inverter cost and where to buy

[niceguy]

hi
i have a budget of $1600us

i require an invertor. to run a refridgerator,tv, 5 lights, 3 fans and computer

can you recommend a brand including the batteries in todays prices please and an actual address/where to buy (if you can)

i have checked this site's search area but im looking for up to date prices with it's respective KW's

Anywhere in the pop/sosua area would be great

 

[SantiagueroRD]

Good Afternooon, I would suggest that you separate your refrigerator from the other lines because it uses a ton of energy as does a microwave, hair dryer, toaster oven, and water heater. An old trick for Caribbean veterans is to take a couple of one gallon water bottles fill them up to maybe 80% and put them in the freezer. Cold goes down so your fridge will function like an old fashioned "ice box" for outages up to about 24 hours or more if you are judicious in keeping the door closed as much as possible. This will save you a lot in the size of the inverter and the number of batteries needed. ps insulate your water heater and you will not have to turn it on for more than 30 minutes a day for 3-4 hot showers.

 

[AJL6767]

Trojan batteries run about 5000 each. You are probably looking for a 2.5 inverter. It is the amount of constant energy you need divided by the # of batteries you have on system that determine how long your system will provide energy for.

 

[SNH]

Where are you located, north coast, santiago etc?

Try La Sirena I know my neighbor just bought a nice inversor with 4 batteries installed for about $1000 USD, I will try to find the brand name of the inversor and batteries he purchased.

 

[SKY]

Xantrex is the best by far. It used to be called Trace, maybe still is. I had a 1.5 model for 7 years and it never missed a beat. I bought it at La Sirena on Colon in Santiago. There is a Trace or Xantrex store on Colon also, but the price for the same model was less at La Sirena.

The thing with this Invertor is you do not even need a UPS for your computer. It goes on so fast you don't even know the power is out. Also a lot of the cheaper ones make a lot of noise when running, this does not.

 

[lisagauss]

hi
i have a budget of $1600us

i require an invertor. to run a refridgerator,tv, 5 lights, 3 fans and computer

can you recommend a brand including the batteries in todays prices please and an actual address/where to buy (if you can)

i have checked this site's search area but im looking for up to date prices with it's respective KW's

Anywhere in the pop/sosua area would be great

That budget is high, you could get a 3.6KW inverter with 4 Batteries for $33,000 installation and all.
Look through here Hogar, Inversores y Baterias - lapulga.com.do

 

[Chip]

I have a 3.6 and 8 trojan blacks that I bought for a lot cheaper than $1600. When the power is off I can run three televisions, 3 fans, the fridge, microwave, 10 + lights and hot water heater intermittently for about 5-6 hours without a problem. I generally won't cut the water pump on as it draws a lot but have done it.

It would also depend on the quality or power and how often it is sent where you will live. We have "triple" and I have 220 coming in and reduced to 110 so I never have problems with low voltage or amperage. Plus we rarely have the power off for more than 6 hours and more than likely it might be off an average an hour everyday but honestly I never notice so I'm not sure.

The guy I dealt with is a local honest engineer with good products at more than a reasonable price:

Ing Halmendarys Inversores Av Circunvalaci?n 5, Santiago
(809) 471-4100 ing.halmendarys.inversores@hotmail.com

 

[niceguy]

someone recommended i go to freddy's in sosua

i will do that;

can anyone recommend a range of brands that you found to be reliable. i have heard the horror stories of buying rubbish.

I know some have recommended trace.... but are there any other brands?????

thanks so much for your help

 

[cobraboy]

Xantrex is the best by far. It used to be called Trace, maybe still is. I had a 1.5 model for 7 years and it never missed a beat. I bought it at La Sirena on Colon in Santiago. There is a Trace or Xantrex store on Colon also, but the price for the same model was less at La Sirena.

The thing with this Invertor is you do not even need a UPS for your computer. It goes on so fast you don't even know the power is out. Also a lot of the cheaper ones make a lot of noise when running, this does not.

An invertor does not switch fast enough for computers, modems and routers. While once in a while, possibly, but the average switchover for even an expensive inverter is 20-30ms at the fastest; some are even slower. A UPS has a switchover at under 10ms. That is a HUGE difference. 20-30ms may be OK for a light bulb or electric motor (fridge), but on most computers it will depower them (laptops on a plugged-in battery/charger is an obvious exception.)

But the REAL reason (beyond the depowering hassle) of sensitive digital equipment being plugged into a UPS-not an inverter-is because the difference between a 10ms switchover and a 25ms switchover is like an electrical hammer blasting through the power supply of the device. They are just not designed for that, generally, and can have potential damaging effects.

Unless one wants to assume a high risk level, all computers, routers and modems should have a sub 10ms switchover UPS between it and the power supply, even if a quality inverter is present.

 

[cobraboy]

hi
i have a budget of $1600us

i require an invertor. to run a refridgerator,tv, 5 lights, 3 fans and computer

can you recommend a brand including the batteries in todays prices please and an actual address/where to buy (if you can)

i have checked this site's search area but im looking for up to date prices with it's respective KW's

Anywhere in the pop/sosua area would be great

$1600 will buy you a high quality 3.5kw inverter, 4 batteries and installation that will power all you have for 6-8 hours.

Check my thread about Dominican made inverters.

Be wise with your $$$. Throwing 30-50% more at a "name brand" will not buy you better real world quality.

 

[niceguy]

where exactly do you put the invertor, one friend of mine suggested in my house water pump room, this is where i keep my hot water tank/pump etc.
i thought i could place this inverter indoors .... but my friend said the invertor is often noisy and lets of a smell.
i am located near the ocean so i want to decrease corrosion.

Any thoughts on where i should place it ????

 

[AlterEgo]

Ours is in the back corner of our garage.

AE

 

[cobraboy]

where exactly do you put the invertor, one friend of mine suggested in my house water pump room, this is where i keep my hot water tank/pump etc.
i thought i could place this inverter indoors .... but my friend said the invertor is often noisy and lets of a smell.
i am located near the ocean so i want to decrease corrosion.

Any thoughts on where i should place it ????

1) Close to your electrical panel.

2) The inverter should be indoors in a ventilated area. They are NOT loud, at least the modern inverters. Ours makes almost no sound, just a very quiet hum. They make NO scent. You never even know it's there by sound except for signal beep warnings. You want to be able to hear the inverter warnings.

3) Batteries outdoors, close to the inverter, in an area out of the elements. If security is a potential issue, in a locked metal cage mounted on the wall. If the area is not under cover, the installer can build a simple "roof" over them to keep them as dry as possible. Our batteries are mounted on the wall directlyopposite of the inverter, under the cover of a porch well above head level, on 4 "L" brackets mounted with lag screws supporting solid wood the dimension of the footprint of the 4 batteries. The cable run from the batteries to the inverter is barely a foot.

4) To prevent corrosion, slather a gooey slab of either good old axle grease, or if you can't find axle grease, a thick dollop of vaseline spread all over the metal terminals and any metal on the wires to the insulation. You shouldn't need any corrosion protection inside the house.

 

[AlterEgo]

For what it's worth, here's our garage, and a closer view of the inverter and batteries:

Like CB said, there is no noise, no smell. I like being able to peek out at it sometimes to see the red or green light because we often can't tell when it's working. The only thing that gives it away for me is the ceiling fans make a slight hum when the inverter kicks in.

AE

 

[niceguy]

very very helpful.... thankyou so much

 

[cobraboy]

For what it's worth, here's our garage, and a closer view of the inverter and batteries:

Like CB said, there is no noise, no smell. I like being able to peek out at it sometimes to see the red or green light because we often can't tell when it's working. The only thing that gives it away for me is the ceiling fans make a slight hum when the inverter kicks in.

AE

I see what you mean about garage. It's locked. I was thinking separate building or something. That works. Looks nice! And you're batteries are locked!

 

[AlterEgo]

I see what you mean about garage. It's locked. I was thinking separate building or something. That works. Looks nice! And you're batteries are locked!

We've got so many locks that sometimes we're baffled at which key to use.....

For the keys that *I* use, I created my own system using dots of nail polish on the keys. Yeah, yeah, I know.... but it works for me!

AE

 

[cobraboy]

We've got so many locks that sometimes we're baffled at which key to use.....

For the keys that *I* use, I created my own system using dots of nail polish on the keys. Yeah, yeah, I know.... but it works for me!

AE

I know the drill. I got a bunch of those colorful stretchy plastic rings you put around the top of the key to tell them apart. And EVERY lock is keyed differently...

 

[windeguy]

The one thing I don't like about AE's setup is that I would not put the batteries under the inverter. As the batteries age they tend to give off more fumes that can be corrosive. I would put the batteries to the side of the inverter, not under or over.

It is true that being near the beach can actually etch the connections called "traces" off of a circuit board. That is the primary reason I have had failures in my old inverters approaching 10 years of age.

LH Internacional in Moca or Santiago is a good place to buy batteries. They are a major importer and tend to have fresh batteries. Trojan Red T-105 batteries are 5,000 pesos each and you get them from the same lot right off the shipping pallet.

Xanrex purchased Trace. Trace no longer makes inverters. If you see a new Inverter for sale labelled Trace it is either a copy or an old model. Inverluz in Moca and their sister company Megatone in Puerto Plata on 27 Febrero sell inverters that are very good at a much lower cost than Trace. If you want a Xantrez, LH Internacional sells them as well as less expensive models.

For your setup, not only do you have to consider what you are running, but how often and for how long do you have blackouts. If the blackouts are short, 4 batteries are enough. If they are longer, you might want to get 8 batteries.

I run two refrigerators, up to 3 TVs and a computer and some cieling fans using 8 batteries and an old Trace 3.6 KW inverter.

 

[Chip]

An invertor does not switch fast enough for computers, modems and routers. While once in a while, possibly, but the average switchover for even an expensive inverter is 20-30ms at the fastest; some are even slower. A UPS has a switchover at under 10ms. That is a HUGE difference. 20-30ms may be OK for a light bulb or electric motor (fridge), but on most computers it will depower them (laptops on a plugged-in battery/charger is an obvious exception.)

The inverter I bought about two or three years ago from the guy I referenced has a very fast switch built in and I can say I have rarely lost my internet connection. This was a requirement I had before I bought the inverter and the engineer convinced me that his equipment could do it because he had sold many to internet call centers with the same need.