Best solution for non-solar backup?

[neoprema]

Anyone recommend something for a person who wants to have backup power for about 4 hours, 3 phase, 8Kva or above but without solar.
the system should recharge via Eskom power when it returns.

I looked at Tesla's Powerwall but I would need 2 at least and that's over 300k without installation. Was wondering what else people have tried? I'm not against a generator with automatic start and switch-over either but with the price of fuel...

 

[WAslayer]

You do inverter and batteries specced to match load for the outage period without the batteries discharging beyond recommended depth when in use..

Oven/stove, hair dryers and other high draw appliances you would probably want to not run off the batteries..

 

[neoprema]

You do inverter and batteries specced to match load for the outage period without the batteries discharging beyond recommended depth when in use..

Oven/stove, hair dryers and other high draw appliances you would probably want to not run off the batteries..

But are there inverters designed for only this role? Not expecting a solar panel as well? Or do you just not connect solar to them if you don't want it?

I see there's some by Sunny, Mecer, RCT etc. What I can't find is a calculator to say ok at 8kva, you will need X batteries to run for 4 hours.

 

[AchmatK]

The sunsynk 8kw with 14kWh of batteries should be a good start.

It doesn't need solar panels to work and will cost less than half of the two tesla units.

I have 14kWh of batteries and can run off batteries from sunset to about 5am in the morning.

What is you daily usage?

 

[Spizz]

But are there inverters designed for only this role? Not expecting a solar panel as well? Or do you just not connect solar to them if you don't want it?

I see there's some by Sunny, Mecer, RCT etc. What I can't find is a calculator to say ok at 8kva, you will need X batteries to run for 4 hours.

I've got a 5kw inverter and a 5.1kWh battery at the moment, planning on adding solar at a later date. I only installed them last week or so and now during loadshedding is the first time to check them out. So I'm running the house as normal (no geyser or oven on the inverter) and after the 2.5 hour loadshedding between 1800 and 2030 last evening, the battery is sitting at about 58%. I looked less than 2 hours later and it was fully charged again on Eskom power.

So in essence, until I add solar soon, it is a loadshedding beater and works like a charm.

 

[neoprema]

I've got a 5kw inverter and a 5.1kWh battery at the moment, planning on adding solar at a later date. I only installed them last week or so and now during loadshedding is the first time to check them out. So I'm running the house as normal (no geyser or oven on the inverter) and after the 2.5 hour loadshedding between 1800 and 2030 last evening, the battery is sitting at about 58%. I looked less than 2 hours later and it was fully charged again on Eskom power.

So in essence, until I add solar soon, it is a loadshedding beater and works like a charm.

1 battery at 5.1kwh? Can I ask what they are? (brands)

 

[AlphaJohn]

Any hybrid solar system with large battery, minus the panels

 

[Lupus]

Currently I've got 4 inverters scattered around the house.
1. Lounge 2000w inverter 2 120ah LA batteries, gives me 3 to 4 hours
2. Old Mecer 1440w in the study with 2 100ah LA batteries, gives me about 4 hours for my laptop, monitor, speakers, lamp and router
3. 1500w in my sons room, with 120ah LA battery to power his decoder, small TV, alarm and such, this gives like 10 hours maybe more.
4. 1500w in my room with 120 Lithium battery to my room stuff.

Reason I did this was it ended up cheaper then 1 5kw inverter with the same amount of overall battery spec and I could get them in a pretty short notice over the years.

 

[Spizz]

1 battery at 5.1kwh? Can I ask what they are? (brands)

Yep, Inverter is Sunsynk. Battery is LBSA.

I had Hubble battery in my last house and it worked great, but I did a bit of looking around and this LBSA was R22k so about R3k cheaper than the Hubble, slightly bigger capacity and good reviews. So far it's doing great. Would recommend.

I just checked the Sunsynk app for last evening, battery was actually at 53% at the end of the evening loadshed and took an hour and 25 minutes to get back to 100. Average draw in the house was about 1000 to 1200W.

Last night at midnight until 0230, battery was at 89% at the end of loadshedding and looked to average about 300W with us all sleeping..

 

[WAslayer]

But are there inverters designed for only this role? Not expecting a solar panel as well? Or do you just not connect solar to them if you don't want it?

I see there's some by Sunny, Mecer, RCT etc. What I can't find is a calculator to say ok at 8kva, you will need X batteries to run for 4 hours.

But are there inverters designed for only this role? Not expecting a solar panel as well? Or do you just not connect solar to them if you don't want it?

I see there's some by Sunny, Mecer, RCT etc. What I can't find is a calculator to say ok at 8kva, you will need X batteries to run for 4 hours.

Most inverters will be fine without solar, just check specs but it's not a matter of the inverter won't work without solar..

And you are not going to find a calculator like that, because that's not how you spec your batteries..

You need to first determine what your load is normally, combined power draw of all the things you want to keep running during loadshedding times that by number of hours to get a rough idea of minimum capacity.. then look at the battery type, what the recommended discharge depth is to maintain longevity and factor that in to get your battery capacity.. this is a very rough idea of how to do it, there are better ways I am sure and someone smarter than me will probably come along and correct me soon..

 

[neoprema]

Most inverters will be fine without solar, just check specs but it's not a matter of the inverter won't work without solar..

And you are not going to find a calculator like that, because that's not how you spec your batteries..

You need to first determine what your load is normally, combined power draw of all the things you want to keep running during loadshedding times that by number of hours to get a rough idea of minimum capacity.. then look at the battery type, what the recommended discharge depth is to maintain longevity and factor that in to get your battery capacity.. this is a very rough idea of how to do it, there are better ways I am sure and someone smarter than me will probably come along and correct me soon..

Hmmm. yeah thats my complication.

I don't think our DB board was split out in a way that they can connect to non-required systems. Its a 3-phase board, but the house has 4 geysers, electric oven, stove, and 6x AC's. the AC's are however on their own circuit breakers in a different DB board (recommended by the installer) so I'm guessing it won't be difficult to leave them out of the equation.

 

[neoprema]

Currently I've got 4 inverters scattered around the house.
1. Lounge 2000w inverter 2 120ah LA batteries, gives me 3 to 4 hours
2. Old Mecer 1440w in the study with 2 100ah LA batteries, gives me about 4 hours for my laptop, monitor, speakers, lamp and router
3. 1500w in my sons room, with 120ah LA battery to power his decoder, small TV, alarm and such, this gives like 10 hours maybe more.
4. 1500w in my room with 120 Lithium battery to my room stuff.

Reason I did this was it ended up cheaper then 1 5kw inverter with the same amount of overall battery spec and I could get them in a pretty short notice over the years.

I thought of doing this route, since i already have 2 x Mecer 720W's. So i could just shove Mecers on the systems I need.

It still leaves me with the lights and stuff to find a plan for though.

 

[Lupus]

I thought of doing this route, since i already have 2 x Mecer 720W's. So i could just shove Mecers on the systems I need.

It still leaves me with the lights and stuff to find a plan for though.

Load shedding bulbs where you need them, I've got 5 of those, one in each bathroom, one in my sons light fixture and one in my room, one in my lounge

 

[Spizz]

Load shedding bulbs where you need them, I've got 5 of those, one in each bathroom, one in my sons light fixture and one in my room, one in my lounge

I see lots on the market and some with some patchy reviews. Any recommendations for a good brand?

 

[Lupus]

I see lots on the market and some with some patchy reviews. Any recommendations for a good brand?

I got one from Takealot that was a waste. But the ones that seem to work are Eurolux brand, they are a bit more pricey but they don't dull that much when switching over to battery and only about 2 hours into a power failure it starts to dull, by 4 hours it's still ok, though it's rapidly decline from there.
I also have Magneto lights for portability.

 

[Spizz]

I got one from Takealot that was a waste. But the ones that seem to work are Eurolux brand, they are a bit more pricey but they don't dull that much when switching over to battery and only about 2 hours into a power failure it starts to dull, by 4 hours it's still ok, though it's rapidly decline from there.
I also have Magneto lights for portability.

Cheers for that. We've got a friend visiting and staying in the garden cottage and it's not on the inverter setup. I'll seek one or two out today at the hardware stores.

 

[neoprema]

I got one from Takealot that was a waste. But the ones that seem to work are Eurolux brand, they are a bit more pricey but they don't dull that much when switching over to battery and only about 2 hours into a power failure it starts to dull, by 4 hours it's still ok, though it's rapidly decline from there.
I also have Magneto lights for portability.

Not very possible when the previous owners of the house you bought decided to put fancy LED shaped lighting and decorative lighting everywhere with non-standard globes.

 

[Lupus]

Cheers for that. We've got a friend visiting and staying in the garden cottage and it's not on the inverter setup. I'll seek one or two out today at the hardware stores.

Yeah the one from Takealot is dull as dull can be, I use it in a desktop lamp and move it wherever, but those Eurolux you'd think it was a normal bulb . I was on the loo and the power went out, the bathroom flickered but it was still on

 

[Lupus]

Not very possible when the previous owners of the house you bought decided to put fancy LED shaped lighting and decorative lighting everywhere with non-standard globes.

Oh those are going to be a pain when they fail

 

[Nod]

I have the Sunsynk 8kw with Hubble 5.5Kw battery.
Will add solar panels later.
Don't even know about loadshedding at all.
We used the stove by accident last Saturday during loadshedding for around 30min. Battery lost around 10% over that time. Oven was already at the required heat, so was just switching on every few minutes to keep temperature.