Inverter/battery recommendation

[Olorin]

Hope everyone is having a happy festive season.

I have a few questions. I did a quick calculation of my power requirements and it came to around 2045 watts - now in reality it's not going to be anywhere CLOSE to as much as this.

Probably not even half - this is maximum. I live in a 2 bedroom flat, I have a modest AV receiver, 5.1 speaker system, router, mini UPS, laptop and PC. I'll need to change my lights to LED. I don't listen that loud at all, so I'm guessing the reality is that my actual power usage is going to be much much less than stated. This does not include fridge.

My brother tells me his calculations come close to mine, but in reality according to his power readings he's using less than 200 watts on a day to day basis, and this is also running a 5.1 system, lights, TV, router, laptop - no fridge/stove etc. So the maximum figures seem like fantasy numbers.

In saying that, I've been looking at the following inverter :

3000VA Mercer inverter. It's about R7995 inc.

My question is, what battery would you guys recommend to go along with this? I can either opt for lead acid, or lithium which is very pricey. I'm on a budget you see. But are the pros/cons of using lead acid (my brother has lead acid and he tells me they work just fine, no smells etc).

Your feedback and advice here would be recommended.

 

[impracticaldogg]

I had lead-acid batteries and they were fine for almost three years. I cracked open the piggy bank to buy lithium batteries recently. Glad that I did with Stage 4 becoming the new normal.

If you want to run anything with a motor off the inverter you will need a pure sine wave. My Mecer 2400 is modified sine wave, and the ceiling fans are unhappy with it

 

[ADrunkTeddyBear]

@DuracellBunny has a nice 3kw inverter for a great price. Its the SRNE inverter thats sort of the same thing as the mecer at a much better price and an amazing MPPT controller

 

[Olorin]

I had lead-acid batteries and they were fine for almost three years. I cracked open the piggy bank to buy lithium batteries recently. Glad that I did with Stage 4 becoming the new normal.

If you want to run anything with a motor off the inverter you will need a pure sine wave. My Mecer 2400 is modified sine wave, and the ceiling fans are unhappy with it

I don't have any motor. The Mecer is a pure sine wave inverter. What batteries would you recommend I use for this? Are there good/bad brands? Or it all much of a muchness?

My only conundrum is whether I go this route or the all-in-one trolley route - the thing is, I don't want to see cables on the floor all over the place if I have a portable inverter/battery unit.

I also have no idea how noisy this inverter is going to be if it's installed next to my DC Board - which is literally right up my TV. Also, can the batteries be stored on the ground? I don't have any other place to put them. I assume you can't store them in a cupboard.

 

[DuracellBunny]

@Olorin for a flat, I would say shoot the SRNE option for the inverter, same price point as the Mecer but the fans are thermally regulated they are a bit quiet compared to the 5kva Mecer that I have.

Lead acid batteries are perfectly fine on the floor. When I had leads, I took a heavy shelf brackets and mounted them inverted on a wall with a piece of ply. Batteries sat on top and brackets held up perfect.

If you going the lead battery route, stay away from the gel options and get a flooded option, they much more cost effective but not as sensitive as gel based batteries.

If you going to put it into a cupboard then, have a hole drilled with perhaps a fan to keep the air moving.

 

[B-1]

I don't have any motor. The Mecer is a pure sine wave inverter. What batteries would you recommend I use for this? Are there good/bad brands? Or it all much of a muchness?

My only conundrum is whether I go this route or the all-in-one trolley route - the thing is, I don't want to see cables on the floor all over the place if I have a portable inverter/battery unit.

I also have no idea how noisy this inverter is going to be if it's installed next to my DC Board - which is literally right up my TV. Also, can the batteries be stored on the ground? I don't have any other place to put them. I assume you can't store them in a cupboard.

Its pretty noisy while charging. If you are pulling less than 500w and its not too hot the fans are typically off but higher loads and during charging you will know about it.
That being said there are not a lot of fanless options around so most if them make a noise when you pull some load or charge etc.

Just remember to wire this up to your dB is at least a couple of grand. Its the right way to do it but it is not cheap. LA batteries need to be somewhere where that can off gas during charging.

I had the 3kw mecer and 4 AGM batteries and also installed the same setup for someone else. I've reinstalled mine at my parents after I upgraded my setup and its continuing to do good work there. You do need to look after LA batteries though to make sure you never abuse them and keep them balanced as they are more prone to failure at any mistreatment.

 

[Olorin]

You do need to look after LA batteries though to make sure you never abuse them and keep them balanced as they are more prone to failure at any mistreatment.

Forgive me, but what do you mean when you say the batteries must be kept balanced? I'm a total noob here.

 

[Olorin]

@Olorin for a flat, I would say shoot the SRNE option for the inverter, same price point as the Mecer but the fans are thermally regulated they are a bit quiet compared to the 5kva Mecer that I have.

Lead acid batteries are perfectly fine on the floor. When I had leads, I took a heavy shelf brackets and mounted them inverted on a wall with a piece of ply. Batteries sat on top and brackets held up perfect.

If you going the lead battery route, stay away from the gel options and get a flooded option, they much more cost effective but not as sensitive as gel based batteries.

If you going to put it into a cupboard then, have a hole drilled with perhaps a fan to keep the air moving.

I'll definitely take a look at the SRNE option if I can find it. I was searching online a few minutes ago and found this kit - inverter plus battery solution

3.5KW LOADSHEDDING KIT(3.5KW ECCO MPPT INVERTER + 2 X 200A GEL BATTERY)

<p><span style="font-size: x-large; color: #000000;"><strong>ECCO 3.5KW 24V 100A MPPT HYBRID SOLAR INVERTER</strong></span></p> <p><a href="https://ledtronix.co.za/index.php/ecco-3-5kw-24v-100a-mppt-hybrid-solar-inverter.html">https://ledtronix.co.za/ind

ledtronix.co.za

R17999 doesn't bad sound for a total solution but then you say I should stay away from the gel battery options which is included in the kit, so I'm confused.

I think I'm probably going to have them lying on the floor - I suppose they need to be close or as close as possible to wherever the inverter will be installed so if my DB board is in my lounge, the batteries need to be in the lounge too.

Sorry if I sound like an idiot. I live in Cape Town - does anyone know of any reputable electricians I should contact that will provide me with a certificate of compliance? My body corporate will require it, but I wouldn't know who I can trust/rely on as I have no frame of reference. If anyone knows of anyone in CT please advise.

Thanks again for your help.

 

[AchmatK]

Forgive me, but what do you mean when you say the batteries must be kept balanced? I'm a total noob here.

For this reason alone I would really suggest you go with a lithium battery.

I spent months and years investigating what to spend my money on and lithium is practically an install and forget setup. It costs more up front but over the long term they are much more cost effective and much more forgiving to abuse.

The time and care needed to make sure you treat lead acid batteries correctly is a lot and it's easy to abuse it, even unintentionally.

If one battery fails the entire battery bank needs to be replaced.

 

[Olorin]

Does anyone know any reputable installers/electricians in Cape Town I can contact for the job?

 

[Olorin]

For this reason alone I would really suggest you go with a lithium battery.

I spent months and years investigating what to spend my money on and lithium is practically an install and forget setup. It costs more up front but over the long term they are much more cost effective and much more forgiving to abuse.

The time and care needed to make sure you treat lead acid batteries correctly is a lot and it's easy to abuse it, even unintentionally.

If one battery fails the entire battery bank needs to be replaced.

I didn't know that - re one battery fails, the whole set up is done for. This makes me want to consider lithium ion - as far as lithium ion batteries go, are there any specific brands I should focus on? Are they kind of much of a muchness?

For the inverter I'm looking for, let's say 3KVA - what batteries should I get for my use case? Any recommendations? I assume I would need 2 batteries, but could I buy one and just add another has budget improves or it is recommended to get two batteries from the outset?

Sorry for all the questions!

 

[AchmatK]

I didn't know that - re one battery fails, the whole set up is done for. This makes me want to consider lithium ion - as far as lithium ion batteries go, are there any specific brands I should focus on? Are they kind of much of a muchness?

For the inverter I'm looking for, let's say 3KVA - what batteries should I get for my use case? Any recommendations? I assume I would need 2 batteries, but could I buy one and just add another has budget improves or it is recommended to get two batteries from the outset?

Sorry for all the questions!

I lean towards pylontech but there are a few good brands. Hubble has not faired well recently especially on their support side.

Dyness, Blunova and a few others comes to mind.

I have pylontech batteries running for over 2 years now and added more batteries, 1 last year and another the previous year.

One thing about lithium is that you can add new batteries later on to an existing battery bank.

I'm not sure what the voltage of the inverter is but most lithium batteries are 48v.

1 x pylontech US3000C can work but you need to know that the maximum you can draw from this battery at any one time is ±1 750w. If you want to power additional items you can always add another one.

 

[Olorin]

1 x pylontech US3000C can work

Ouch. The price of one battery alone is more than the entire kit I linked to before.

My budget was around R20K for inverter + batteries but maybe that's just not realistic.

 

[Speedster]

Ouch. The price of one battery alone is more than the entire kit I linked to before.

My budget was around R20K for inverter + batteries but maybe that's just not realistic.

Achmat is a bit overeager in his recommendation. Here are lithium equivalents to those in your kit above:

Hubble S-100A 1.2kWh 12V 100Ah Lithium Ion LiFePO4 Battery (FIRST LIFE CELLS) 3500 Cycles

The Hubble S Series is a standalone li-ion LiFePO4 battery. These lithium batteries are in the form factor of traditional lead-acid/agm/gel batteries (slightly SMALLER than a standard 100ah lead acid type battery). NB - Please ensure you can set your inverter CUT OFF voltage to 12.0V, else the...

www.geewiz.co.za

Just make sure if the inverter is capable of charging lithium batteries.

 

[PsyWulf]

Ouch. The price of one battery alone is more than the entire kit I linked to before.

My budget was around R20K for inverter + batteries but maybe that's just not realistic.

There's a bit of a jump in price to get significantly more lifetime out of the setup unfortunately
Save for lithium or replace all your batteries every 2-3years

 

[DuracellBunny]

I'll definitely take a look at the SRNE option if I can find it. I was searching online a few minutes ago and found this kit - inverter plus battery solution

3.5KW LOADSHEDDING KIT(3.5KW ECCO MPPT INVERTER + 2 X 200A GEL BATTERY)

<p><span style="font-size: x-large; color: #000000;"><strong>ECCO 3.5KW 24V 100A MPPT HYBRID SOLAR INVERTER</strong></span></p> <p><a href="https://ledtronix.co.za/index.php/ecco-3-5kw-24v-100a-mppt-hybrid-solar-inverter.html">https://ledtronix.co.za/ind

ledtronix.co.za

R17999 doesn't bad sound for a total solution but then you say I should stay away from the gel battery options which is included in the kit, so I'm confused.

I think I'm probably going to have them lying on the floor - I suppose they need to be close or as close as possible to wherever the inverter will be installed so if my DB board is in my lounge, the batteries need to be in the lounge too.

Sorry if I sound like an idiot. I live in Cape Town - does anyone know of any reputable electricians I should contact that will provide me with a certificate of compliance? My body corporate will require it, but I wouldn't know who I can trust/rely on as I have no frame of reference. If anyone knows of anyone in CT please advise.

Thanks again for your help.

It's a little pricy but not that far off.

I wish I did have someone in Cpt that would be able to gave the system installed for you but any electrician would be able to get the job done that has installed inverters. Perhaps someone can recommend some from mybb for someone they used in cpt.

I saw your budget is sitting at 20k. It's not that bad starting of with lead acid batteries and then upgrading to lithium. Took me around 2 years to save up and add my first Pylon. Hopefully when you do choose to upgrade lithium pricing is a bit more reasonable. If you could stretch your budget to around 25k or so,i would be able to help out with a lithium option if you keen on lithium.

 

[Olorin]

Sorry to bump this but I have to ask a stupid question - perhaps a very, very stupid question so please forgive me in advance. So I as explained earlier, I live in a complex, in a 2 bedroom apartment. My DB board is situated in my living room, above my TV - shitty location I know, but that's what I got when I moved in.

Is it possible to have the inverter installed in another room and still wired into the DB board or must the inverter be next to the DB board? My concern is noise levels in the living room when the fans kick in - my brother has a trolley system and he moved his system into another room but my word, the cables you need to run to make everything work would make my apartment look like a total dogs breakfast so I'm trying to avoid that option if I can.

I'm upping my budget a little so I'm thinking inverter/lithium but again noise concerns, so if it's possible install inverter in another room that would be great, but I'm thinking that's probably not possible/and stupid for thinking. Am I right or am I stupid?

 

[Olorin]

 

[Ϲhristopher]

Sorry to bump this but I have to ask a stupid question - perhaps a very, very stupid question so please forgive me in advance. So I as explained earlier, I live in a complex, in a 2 bedroom apartment. My DB board is situated in my living room, above my TV - shitty location I know, but that's what I got when I moved in.

Is it possible to have the inverter installed in another room and still wired into the DB board or must the inverter be next to the DB board? My concern is noise levels in the living room when the fans kick in - my brother has a trolley system and he moved his system into another room but my word, the cables you need to run to make everything work would make my apartment look like a total dogs breakfast so I'm trying to avoid that option if I can.

I'm upping my budget a little so I'm thinking inverter/lithium but again noise concerns, so if it's possible install inverter in another room that would be great, but I'm thinking that's probably not possible/and stupid for thinking. Am I right or am I stupid?

You can install the inverter and batteries elsewhere. Most import is to limit the length of the wiring between the batteries and the inverter, the losses on the AC side are much smaller so you can run longer cables to the distribution board.

 

[wingnut771]

You can install the inverter and batteries elsewhere. Most import is to limit the length of the wiring between the batteries and the inverter, the losses on the AC side are much smaller so you can run longer cables to the distribution board.

Yeah, I wouldn't install the batteries more than 1m away from the inverter.