johanduplessis1995

Hi All. I’m looking at a 5 kW inverter with a 5.1 kWh battery to carry my small home through loadshedding. The Luxpower inverters seem well priced and reputable. In layman’s terms, what is the difference between the off-gird and hybrid ones? The first is about half the price of the second one, so there must be some features that I would miss out on. Looking forward to hear from you!

Update I noticed something strange. When I have loads connected to the inverter and loadshedding kicks in it shuts down instantly. Almost like it cannot handle that sudden switch. When I remove the loads, turn off the mains and then apply the same loads incrementally, then it handles it with a smile. I wonder the problem is not related to another component and not the battery.

Thanks for the input everyone. Long story short: I’m ordering a lithium ion battery. If that doesn’t work, I’m buying a one-way ticket to Australia.

Excuse my ignorance, but what do you mena with a “once positive connection”?

Thanks for the advice. I’ve checked the voltage and it is 12.93 V which should be good enough, why won’t the invertor run? Perhaps checking the voltage is not a good enough test to see if the battery is dead.

I have 1 kW Mecer trolley inverter with a 100 Ah battery. I bought the device 5 months ago and so far it has done an outstanding job powering my home office and TV during loadshedding. Lately it lasts only 60 minutes when I’m lucky. The drop-off has been dramatic and my loads have not increased. I know these lead acid batteries don’t last long, but surely it cannot be this short. Any advice? Or is it just a case of returning it to the supplier as it is still under warranty.

I have a small 1 kW inverter with a 100 Ah battery. Here is a link for more information: https://www.takealot.com/mecer-1kw-12v-pure-sinewave-inverter/PLID90409626. Because this is a very modest system, I only power my router, tv, computer, and other electronic equipment with it. For the last few months I’ve had it running continuously, whether there’s loadshedding or not. Recently I’ve wondered if it may be better to turn it off when there’s no loadshedding and simply run electronics off the mains. Keep in mind that I do not have solar panels, so I don’t get the benefit of storing free energy from the sun. What is the best for the life of my inverter and power bill in the long run, running it continuously or switching off when there no loadshedding?