Loadshedding solutions

[ChrisF]

Ouzo, Schnavel has answered you already, and I mostly agree.

 

The trolley jobs have shot up in price !!!  AND they get cooked with Stage 4 to Stage 6 loadshedding carrying on and on ...

 

I have now added a couple of PV panels to our trolley.  Wired to only charge the battery during a loadshedding.  It WORKS very well during this extended period of loadshedding.

 

 

The real problem is supply and demand .... the decent trolleys have shot up in price, that is if you can even get hold of stock ....

 

 

As you already know .... using a lot of power from these small trolleys is one sure way to KILL the batteries ..... expect a lot of very unhappy clients after this bout of loadshedding ....  A lot of reputable dealers now post a clear disclaimer about battery live very heavy loadshedding on their web pages.

 

 

 

Which brings the topic to the wall mounted inverter and proper batteries, all wired into the DB .... at a completely different price point !!!

 

 

 

All things considered ..... our aging power stations, and our "leaders" inability to even start planning for any new power stations ..... we are heading a for LOT more loadshedding in years to come !!!  (the host of pv plants will only help during the day.

 

Thus my recommendation is to do your homework about a wall mounted system .... and start installing it as the funds allows.

[Scarab]

2nd the Geewiz inverter Smartie suggested, bought the Mecer 1440 inverter and trolley from them and got the Royal batteries from BMG in Germiston, about R600.00 cheaper than from Geewiz, works well.

 

[ChrisF]

1 hour ago, Smartie said:

I was using this until I had a system built-in:

https://www.geewiz.co.za/long-run-ups-inverter-battery/5373-2400va-mecer-inverter-2x-100ah-batteries-trolley-8-hour-battery-life-kit-1440w-150-200-cycles.html

Worked really well, no issues, could keep the home office running for many many hours! 

 

been trying to get one of these for the neighbour .... stock issues ....

[Dicky DQ]

5 minutes ago, Scarab said:

2nd the Geewiz inverter Smartie suggested, bought the Mecer 1440 inverter and trolley from them and got the Royal batteries from BMG in Germiston, about R600.00 cheaper than from Geewiz, works well.

 

Fun Fact, Geewiz have been selling on average 100 trolley inverter per day since the beginning of the year. Ellies, the other major supplier have not disclosed, but we believe they have been doing about 30 per day.

That is a lot of floor space for Mustek and co to keep stock and lead times are about 90 days so supply and demand is now for sure a huge thing that will drive prices up.

[ChrisF]

5 minutes ago, Dicky DQ said:

Just note the LiFePo batteries Vs Lead Acid.  
Lead Acid should be guaranteed for 1000 charge cycles whereas Lead Acid is 1000. 

Price difference should justify the LiFePo, but only just. But everything depends on the load and how many times they are discharged below 50%. Anyway I have a fleet of 17 Lead Acid installs that are between 1 and 2 years old and they have had no degredation in life as yet. BUT, they are running well within the design spec.

Also why spend R 15K  Contact me if you are looking for a decent price on these.

 

Lead Acid is getting a bad rep due to ABUSE ....

 

I have a 12V common lead acid deep cycle system that have been powering our house lighting for 8 years.  It does a 20 to 30% drain each and every night.  Very seldom that it gets close to a 50% DOD.  It last very well !!!

 

 

Exact same with our UPS trolley system.  Going on close to 4 or 5 years.  NO issues - touch wood.  But I make sure to not take it past 50% DOD.

 

 

LiPo most certainly has it advantages !!!  And for bigger systems this is the answer.  But as long as people dont abuse their "ups trolleys", it can serve them well ....

 

 

 

Dicky where are you ?  The neighbour is looking for a decent trolley .... 1 off 12V battery will work most of the time.  I am recommending a 24V system to make sure the batteries are not abused, and she can get many years of service out of it.  Bellville area

[Dicky DQ]

11 minutes ago, ChrisF said:

  I am recommending a 24V system to make sure the batteries are not abused, and she can get many years of service out of it.  Bellville area

I am in Brackenfell and will send you information and pricing tomorrow AM. 

[W@nted]

38 minutes ago, dave303e said:

We were approved for finance, 8kw inverter, 14,5kWh batteries and 12 solar panels should have us comfortably free from Eskom in 6-8 weeks time. Cannot wait.

Now just to finish the shed to house the installation...

Would you mind please sharing the company details doing the financing? Or are you doing it through tour bank?

[The Ouzo]

1 hour ago, shaper said:

For your router and fibre get something like this https://www.takealot.com/gizzu-8800mah-mini-ups-dual-dc/PLID71930088

Especially if you going the inverter and battery box for laptop/tv etc

Problem is I’m using a apple time capsule as my router. Yes not the best option I know. That takes 220v in. 

[The Ouzo]

I’d love a proper system, with panels for charging etc. But there are no funds for this. Even buying the trolley is a problem funds wise. 

[ChrisF]

36 minutes ago, ouzo said:

I’d love a proper system, with panels for charging etc. But there are no funds for this. Even buying the trolley is a problem funds wise. 

 

1 off 12V gel battery (it can charge faster than ordinary lead acid, important for high loadshedding levels with minimum recharge time)

 

Victron Multiplus 12/500.  (12 volt and 500W, enougb for the electronics, small enough to limit over use...)

 

https://www.googleadservices.com/pagead/aclk?sa=L&ai=DChcSEwjG1a_Ty8T6AhWMCIsKHRsgAnMYABAMGgJlZg&ae=2&ohost=www.google.com&cid=CAASJeRoglK7uh9Oo50S1iRRplzWrViO4IxsQq3aA2jGR1vopv-Be_Y&sig=AOD64_1B3RZbddNMHStSrtQ3hRhECDYhBQ&ctype=5&q=&ved=2ahUKEwjttqjTy8T6AhUPOewKHXNCCU0Qwg8oAHoECAQQFA&nis=8&dct=1&adurl=

 

This system will auto switch between eskom and the battery.

 

And if decide to go the lithium route later, the Victron can do this.

[gkp]

Evening all,

I've looked at a few pages and don't see anyone recommending units like the Jackery and Eco-River portables. They are small, but seem to be the difference between small units from Takealot (for router and laptop), and more sophisticated wall mounted units. Why is that?

I don't have one, and in fact had an inverter plus 5KW battery installed two months ago. At the time I had a bit of post-purchase regret, but Eskom changed that........it has been a lifesaver and we hardly notice load-shedding.

But the portables look interesting - even if you just use them to run your fridge on a camping trip.  

[mazambaan]

9 hours ago, gkp said:

Evening all,

I've looked at a few pages and don't see anyone recommending units like the Jackery and Eco-River portables. They are small, but seem to be the difference between small units from Takealot (for router and laptop), and more sophisticated wall mounted units. Why is that?

I don't have one, and in fact had an inverter plus 5KW battery installed two months ago. At the time I had a bit of post-purchase regret, but Eskom changed that........it has been a lifesaver and we hardly notice load-shedding.

But the portables look interesting - even if you just use them to run your fridge on a camping trip.  

I'm so glad you asked this. Bugger the fridge, I am thinking ebike. Is it as simple as one of these around 500W to 600W (520Wh to 580 odd Wh) will charge an ebike with a 500Wh battery to maybe 90%?

[dave303e]

13 hours ago, W@nted said:

Would you mind please sharing the company details doing the financing? Or are you doing it through tour bank?

Nedbank/MFC solar finance, Solar-energy Finance - MFC 

You can add it onto your homeloan, or you can do asset based finance it just like a car. Cost wise- like paying off a second hand car, R50-350k depending how big you wanna go really. Hohm energy have vetted the installers, they design the system you need and provide support. 

For us as eskom direct clients our line rental is around R3400/month before turning on a switch, so getting rid of the eskom pole will cover a lot of the solar payment anyway

[The Ouzo]

12 hours ago, ChrisF said:

 

1 off 12V gel battery (it can charge faster than ordinary lead acid, important for high loadshedding levels with minimum recharge time)

 

Victron Multiplus 12/500.  (12 volt and 500W, enougb for the electronics, small enough to limit over use...)

 

https://www.googleadservices.com/pagead/aclk?sa=L&ai=DChcSEwjG1a_Ty8T6AhWMCIsKHRsgAnMYABAMGgJlZg&ae=2&ohost=www.google.com&cid=CAASJeRoglK7uh9Oo50S1iRRplzWrViO4IxsQq3aA2jGR1vopv-Be_Y&sig=AOD64_1B3RZbddNMHStSrtQ3hRhECDYhBQ&ctype=5&q=&ved=2ahUKEwjttqjTy8T6AhUPOewKHXNCCU0Qwg8oAHoECAQQFA&nis=8&dct=1&adurl=

 

This system will auto switch between eskom and the battery.

 

And if decide to go the lithium route later, the Victron can do this.

so how long with something like this with one battery run a load of around 250w ?

[117]

11 hours ago, gkp said:

Evening all,

I've looked at a few pages and don't see anyone recommending units like the Jackery and Eco-River portables. They are small, but seem to be the difference between small units from Takealot (for router and laptop), and more sophisticated wall mounted units. Why is that?

I don't have one, and in fact had an inverter plus 5KW battery installed two months ago. At the time I had a bit of post-purchase regret, but Eskom changed that........it has been a lifesaver and we hardly notice load-shedding.

But the portables look interesting - even if you just use them to run your fridge on a camping trip.  

I have a jackery box, works like a charm. I never ran an IDT off it although I did threaten to test and never got around to it. 

It used to run my wifi, big telly, sound system and lamp for around 2 1/2 to 3 hours. I could get longer use out of it by disconnecting the sound system and replace the lamp with a battery light. It could not run a kettle, or coffee pod machine - it simply didnt have the ompfff

I now run an inverter system so the jackery box has been redeployed to the ex's house for some use

Jackery is great because it took about 6 hours to fully recharge if it was totally empty. Or, the same amount of time to recharge from the car. It has great use as a portable system for camping or what ever outdoor activity you need it for. 

No, I'm not selling mine

 

[Mathieu_Schneuwly]

13 hours ago, gkp said:

Evening all,

I've looked at a few pages and don't see anyone recommending units like the Jackery and Eco-River portables. They are small, but seem to be the difference between small units from Takealot (for router and laptop), and more sophisticated wall mounted units. Why is that?

I don't have one, and in fact had an inverter plus 5KW battery installed two months ago. At the time I had a bit of post-purchase regret, but Eskom changed that........it has been a lifesaver and we hardly notice load-shedding.

But the portables look interesting - even if you just use them to run your fridge on a camping trip.  

Hi, I bought an ecoflow river pro recently. I compared it to an equivalent Jackery and the ecoflow looked better because it had a proper ac bypass for UPS functionality, and a fast charge off AC. It fully recharges in 1.6hrs. It has 720wh, and a maximum of 600W AC output. It can run higher power appliances too using x-boost, but limits their power to 600w. So it can power the kettle, just takes a bit longer to boil. It is a very impressive device and I recommend it!