rather than bare metal. It also wears more evenly, because the load is not concentrated on one strip.

The rake back suits a sloping riser

The riser leg rakes back rather than dropping vertically, so on a stair whose riser slopes it closes against the riser face along its full depth instead of standing off it and leaving a wedge-shaped void. It also removes the square lip a vertical front face leaves proud of the step.

Published slip and contrast figures

For the standard PVC insert the manufacturer states a DIN 51130:2010 inclined platform result of R11 (22.9° corrected, average of six shod results) and BS 7976-2:2002 pendulum values of PTV 66 dry and PTV 54 wet. The UK Slip Resistance Group treats any PTV of 36 or above as low slip potential. The insert is described as a REACH compliant flexible PVC extrusion grade developed for non-scuff stair nosing use.

Where it is used

This is the nosing to specify where a stair has to stay usable without power. Protected escape stairs and fire-fighting shafts are the obvious case, but it earns its keep anywhere a stairwell has no borrowed daylight: internal cores in offices and apartment blocks, hotel and student accommodation stairs, cinemas, theatres and lecture theatres where the lights are deliberately dropped, plant rooms, and basement and car park flights. It is equally at home on refurbishment work, because it top-fixes over a finished floor rather than being bedded underneath one.

Specification

Choosing the right option

Length. Measure the step and take the next size up, then cut to fit on site with a hacksaw or a metal-cutting blade. Where a flight is wider than 3.22m, two lengths butt together neatly. The three shortest rungs are cut from stock lengths, so check your measurement before ordering.

Colour. The glow strip is green whatever you pick — the colour choice is the two insert bands behind it, and you should choose them for contrast against the tread rather than to match it. The manufacturer publishes a light reflectance value for each: White 79.9, Yellow 55.7, Canvas 53.2, Ice Grey 42.1, Beige 41.1, Dolphin Grey 27.6, Midnight Grey 12.8, Red 10.6, Cobalt Blue 9.2, Brown 9.1, Black 4.5. The mill aluminium channel is quoted at 78.9. Put a high-LRV insert on a dark floor and a low-LRV insert on a pale one; the wider the gap, the more clearly the edge reads in daylight. Black and Midnight Grey make the strip look brightest at night because the surrounding band is darkest.

Installation, use and care

It fits like any other top-mounted nosing: down onto the completed step, over the floor covering rather than under it, which is what makes it suitable for refurbishment as well as new work. Choose fixings to suit the substrate; they are not supplied. The one thing worth planning is charge — the strip needs light falling on it to work, so avoid running carpet or a nosing cover over the front band, and remember that a stair which is kept in permanent darkness will never charge in the first place. For cleaning, the manufacturer asks that inserts be washed with a neutral detergent, rinsed thoroughly with clean water and left dry before use. Avoid organic solvents, and keep the glow strip free of dirt build-up, because anything sitting on it blocks both the charge and the light.

Questions we are asked

Does it need any wiring or power?

None. It is photoluminescent, not electrical — the strip absorbs ordinary room or daylight and re-emits it once the lights go off. There is no cable, no transformer, no driver and no battery, and nothing that can fail or need replacing. It installs exactly like a standard screw-fix nosing.

How is this different from an LED stair nosing?

An LED nosing contains a powered light source and needs a supply, a driver and a route for the cable, which usually means planning it into the build. This one needs none of that, and it keeps working during the power cut that switches an LED nosing off. The trade-off is that it emits a soft green glow rather than a bright line, and it has to see light during the day in order to give light at night.

How long does the glow actually last?

The manufacturer states a highly visible afterglow of more than 600 minutes and a total afterglow duration of more than 3,000 minutes before it falls to 0.32 mcd/m², from a ten-minute charge. That is comfortably longer than any evacuation, and the strip recharges every time the lights come back on.

Can I use it outside?

We would not specify it for an external flight. The manufacturer publishes no external rating for the standard PVC insert, and its external route is a separate textured insert range built for wet and dry conditions. Ask us and we will point you at the external build of this section.

What is the difference between this and your cheaper 85x32mm nosing?

The section is the same — same 85mm tread, same 32mm rake back riser, same twin anti-slip inserts. This one adds the photoluminescent strip along the front edge, which is the whole of the price difference. If the stair is never dark, or it has maintained emergency lighting you are happy to rely on, the plain version does the same job for less.

Are fixings included?

No. Screws and any plugs are chosen to suit your substrate and bought separately.

Ordering and delivery

Every colour and length is priced individually — pick the combination you need and the price updates. Orders placed before the daily cut-off ship on a tracked UK service. If you need a length, a quantity or an insert colour that is not shown, or you want this section with the external-grade insert, email us and we will quote it.

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