Inverter question

jekel35

New member
Oct 31, 2012
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Hey all,

I know there have been aspects of this question answered through out the site so first, apologizes for wanting it in one location.

My question is primarily about Inverters. Particularly the best way to calculate the size amount needed. A brief explanation of how the process would work, as far as purchase, setup(hard-wiring, i would imagine) and maintenance Also, I wanted to ask about peoples experience with UPS backups.

As far as items that we would want to keep running during a black out, would probably just be our fridge and maybe a couple of fans. And for a little frame of reference we will be living in Santo Domingo so if anyone has any experience with blackouts in the area of Jose Contreras, between Av Nu?ez de Caceres and Av Italia.

And lastly, if people could suggest or point in the direction of good workers to work on the house that would be awesome. Or even what to ask as I would imagine its slightly different than here in Boston.

Thanks
 

Givadogahome

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Sep 27, 2011
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Around the intersection of J C and lincoln the cuts were pretty regular a few years ago, dunno if they have now changed but generally they would cut from 9-11am, then 4-6 or 7 ish every day besides Sundays which were random. I've never ran a fridge from the inversor and I turn off the fans during cuts unless its really hot as they eat up the juice really quickly and so I can't help there. It seems you are powering the most thirsty appliances possible.
 

Criss Colon

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Jan 2, 2002
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yahoomail.com
I have a 3.6 kilo Trace Invereter.
I have had it for 15 years!!!!!!
I run virtually my entire house off of it. Fridge included.
At first I used 12 batteries,which gave me about 18 hours of power, note: the amount of batteries doesn't influence the "load" your invertor can carry, only the length of time you will have emergency power.
Later I went to 8 batteries, as the amount of time without power became less.Gave me about 10 hours.
I now only have 4 batteries, which gives me about 6 to 8 hours.
I live in an "A" zone, which means we get power 24/7...........................Well, ALMOST "24/7"
When you talk about "workers" are you talking about "Building/Construction
plumbers/painter types, or Maids/Nannies/Gardeners,or the like???
Cris Colon

"Dog", what size was your invertor, and how many batteries did you have???
I run as many as 5 or 6 fans of my 3.6er, and 4 batteries.
I must add that I have a 20K Detroit Deisel generator for real power outage emergencies, like "days" that is!
 

jekel35

New member
Oct 31, 2012
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Thanks Givadogahome, its nice to get specific into about the area.
CC,
First, how do you learn what "zone" I'd be in. And regarding the workers, I meant like installation and maintenance of the inverter/inversor. Mainly because I couldn't begin to tell you how I would hook this thing up to send power into the house. So, i guess the better word would have been contractors.

Also, any suggestions on where I could buy said inverters and would it be worth it to buy it here n the states and ship it with my other items?

thanks again for the speedy reply.
 

windeguy

Platinum
Jul 10, 2004
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The short answer is to get a 3.6 KW Inverter with two banks of 4 each(8) Trojan Red batteries.

The long answer is to check for the power consumption of each appliance you will have on during a blackout, the duration of the blackout and compute how many kWH will be used. Then you would calculate how many banks of batteries you need. From what you said, stick with the short answer.
 

Criss Colon

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Jan 2, 2002
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Possibly someone who lives in your "Zone" can tell you what type of circuit you will have.
Go to La sirena, Plaza lama, Almacenes Industriales or TRACE Dominicano,web sites and see what a 3.6K model costs.
Then decide if it's worth buying it there.
Remember you will then have no DR guarantee, or free installation, like if you buy it here.
The installation is critical.
You will want the circuits devided into those you want on emergency power, and those that don't.
The "FREE" instalations usually want to connect your whole house, then leave.
I have a GREAT electrical engineering grad who has keept my Trace running for 15 years.
He works cheap too!
CCCCCCCCCCCCC
 

windeguy

Platinum
Jul 10, 2004
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TRACE no longer exists as a company. Xantrex purchased TRACE and dropped the TRACE brand name. You might still find old stock that has the TRACE name.

Another point, TRACE never made batteries but you can buy TRACE batteries here - curious, isn't it? Dominican Marketing at its best.
 

chrisdr

Member
Oct 7, 2012
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Hey Jekel35,

I live in that area at the moment. Power is pretty good actually. It will go off once a day but only for a very short period of time (max 1 hour). I would say once or twice a month it goes off for about 4 hours.

We just run 2 batteries off a small inverter - haven't run out of juice in the last year once... (although if the powers off we are careful - plus the fridge is not hooked up to it)

Chris
 

Rep Dom

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Dec 27, 2011
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My place (Sosua) gets cutts off sometimes. I would say 3 to 4 times a month. It lasts about 3 hours... Well, I dont really see the problem. I just wait until it gets back... No problem and no inverter...
 

jekel35

New member
Oct 31, 2012
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Would it be too weird to ask to see someone's inverter setup? Maybe post a pic or pm me with one. I'm having a rather tough time fully grasping it.
 

Givadogahome

Silver
Sep 27, 2011
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No Hijack intended OP, it may benefit your thread anyway.

Out of interest how often do you guys carry out maintenance?
 

jaxter

Member
Aug 24, 2012
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"JD",.."SaaaaaaaaaaaaaWeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet"!!!
Just get JD's electrician and you'll be "SaaaaaaaaWeeeet" too!
CCCCCCCCCCC

That looks pretty simple. Why would an electrician be needed? Granted my skill set include a little Industrial electronics training. But it looks plug and play. Am i missing something,code requirements etc?

Jax