A home backup power inverter can reduce that irritating moment when watching the final moments of a nail biting soccer, rugby or cricket match, and there is a power failure. Not only are you left in the dark, but you also miss out on the final moments of your favourite sport or “soapie”.

UPS / back up power for home

This kind of power failure is happening more frequently , often leads to same question– How can I replace Eskom with a solar powered system….and this is usually accompanied by a “comment” that your heard that somebody developed low cost solar panels etc. …

Before I proceed to give you more detail on our house backup power inverter range let me tell you that the answer to this is not as straightforward as it would sound. What we can ensure you is that if you do have power available to you, even for only 4 hours per day it is definitely not feasible to try and replace that with a solar powered system.

Your grid-fed power…although becoming more and more unstable and unreliable is still by far your most cost effective energy supply. The best thing you can possibly do is optimize backup methods for your specific situation.

In order to make the appropriate choice of house backup power inverter solution we need to categorize the duration of power interruptions/failures as follows: Firstly we look at general household situations and then “critical supply” situations like the person who has to have power to his Oxygen tank or to ensure the water temperature of their Tropical fish tank is maintained all the time.

1. The occasional – non frequent 20min here, 20min there power failure
2. The occasional medium length power failures 1 to 2 hours, perhaps once every 2 weeks
3. The medium length more frequent failures…1 to 2 hours, every 3 to 4 days
4. The longer non frequent breakdown 5 hours or more, once a month
5. The longer very frequent breakdown, 5 hours or more. Weekly or even daily!!
6. I have critical equipment such as an oxygen tank or tropical fish tank heater and pumps that need to operate 24/7

Please note, our proposals around house backup power inverter solutions are generalized and might not be 100% suitable for your application…You might not want any interruptions irrespective if it is 20min or 10 hours…or you might be ok with occasional 20min power failures- What ever your situation please do not hesitate to send us an email and we will be more than willing to advise you on whuch DC AC power invertor solution will suit your needs.

Whatever your individual need with regards to house backup power and emergency back up power, chances are that you will see some similarities in our list of power problems and our suggested solution.

Please see below our backup power inverter solutions for each of these situations:

• The occasional – non frequent 20min here, 20min there power failure

In this situation you are probably more concerned to keep the TV going for the “Mrs” so she can watch “7de Laan” in the afternoon…ok well maybe to watch the last part of a game!

You can go the way of setting up a system equivalent to those discussed further on, However for this application…we assume that you want to keep one of the following systems up and running

1. TV 51cm
2. 2x lights
3. Video recorder
4. Laptop or a computer

Your have two options here. The first one is simply to keep a power inverter handy. You only need a 350Watt modified sine wave inverter to run ALL this equipment. For short-term emergencies you can operate this power inverter from you car/vehicle battery. Or you can consider having a special battery for backup. When you do keep an extra battery at home, then you will also need a small battery charger. In this case it is better to use a charger which you can leave, connected to the battery 24/7. This takes the responsibility away from you to remember to keep the battery fully charged.

A basic system would consist of:

• 350Watt modified sine power Inverter
• 105A.H battery (optional)
• 5A battery charger (PM 0512)

this would give you a backup power period of up to 6 hours.

• The occasional medium length power failures 1 to 2 hours, perhaps once every 2 weeks

In this situation, you probably getting a little more concerned then just being comfortable with the stability of your main supply. At this point it might make good sense to put together a little “permanent “ house backup power inverter system.

You want to stay away from using your vehicles battery as a back up source, as you vehicle battery IS NOT designed to be cycled (charged and discharged ) so often. Remember that within your vehicle’s environment, it will never get discharged.

You also have at least two options, here. One would be to build up a little system in which the power inverter and battery charger operate independently – this give you the advantage of redundancy and also easier expansion as time goes on. Effectively you require a battery, a DC AC power inverter which you can specify your self according to what you need to operate in the “dead” times and a battery charger which can be optimized to ensure full battery recharging during the periods in which you do have mains power.

The disadvantage to this is that every time you do have a power failure, you will need to connect your system by your self. Picture physically plugging your TV out of the wall socket and plugging it into the backup power inverter system etc.

If you want to be a little more sophisticated, we can offer you a combination power inverter system with an automatic transfer switch. These power inverters with automatic transfer switches also come with and without a battery charger built in. With these power inverter systems, you can configure your house wiring in such a way that when the power falls away, the power inverter immediately switches over and draws the power stored in the battery. Because the take over power is immediate – and you can simply enjoy your favorite TV program uninterrupted.

See below our suggested household backup power inverter systems

No	Description	Suggested solution 1	Suggested Solution 2	Suggested Batteries to use
1	TV for 3 hours	350Watt inverter plus 10A 12V battery charger	PM 600 CA	2 x 105 A/H
2	TV & Video plus 1 light for 3 hours	350Watt inverter plus 10A 12V battery charger	PM 600 CA	2x 105 A/H
3	TV & Video & DSTV, plus 3 lights for 3 hours	600Watt Inverter , plus 10A 12V charger	PM 600 CA	4x 105 A/H
4	TV & Video & DSTV plus 1 light for 6 hours	600Watt Inverter , plus 10A 12V charger	PM 600CA	4x 105 A/H
5	TV & Video & DSTV , plus 3 lights for 3 hours	600Watt Inverter , plus 10A 12V charger	PM600CA	4x 105 A/H
6	TV & Video & DSTV, plus 3 lights for 3 hours Plus occasional Microwave oven (30 minutes)	1200Watt sinewave inverter, 25A 12V charger	PM1800CA	6 x 105 A/H
7	Electric Gate motor backup power	1200Watt sinewave inverter, 25A 12V charger	PM1200CA	6 x 105 A/H
8	TV & Video & DSTV , plus 3 lights for 3 hours Plus spare backup for electric gate motor	2000Watt Cotek inverter, 25A 24V battery charger	PM2400 CA	2 to 8 batteries 105 A/h depend on time duration
9	TV & Video & DSTV , plus 3 lights for 3 hours Plus 2x computers for the same time	1500Watt Inverter, 25A 24V battery charger	PM1800 CA	8 x 105 A/h batteries
10	More powerful house hold setup, such as 4 x lights, TV, & dstv, Washing machine and spare	2000Watt Inverter , 25A 24V battey charger	Cotek 2000 with transfer + 25A battery charger	12 x 105 A/H batteries
If you can do your own power calculations then use the following
11	300 W for 3 hours	600Watt Inverter, 12A 12V battery charger	PM600 CA	2 x 105 A/H
12	900 Watt for 3 hours	1200Watt inverter, 25A 12V battery charger	PM 1200 CA	4x 105 A/H
13	1500 Watt for 3 hours	2000Watt Inverter, plus 25A 24Vbattery charger	PM 1800 CA	6 x 105 A/H
14	2000 Watt for 3 hours	Cotek 2000W with 25A battery charger	Cotek 2000W with 25A battery charger	8 to 12 x 105A/h batteries

The medium length more frequent failures…1 to 2 hours, every 3 to 4 days

• The longer non frequent breakdown 5 hours or more, once a month

• The longer very frequent breakdown, 5 hours or more. Weekly or even daily!!

• I have critical equipment such as a oxygen tank or Tropical Fish tank heater and pumps that need to operate 24/7

Depending on your specific need and priority, any one or more of the following appliances, might require the following emergency power back up:

Appliances such as:

• Televisions
• DSTV Decoders
• DVD players
• Home computers
• Laptops
• Cellphone chargers
• Lights
• Radio and HiFi
• Fridges
• Freezers
• Fish tank pumps
• Vacuum cleaners
• Ceiling fans
• Microwave ovens

Both modified sine wave power inverters and true sine wave power inverters have derivatives that include a generator transfer switch. Some are specifically designed to operate with a generator or interruptive power source. In other words, these power inverters are ideal where other means for charging the batteries is available from either solar panels or external battery chargers. Obviously in the home, most likely there will be a mains supply, such as Eskom in South Africa no matter how unreliable this power source is. Using the mains supply, when available, either an external or internal battery charger will charge the bank of batteries, storing the necessary power required for those critical times when there is no mains supply, and you would normally be left in the dark. The stored power in the batteries is then readily available to be used by a suitably sized power inverter to provide you with 230VAC power supply, needed by all your critical home appliances.

We can offer you a backup power inverter solution for any possible combination. On this scale of power demands the backup system becomes costly and a wide variety of options are available. We would suggest that you send us an email detailing all your power demands and usage. We will be more that happy to advise which DC AC backup power inverter system will work for you.

Load shedding

This has got to be the latest buzz word in SA at the moment.

Power solutions are offered in abundance, providing most of us with even more confusion than anything else.

Our advice is: Be informed. Make your decisions wisely, and think long and hard before taking out your hard-earned money and rushing out to the nearest discount store to buy a generator offered at bargain prices.

We offer sound advice by ensuring that we, as well as you yourself, understand your power requirements and help you look to the future, thus making wiser long term decisions.
Amongst the many back-up power solutions we have designed, one that is very popular with home owners is an inverter and charger combination unit with seamless automatic transfer from mains supply to battery. This system allows one to utilize a generator to substitute power from mains and will naturally form part of a solar power based system in the future.

The size and number of batteries in your system will dictate the total number of hours back up time you have available in event of a power failure.

You can start off small with a minimum amount of batteries and add to them as your budget allows, thereby adding additional hours of back up.

An inverter/charger system that will provide you with power for 4 x 12W lights, 1 x 72cm TV, DSTV and a laptop for 3hrs will cost you around R 7300.00
To extend that time to 6hrs will cost you an extra R1360.00
Recovery time after a six hour power failure will be approximately 8hrs.

The full range of UPS type units we offer are:

True Sine Wave Inverter WITH BUILT IN BATTERY CHARGER AND TRANSFER SWITCH (SLU Series)
Number	Rating	Charger	Inverter functionality	Size	Weight	Picture	Specsheet (PDF format download)
PM800SLU	800W/12V	20A	3 Stage Build in Battery Charger Low battery Alarm Low and HIGH V protection Overload Protection Over heat protection True Sine wave Automatic transfer switch Solar panel charging input facility	298 x 390 x 149	12kg
PM1600SLU	1600W/24V	25A		298 x 450 x 190	24kg
PM2400SLU	2400W/24V	25A		298 x 450 x 190	32kg
PM4000SLU	4000W/24V	25A		415 x 600 x 260	45kg

 

Keywords for this page:

Inverter, Inverters, Power inverter, power inverters, load shedding, house backup power inverter, DC AC Inverters, pure sine wave power inverter, modified sine wave power inverter