Inverter friendly heaters
Stay warm during loadshedding and harness the power of the sun with our Inverter-friendly Heaters
We're thrilled to announce that some of our heaters are now engineered to seamlessly integrate with your solar-inverter system.
As we move towards more sustainable living or just escape the loadshedding reality, your solar-inverter investment is a perfect match for a few of our heaters.
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In Short 1. If you have a Inverter-Battery or Solar system 3 kw and up 2. You have a Lipo battery of 5kw and up and 3. you use one of our three Inverter ready heaters: you are good to go! |
You may be asking, "What makes a heater solar inverter-friendly?"
Efficiency is key: Our heaters are champions of conversion - they're 95% effective in transforming electricity into heat you can feel. Unlike traditional heaters, we don't waste precious stored battery power on heating the air aimlessly. Our heaters target you directly, ensuring you're always enveloped in a comforting warmth.
Innovative technology: Thanks to our Carbon elements and Miro reflectors, our heaters pack a punch despite their low wattage. They're designed to heat up instantly and can warm an area up to 3 meters away. The benefit? You get the warmth you need, exactly where you need it, without draining your solar power reserves.
Smart power management: Ever noticed the lights dip when someone switches on the oven? That's due to a surge in electricity demand, known as inrush current. This power spike, though short-lived, can harm your equipment. But worry not - our heaters intelligently control the inrush current, safeguarding both the heater and your solar inverter system from potential damage.
The following graph shows the "inrush current of 3 of our heaters
As you can see the inrush in the first few seconds is totally manageable. The Sunkare heater has a build in dimmer with a "soft start" while all our Carbon heater elements are designed with a slow startup.
Worried about Running Costs and Battery Drainage? Don't be.
You might wonder about the cost implications of running a heater off a solar inverter. Will it drain your expensive LiPo battery too quickly? Will the running costs be too high? The good news is that these concerns are largely unfounded. Let us explain.
Contrary to popular belief, running a heater off an inverter isn't necessarily more expensive. In fact, with solar energy continually recharging your batteries, it becomes substantially more cost-effective. We've done the math - and while it involves some technical calculations and assumptions, we're happy to share these with anyone who'd like to delve deeper.
The following graph explain the running cost for two of our heaters, the G5 Carbon 900 watt and Sunkare 2000 BT. a) Grid only, b) Battery with Grid and c) Full Inverter-solar setup.
Example: The running cost for our G5 Carbon 900 heater on a solar setup is around R 1.16 per hour! Compare this to the on-grid cost of R2.52, and the savings become clear. Even our more powerful 2kW Sunkare heater costs just R2.57 an hour when run off a battery-solar system.
(Average Municipal tariff of R 2.80 /kWh , Lifecycle of 5000 @ DOD of 10%)
As for battery life, we worked on an average of 5000 cycles (A cycle refers to one full discharge down to 10% remaining, or an accumulative recharge of 30% over 3 days)
Of course, all batteries have a lifespan, and the cost of replacement must be factored into the overall running costs. For example, with a lifespan of around 5000 hours, a battery could last 10+ years. When you calculate the cost of replacing the battery over its full lifetime, you get an hourly tariff per kilowatt (To be completely transparent, we've even factored in around 20% efficiency losses when converting from DC to AC)
In short, running our heaters off a solar inverter system is not just possible, but also cost-effective, sustainable, and a smart choice for the future. We're always here to answer any questions or provide more technical details. So, let's usher in a warmer, greener future together.
See our list of heaters
Inverter Friendly Heaters – Striking Energy