inverter vs generator

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Toros

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Tujunga, CA
Also,
which system is less expensive for my large size banquet hall in L.A

Central inverter or stand-by emergency generator set

for total of 3000 watt egress lighting load only???

thank you
 
Emergency lighting inverters are fairly expensive. I installed a bunch of 6kW units at a prison a while back and they ran about $17K each with batteries. I don't ever work with small generators but I should think you could do a small gen set and transfer switch for that or less.
 
Toros said:
Also,
which system is less expensive for my large size banquet hall in L.A

Central inverter or stand-by emergency generator set

for total of 3000 watt egress lighting load only???

thank you
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If you meant "operating costs", the inverter wins, IMO.

But your generator can run longer than your inverter, depending on how much fuel you have.
 
Open Neutral said:
Perhaps dumb question from EE with no Code skills:

Why do you need an inverter vice LED low voltage lighting that can be directly battery driven?
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I would imagine that if the building is large enough to require 3000W of egress lighting (I assume incandescent equivalent), then it covers a fair amount of space and the wiring required to distribute the corresponding amount of current to low voltage (12V?) LED lights could be a significant expense.
Maybe not compared to the long run costs of inverters, etc.?
Now if the egress lighting is line voltage driven LED or fluorescent, it will not need 3kW either and may get by with a smaller battery bank and inverter.
 
Not sure how familiar you are with installing true emergency generators or inverters but keep in mind that to use either requires all the wiring on the load side of these units to be run completely separately from other circuits.

You cannot share panels, junction boxes, raceways or cables with wiring that is not emergency.
 
Toros said:
LA fire department want legally required emerg. source other that battery units on light fixtures, that is why....
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Considering the much higher costs I would make sure it is actually a written requirement and not just what someone likes.
 
From a reliability standpoint, a battery driven system is more dependable than any generator/inverter/whatever scheme.

The only thing better is a term I just learned here - bug eyes - that surely refers to individual battery box lamps; as they have no common point of failure.
 
Open Neutral said:
From a reliability standpoint, a battery driven system is more dependable than any generator/inverter/whatever scheme.

The only thing better is a term I just learned here - bug eyes - that surely refers to individual battery box lamps; as they have no common point of failure.
Click to expand...
But, especially if mounted in inaccessible locations, regular testing is critical to make sure that the batteries are still good.
 
Open Neutral said:
...
The only thing better is a term I just learned here - bug eyes - that surely refers to individual battery box lamps; as they have no common point of failure.
Click to expand...
The code term would be "unit equipment", however that is the type of equipment that post #6 says they can't use there.
 
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