Loadshedding solutions

[Brawler]

1 hour ago, 117 said:

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

 

I think the Ecoflow 600w one can do short bursts of 1200w so it can do a (select) coffee machine or hairdryer. It also charges in an hour or so. 

https://za.ecoflow.com/products/river-max-portable-power-station

They are often R9999 on special which is a good deal.

Edited October 4, 2022 by Brawler

[117]

1 hour ago, Brawler said:

I think the Ecoflow 600w one can do short bursts of 1200w so it can do a (select) coffee machine or hairdryer. It also charges in an hour or so. 

https://za.ecoflow.com/products/river-max-portable-power-station

They are often R9999 on special which is a good deal.

To me it is a lifestyle change.. like getting cooking and coffee off grid onto gas. And if there is charging of laptops, phones etc that needs to be done, do it when eksdom is available. The same goes for hair dryers and big pull items that require heating/resistors

My 5kva inverter is only there to provide lights and entertainment. It does drive the entire household though, but we chose not to. I can also ride my bike in a safe environment any time of the day or night, so I'm not forced to IDT at weird hours and therefore dont need to power any IDT's

The jackery box works like a charm for its intended use as does an Ecoflow. But us saffers want the Hilux for everything instead of utilizing the tools at hand for the intended usage. By the time you've spent dosh on a small inverter box to power a kettle once off, you're better off buying a Bailetti style machine and small gas burner from Outdoor World 

 

 

[ChrisF]

3 hours ago, ouzo said:

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

 

Let's work with round numbers, for the sake of illustration ....

 

12 V x 20 A = 240 W

 

Thus during a 2 hour loadshed you will use 40 of the "safe available" 50A.

 

 

Closer to reality ... the slightly higher battery voltage will result in a slightly lower amperage ... but factor in losses .... so the above crude maths is in the ball park.

 

 

NOTE - this system is going to work HARD during multiple loadsheds !!!!!!  No way it will fully charge before the next one, and then dip below 50% and the battery life is drastically shortened ....  a 24V system may be better - IF you are actually going to draw 250W ....

 

Well worth measuring the actual power usage .....

[The Ouzo]

3 minutes ago, ChrisF said:

IF you are actually going to draw 250W ....

 

Well worth measuring the actual power usage .....

yeah I worked off power rating from the interweb. 100w laptop charger (its actually 90w), but the laptop should last the full 4 hours (its MBP, but the wife pushes the machine with the graphics she does), external screen is 100w according to interwebs, the other 50w for fibre and Apple Time Capsule.

Lets safely say we can remove 100w for the laptop.

2 x 12v 100ah gel batteries are going to be 5k from my brief google.

 

 

B.T.W. you guys were right on the trolleys being scarce. The place her colleague bought from wont have stock until end Oct beginning of Nov.

 

The next size up he can offer is a 3kw 2 battery system for just shy of 15k

[ChrisF]

31 minutes ago, ouzo said:

yeah I worked off power rating from the interweb. 100w laptop charger (its actually 90w), but the laptop should last the full 4 hours (its MBP, but the wife pushes the machine with the graphics she does), external screen is 100w according to interwebs, the other 50w for fibre and Apple Time Capsule.

Lets safely say we can remove 100w for the laptop.

2 x 12v 100ah gel batteries are going to be 5k from my brief google.

 

 

B.T.W. you guys were right on the trolleys being scarce. The place her colleague bought from wont have stock until end Oct beginning of Nov.

 

The next size up he can offer is a 3kw 2 battery system for just shy of 15k

 

My i5 desktop PC, with two screens use less power than my large i7 laptop .....  then again, I love photo editing, so the graphics sucks juice !!

 

The PC easily does a 2 hour loadshed from the 12V battery.  With the laptop the tv gets switched off ....

 

 

This 1x12V system certainly wont work for a 4 hour loadshed !!  And THIS is when the lead acid dies early, and the battery gets blamed .... 

 

 

For four hours ..... You are really getting CLOSE to a proper DB mounted system ..... dis nie goedkoop nie !!

 

For DAY use .... the 12V battery + the Victron Multiplus + a 300W PV installation charging the battery is going to be your cheapest system, and the battery will love you for it.  BUT .... once again you are just too close to doing a proper DB mount install, which will also give long term savings in your eskom account .....

 

 

Did I mention a proper DB wired system may be better suited .... 

 

 

The occational 2 hour loadshed is easy enough.  Regular loadshedding, with a couple of four hour sessions and the "solution" takes on a whole new shape .....

 

 

 

absolute grudge purchase .... but dont start by tossing 10 or 20k in the water ....

[The Ouzo]

11 minutes ago, ChrisF said:

 

My i5 desktop PC, with two screens use less power than my large i7 laptop .....  then again, I love photo editing, so the graphics sucks juice !!

 

The PC easily does a 2 hour loadshed from the 12V battery.  With the laptop the tv gets switched off ....

 

 

This 1x12V system certainly wont work for a 4 hour loadshed !!  And THIS is when the lead acid dies early, and the battery gets blamed .... 

 

 

For four hours ..... You are really getting CLOSE to a proper DB mounted system ..... dis nie goedkoop nie !!

 

For DAY use .... the 12V battery + the Victron Multiplus + a 300W PV installation charging the battery is going to be your cheapest system, and the battery will love you for it.  BUT .... once again you are just too close to doing a proper DB mount install, which will also give long term savings in your eskom account .....

 

 

Did I mention a proper DB wired system may be better suited .... 

 

 

The occational 2 hour loadshed is easy enough.  Regular loadshedding, with a couple of four hour sessions and the "solution" takes on a whole new shape .....

 

 

 

absolute grudge purchase .... but dont start by tossing 10 or 20k in the water ....

Thanks Chris

 

Might have to re-evaluate.

[Frosty]

@ouzo

You have a tricky choice:

1. Buy something now that is modular, and you can expand on, in the future. Example would be to just get an inverter and battery (LiFePO4) and then be able to add a PV system later. 

2. Buy something small that supports your immediate need, but will have to be replaced later, as it becomes inadequate. The Eskom problem is not going away anytime soon.

Ask yourself:

How long will you be at your current house? 
How much are you spending on electricity now?
At R1.73 per unit (below 600 units per month) that R1038 per month on tariff A. Ekurhuleni rates.

An inverter with a 6kVA battery would be about R60k plus installation extra. That’s 60 months or 5 years payback, but you’d still spend money on charging the battery and normal usage.

I’m in the market for a second battery, but there’s no stock currently. Also, the size I have 5.1kVA is also discontinued and they only have a 6.4 in the same brand.

[TheoG]

The important thing to keep in mind is that even if your system can handle any of your appliances, its not a good idea to run any heavy hitters (geyser, kettle, microwave, aircon etc ... ) from the batteries for extended periods.

My system is nicely sized for my requirements, 10x455W PV panels, 5kW Hybrid inverter and 2x3.6 kWhr LiFePO4 batteries.  I'm utilizing & monitoring my usage very carefully and use very little Escom (about 0.5 kWhr per day).

My only/biggest challenge is educating the ladies in the house 🙈.  They seem to think we can run anything and everything all the time .... 🤦‍♂️🤪.

[ChrisF]

Just now, TheoG said:

The important thing to keep in mind is that even if your system can handle any of your appliances, its not a good idea to run any heavy hitters (geyser, kettle, microwave, aircon etc ... ) from the batteries for extended periods.

My system is nicely sized for my requirements, 10x455W PV panels, 5kW Hybrid inverter and 2x3.6 kWhr LiFePO4 batteries.  I'm utilizing & monitoring my usage very carefully and use very little Escom (about 0.5 kWhr per day).

My only/biggest challenge is educating the ladies in the house 🙈.  They seem to think we can run anything and everything all the time .... 🤦‍♂️🤪.

 

The battle is real ....

[Steady Spin]

9 minutes ago, TheoG said:

The important thing to keep in mind is that even if your system can handle any of your appliances, its not a good idea to run any heavy hitters (geyser, kettle, microwave, aircon etc ... ) from the batteries for extended periods.

 

Geyser I get but why not the rest? The batteries can easily handle the discharge from a kettle. 

My batteries discharge daily to 50% and recharge again by 11:00 from the PV. 

I’ve had a geyser run by accident from the batteries. No issues. 

[Schnavel]

15 minutes ago, TheoG said:

My only/biggest challenge is educating the ladies in the house 🙈.  They seem to think we can run anything and everything all the time .... 🤦‍♂️🤪.

That's a lot more challenging that putting up with the loadshedding 🙈

[TheoG]

Just now, Steady Spin said:

Geyser I get but why not the rest? The batteries can easily handle the discharge from a kettle. 

My batteries discharge daily to 50% and recharge again by 11:00 from the PV. 

I’ve had a geyser run by accident from the batteries. No issues. 

Agree, should run it no problem, but the batteries will get drained much faster.  Although my batteries can safely discharge to even 80-90%, I prefer not to do that, I get grumpy if they get close to the 50% mark, but that's just my OCD .... 🤪

[Steady Spin]

Just now, TheoG said:

Agree, should run it no problem, but the batteries will get drained much faster.  Although my batteries can safely discharge to even 80-90%, I prefer not to do that, I get grumpy if they get close to the 50% mark, but that's just my OCD .... 🤪

So it isn’t a problem them. Just personal preference. 

[Schnavel]

2 minutes ago, Steady Spin said:

Geyser I get but why not the rest? The batteries can easily handle the discharge from a kettle. 

My batteries discharge daily to 50% and recharge again by 11:00 from the PV. 

I’ve had a geyser run by accident from the batteries. No issues. 

It depends on the type and size of battery that you have. All batteries have a maximum discharge rate, over which you damage the battery. Unless the batteries / system is designed to run a geyser, then it's probably best to avoid it.

My system (14x 435W panels, 7.2kW inverter and 10.6kWh battery system) runs my entire house, including the pool pump and geysers.

[TheoG]

Just now, Steady Spin said:

So it isn’t a problem them. Just personal preference. 

Lets put it this way, the less you deplete the batteries everyday, the longer they will eventually last.

[TheoG]

1 minute ago, Schnavel said:

It depends on the type and size of battery that you have. All batteries have a maximum discharge rate, over which you damage the battery. Unless the batteries / system is designed to run a geyser, then it's probably best to avoid it.

My system (14x 435W panels, 7.2kW inverter and 10.6kWh battery system) runs my entire house, including the pool pump and geysers.

That size system will give me nice ample buffers on all fronts.  I would like to add another 3.6 battery, but that will have to wait for now.  When my inverter "expire", I will also go for a ~ 7kW.