Shopping for a load-shedding inverter without an electrical background is confusing – here’s what the specs actually mean for your day-to-day experience.
Sizing: watts and VA
An inverter’s power rating (in watts or VA) determines how much you can run simultaneously – undersizing means it trips or shuts down under load; oversizing wastes money upfront. Add up the wattage of everything you want covered (fridge, lights, wifi, TV) with some headroom for appliance start-up surges, particularly fridges and pumps.
Battery capacity and runtime
Battery capacity (in kWh) determines how long the system runs once mains power cuts – more capacity costs more but buys more hours per outage. Battery chemistry matters too: lithium batteries cost more upfront but last significantly longer and handle deeper discharge cycles better than older lead-acid technology.
Which circuits to back up
Most homes back up lights, wifi, TV point, and fridge rather than the whole house, which keeps system cost reasonable while covering what actually matters during a load shedding slot. Heavy loads like stoves, geysers and aircon are usually excluded from backup circuits since they’d require a much larger, costlier system.
Frequently asked questions
What size inverter do I need for a typical home?
It depends entirely on what you want backed up – we size based on your actual circuit list, not a generic recommendation, as part of a free assessment.
Is a bigger battery always better?
Not necessarily – it’s better to size the battery to your realistic outage duration and budget rather than over-buying capacity you rarely use.
Ready to size a system for your home? See our backup power service.