The Best Inverter and Battery Backup for Dumsor: How to Choose for Your Home
What a Backup Actually Has to Do
Dumsor is the reason most Accra homes eventually want a backup. But “a backup” can mean very different things — from keeping a few lights and a fan on through an outage, to running the fridge, the Wi-Fi router, the TV and a freezer for hours. The right inverter and battery for your home depends entirely on what you actually need to keep running, and for how long. Get that honest, and the rest is sizing.
Electricals Ghana designs and installs backup power across Accra. This guide is the plain-English version of how to choose, so you buy the right size once instead of the wrong size twice.
Step 1: Decide What You Want to Keep On
Before any kit, list the loads you genuinely need during an outage:
- Essentials — lights, fans, phone and laptop charging, Wi-Fi router
- Comfort — TV, decoder, a standing fan or two
- The fridge / freezer — worth backing up so food does not spoil through a long outage
- Heavy loads — an AC, a water pump, an electric iron, a microwave draw a lot, and pushing them onto a backup is what blows undersized systems
The honest conversation is which of these matter to you. Backing up the essentials plus the fridge is a very different system from backing up the whole house including AC.
Step 2: Size the Inverter to the Load
The inverter has to handle the peak power of everything running at once, plus the surge when motors (fridge, pump, AC) start. Undersize it and it overloads and shuts down at the worst moment. A pure sine wave inverter is the right choice for a home — it runs sensitive electronics, fridges and motors cleanly, where a cheaper modified-sine unit can buzz, run hot or damage equipment over time.
Step 3: Size the Battery to the Hours
The battery decides how long the backup lasts. More stored energy (measured in kWh) means more hours, at more cost. The honest trade-off is runtime vs budget: a small battery that carries the essentials through a typical outage is a different spend from one that runs the fridge and comfort loads through a long evening.
Lithium vs tubular battery
This is the most common question, so here it is straight:
- Lithium (LiFePO₄) — longer life, more usable capacity from the same size, faster charging, lighter, low maintenance. Higher upfront cost. As an indicative reference, lithium battery units in Ghana range widely with capacity — a 24V 200Ah lithium unit is published around GH₵12,900, and larger LiFePO₄ packs higher again.
- Tubular (lead-acid) — lower upfront cost, proven, but heavier, shorter usable life, and needs maintenance. (We do not have a verified current ₵ figure for tubular to quote here, so we confirm it on survey rather than guess.)
For a home that will use the backup often through dumsor, lithium’s longer life usually wins over time. For a tight initial budget, tubular can still be the right call. We size both against your actual loads and tell you honestly where each lands.
Step 4: The Install Matters As Much As the Kit
A backup is only as good as how it is wired in. A proper install includes a changeover so the inverter takes over cleanly when ECG drops, correct cabling rated for the load, protection on both the ECG and battery sides, and — given Ghana’s voltage swings — surge protection so an ECG spike does not fry the inverter the system was meant to protect. A box of good kit wired badly is a fire risk and a warranty void. This is why we install rather than just supply.
Indicative Cost
A complete inverter-and-battery backup is a survey job, because the figure follows the loads and runtime you choose. As an indicative reference point, an all-in-one 5kVA inverter with around 5kWh of battery is published in the Ghana market around GH₵25,000 — but your figure depends on the inverter size, the battery chemistry and capacity, and the install. We size it to your home and quote firm, before any work.
Don’t Forget the Wiring Behind It
A backup assumes the house wiring it feeds is sound. If your circuits already trip or your board is tired, that needs sorting first — see house rewiring and electrical fault finding.
Licensed and Accountable
Our electricians are Energy-Commission-licensed CEWPs, working to L.I. 2008 and GS 1009:2012. Established 1987.
Get Your Backup Sized Properly
- Backup power & inverters — dumsor backup that works
- Electrical cost guide — honest ₵ ranges
- Emergency electrician (24/7) — when the power problem is urgent
Electricals Ghana — call +233 23 063 0022. Backup design and install across Greater Accra, Kumasi, Takoradi, and Lomé, Togo.