MULTI PLUGS AND SURGE questions
What size inverter do I need? +
Add up the watts of everything you want to run at once, then allow headroom for start-up surge on anything with a motor or compressor. Router, alarm panel and a few lights sit under 300W. Add a television and a fridge and you are past 1kW.
Lithium or lead-acid batteries? +
Lithium costs more up front, lasts far more cycles, can be discharged deeper and weighs less, which makes it the better value where the system cycles daily. Sealed lead-acid is cheaper and still fine for standby use like an alarm panel or a gate motor that rarely runs flat.
How long will a battery run my equipment? +
Roughly, usable watt-hours divided by the load in watts. A 100Ah 12V lead-acid battery holds about 1,200Wh but should only be taken to half, so about 600Wh usable, which runs a 100W load for around six hours. The same size in lithium gives close to the full 1,200Wh.
Can I add solar later? +
Yes, if the inverter or charge controller supports a solar input at the voltage of the panels you plan to fit. Choosing that at the start avoids replacing the inverter when you add panels.
Does my alarm or gate need its own backup? +
They already have one: both run from an internal battery. The parts that usually stop working in an outage are the router, the network switch and the CCTV recorder, so those are what a backup supply should cover first.