Best Inverter for Home Use in South Africa (2026 Guide)

Load shedding isn’t going anywhere — here’s how to choose the right inverter and stop losing power, productivity, and money.

If you’re tired of candles, cold food, and losing work every time Eskom flips the switch, an inverter is one of the best investments you can make for your home in 2026. But with so many options on the market, choosing the wrong one is an expensive mistake.

This guide breaks down exactly what you need to know — without the jargon.

What Is a Home Inverter?

An inverter converts DC power (stored in a battery) into AC power (the kind your appliances use). When the grid goes down, your inverter kicks in automatically, keeping your lights, TV, router, and fridge running.

There are two main types:

Pure sine wave inverters – Produce clean power identical to the grid. Safe for all appliances, especially sensitive electronics like laptops, TVs, and medical equipment. Always choose this for home use.
Modified sine wave inverters – Cheaper but can damage motors and sensitive electronics over time. Best avoided for home setups.

How Much Power Do You Actually Need?

This is where most people go wrong. You need to add up the wattage of everything you want to run during load shedding.

Appliance	Approximate Wattage
LED lights (x5)	25–50W
Wi-Fi router	10–20W
Smart TV (43″)	80–120W
Laptop	45–90W
Fridge (medium)	100–200W
Microwave	800–1200W
Kettle	1500–2200W

Pro tip: Kettles and microwaves are power hogs. If you want to run those, you’ll need a much larger inverter (3kVA+). Many households get by perfectly with a 1kVA–2kVA unit for lights, router, TV, and fridge.

The Most Important Specs to Understand

VA vs Watts

Inverters are rated in VA (volt-amperes). A rough rule: multiply VA by 0.8 to get usable watts.

1000VA ≈ 800W usable
2000VA ≈ 1600W usable
5000VA ≈ 4000W usable

Battery Compatibility

Most home inverters work with either:

Lead-acid batteries (cheaper upfront, heavier, shorter lifespan)
Lithium (LiFePO4) batteries (more expensive, but last 3–5x longer and charge faster)

Charge Controller

A good inverter will have a built-in MPPT or PWM charge controller if you want to add solar panels later. This is worth paying extra for — it future-proofs your setup.

Which Inverter Size Is Right for You?

Household Need	Recommended Size
Lights + router + phone charging	500VA – 1kVA
Lights + TV + router + laptop	1kVA – 2kVA
All of the above + fridge	2kVA – 3kVA
Full home including cooking	5kVA+

Top Brands Available in South Africa

Victron Energy – Premium, reliable, excellent monitoring app. Best for serious setups.
Axpert / Voltronic – Popular mid-range option. Good value for the price.
Mecer – Budget-friendly, widely available, solid for basic use.
Deye – Growing in popularity, good hybrid options for solar integration.

Don’t Forget the Battery

Your inverter is only as good as the battery behind it. As a rule of thumb:

100Ah lead-acid battery will give you roughly 2–3 hours of moderate use (lights, TV, router)
100Ah lithium battery will give you 4–6 hours of the same use (lithium can be discharged deeper without damage)

For most 2-hour load-shedding stages, a single 100Ah lithium battery paired with a 1–2kVA inverter is a very effective and affordable solution.