Best inverter trolleys and power plants to beat load shedding for less than R10,000

Several power trolleys and power stations are available for less than R10,000 to help households survive the two hours of tax shedding with internet access, a TV, computers and some lighting.

When it comes to these compact backup power solutions, there are two main lines of products to choose from.

First, there is the power trolley, which combines an inverter and battery. The battery can be lead-acid, gel or lithium-ion.

Unless you choose the lithium-ion option, such systems are generally only suitable for situations where load shedding is infrequent, or you don’t need to use it during every power outage.

That’s because lead-acid or gel batteries, even those with deep cycle capabilities, typically only last a few hundred charges. That means they are not ideal with the shedding prevalence of recent times.

Also, to prevent the maximum battery life from decreasing faster, discharge these non-lithium batteries only to 50% of their capacity. This figure is called the depth of discharge (DoD) of the battery.

The second option is a portable power station or large power bank, which has a built-in inverter and lithium-ion battery.

These products have recently become more popular due to their ease of use, deep discharge capabilities, longer overall life and compact form factor that allows you to move them where needed.

Due to their chemical makeup, lithium-ion batteries can be discharged to 80-100% of their capacity with no significant impact on their overall life – which can be over 1,000 charge-discharge cycles.

However, they are significantly more expensive per kWh of capacity than lead-acid or gel units.

Whichever option you choose, your first stop in choosing the unit that best suits your needs is to calculate your electricity demand based on the appliances you plan to use.

You can’t power your entire house for less than R10,000, but you shouldn’t have a problem with multiple lights, a TV or monitor, and a laptop or game console.

We have selected two power consumption profiles for users who plan to use their backup systems for these purposes, called “The streamer” and “The gamer”.

In the case of the gamer, keep in mind that we chose a laptop or console as a desktop tower gaming PC would require a much larger backup system.

Scenario 1 – The streamer: about 150 W

1 x 65″ LCD TV — 120W
1 x Smart TV box/decoder — 8W
1 x WiFi router — 15 W
1 x Bulb with LED Bulb — 8W

Scenario 2 – The Gamer: About 300W

1 x 32-inch gaming monitor — 70 W
1 x gaming laptop/console — 200 W
1 x WiFi router — 15 W
2 x bulbs with LED bulbs — 16W

Below are 15 of the most affordable power plants or trolleys you can buy to provide backup power for a few appliances for the typical load shedding duration with the scenarios described above.

The minimum performance threshold considered was two hours of backup in Scenario 1, which would require at least 300 Wh of capacity.

It should be noted that in scenario 2 you only get one hour of uptime.

There are plenty of more affordable lithium-ion power plants you could consider if you don’t need 300Wh or more.