Electrical shortage d?j? vu overcoming residents?

Daniel W.

New member
Jan 20, 2003
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For some time, the D.R. was experiencing rather constant and good quality electrical energy... My wife's family reports that things are coming full circle again. Are some of you residents now planning for what might be a long term problem? My relatives there have a 2.4 K inverter system to power the T.V., stereo, three fans, four lamp fixtures with 23 watt bulbs and and a computer. Would it be a good idea to think ahead, and replace the present fridge with one powered by gas, and to increase the battery pack from four to eight to last for a much longer time than the four batteries supply, or would 8 batteries be overkill? My wife will be there in November, and she'll probably want to initiate some sort of "hardball tactics" to deal with what must be a very frustrating and economically draining situation for the economy. It was bad enough a week ago when I was out of electrical power here in Italy for 9 hours; I sure can sympathize with you guys... Thanks!

Daniel W.
 

Tom F.

Bronze
Jan 1, 2002
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battery bank

I was always told not to add batteries to an existing bank. When you are ready to replace the four 6 volt batteries, this would be the time to expand to eight.
 

Adrian Bye

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Jul 7, 2002
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1. A 2.4 KW inverter is plenty to power the few things you have in your house. I run more things on a 1.5KW inverter.

2. Gas powered fridge? Maybe, if its not too expensive. Or just keep less in it.

3. That sounds right, that if you want to go to 8 batteries, that you have to replace them all at once. I'd be curious if anyone knows for sure.

4. Best thing to do with all inverter type questions is to ask Trace directly. There is SO much bad advice going around about inverters, including from Dominicans who should know better. Not all inverters are equal, and its worth paying extra for a good inverter like Trace, particularly if you have electrical equipment you care about like a computer or stereo.

The other option is to buy a generator, this way you'll be able to keep a/c, fridge and other things running when the power goes out. Apparently there are generators which can be hooked up to go on automatically; I'm not sure of cost.

Adrian
 

Daniel W.

New member
Jan 20, 2003
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Thanks for the reply...

The inverter unit is a very well made and engineered Dominican unit, that has been working flawlessly for almost 5 years under oftentimes very adverse conditions... The fridge was taken off the inverter line so as to have a much more effective basic electrical setup when the worst happens. I've heard that the gas fridges work very well, and the only downside is indeed the cost. If the power situation deteriorates a lot more, then my in-laws will probably get the gas fridge, and enjoy their emergency measures once the lights go out for long periods of time. Thanks for the advice about not adding batteries to the existing bank. The ones working now probably have another 6-9 months of life at least, so when they're ready to be replaced, a decision can be made to double the bank's punch.