Backup Power for Apartments and Body Corporates in Pretoria
Keep your unit running, or back up the building's shared services.
Inverter and battery systems for Pretoria apartment owners, trustees and managing agents, planned around the building's rules and access.
What matters for an apartment or body corporate
Two situations come up here. An owner may want backup for their own unit, or the trustees and managing agent may be looking at common areas. Each has its own approvals and access questions.
Inside a unit, the equipment needs suitable wall space, ventilation and safe access, and must not block an escape route. Noise and shared services matter too, since an inverter and battery sit close to neighbours. Cable routes through shared areas are agreed during the site visit.
For common areas, the options usually cover lighting, access control, intercoms, gates and CCTV. Lifts and large pumps are much larger specialist designs, assessed separately and never assumed. Watt Electrical Energy Solutions can provide the system details a managing agent usually asks for.
What can stay on
A starting list of the loads usually worth backing up. Final sizing is confirmed on site.
- Lights in the unit or shared stairwells
- The Wi-Fi router and a TV
- A fridge or freezer
- Access control, intercom and gate motor
- CCTV cameras and recorder
- Selected plugs for a computer and chargers
How it works
Cut the mains
A backup power system keeps your essential circuits running when the grid drops. Try the simulation below to see how power flows from the mains, through the inverter and battery, to the circuits you choose to back up.
- Lights
- Fridge
- Router
- CCTV
- PCs
Normal supply: mains power passes through the inverter to your essential circuits.
This is a visual simulation only and does not control physical electrical equipment.
Sizing estimate
How big a system do you need?
Wattages are typical estimates. Actual equipment consumption and the final system specification must be confirmed during a site assessment.
LED lights
10 W each
Fridge or freezer
150 W each
Wi-Fi router and fibre box
20 W each
CCTV cameras
8 W each
CCTV recorder
25 W each
Desktop PC with monitor
150 W each
TV or screen
100 W each
Split aircon, 12,000 BTU
1100 W each
Microwave
1200 W each
Kettle
2000 W each
Connected load
520 W
Suggested inverter
3 kVA
Estimated battery
2.56 kWh
Our smallest system is 3 kVA with a 2.56 kWh battery.
Inverter size allows for start-up surges from motors like fridges. Battery size allows for usable capacity and conversion losses. Geysers and stoves are best left off the battery. This is a starting figure, not a quote.
This calculator is a preliminary sizing aid and does not replace a site assessment, inverter compatibility checks, battery discharge limits, surge assessment or final electrical design.
The process
How your backup power installation works
- 1
Check the building rules
Read the conduct rules and ask the trustees or managing agent what approval applies.
- 2
Site visit
Inspect the unit or common area, list the loads and find suitable equipment space.
- 3
Written quote
Receive an itemised quotation with a system details pack for the approval process.
- 4
Approval
Obtain the trustees' or managing agent's approval before any work begins.
- 5
Installation
Install with access arranged through the building and label every backed-up circuit.
- 6
Test and handover
With you present, confirm the chosen circuits keep running during a mains interruption.
FAQs
Apartment Backup Power Pretoria — FAQs
Related pages
Related backup power pages
Get a quote
Get a backup power installation quote
Tell us what you need to keep running and how long for. We'll come back with a clear, itemised quotation for your Pretoria premises.