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  • Are all inverters noisy?

    Hello, I didn't know inverters are noisy, I don't have one but soon I will have to buy one, I'm going to need at least 1200W, I don't want a noisy inverter because my house is small and I'm afraid to hear it at night when sleeping. Is there any kind of inverter not so noisy? thanks!

    edit: I'm talking about fans noise, I was thinking to buy a 3 in 1 inverter-charge controller-battery charger from Epever but everyone say they make a lot of noise, like a pair of "jets".
    Last edited by wdc; 11-27-2021, 11:18 AM.

  • #2
    Short answer is no.

    Some inverters are noisy. Some are mostly silent. Good quality units seem to be less noisy.

    1.) Investigate inverter data sheets before you buy.
    2.) Observe your potential purchase in an operating environment.
    3.) If it's too noisy for you, ivestigate other inverters that are fit for your needs.
    4.) When doing so, look for an inverter that uses natural convection for cooling and so doesn't need a fan. The heat rejection portions of such inverters need to be larger often adding to the cost. Silence usually comes at a price.
    5.) After purchase, put your chosen inverter in an area away from or isolated from living spaces. Avoid mounting an inverter on walls common with living spaces.

    Above all, get your own facts and form your own opinions based on those facts, not some B.S. hearsay from people who don't know much more about the subject than you know.
    Last edited by J.P.M.; 11-27-2021, 12:15 PM.

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    • #3
      Originally posted by J.P.M. View Post
      Short answer is no.

      Some inverters are noisy. Some are mostly silent. Good quality units seem to be less noisy.

      1.) Investigate inverter data sheets before you buy.
      2.) Observe your potential purchase in an operating environment.
      3.) If it's too noisy for you, ivestigate other inverters that are fit for your needs.
      4.) When doing so, look for an inverter that uses natural convection for cooling and so doesn't need a fan. The heat rejection portions of such inverters need to be larger often adding to the cost. Silence usually comes at a price.
      5.) After purchase, put your chosen inverter in an area away from or isolated from living spaces. Avoid mounting an inverter on walls common with living spaces.

      Above all, get your own facts and form your own opinions based on those facts, not some B.S. hearsay from people who don't know much more about the subject than you know.
      Thanks J.P.M.! I'm watching youtube videos to find out what some popular inverters sound like and I read forums and reviews for the same purpose, I live in a small country and inverters here are not well known or used, the good thing is that I'm in no rush to buy so I can dedicate more time to choose the correct one.

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      • #4
        I have a Samlex 2000 watt inverter that the rare times the fan is on, would be noisy if its in the same room, but I have the inverter in a different room. I also have a small 300 watt Victron Inverter that when I turn it on with a 220 watt load, the fan runs constantly, but quietly. If it were in the same room, I would use ear plugs.

        I like JPMs suggestion of passive cooling with metal fins, but I would be suspicious of that and would check the reviews and the reputation of a company.

        I’ve also heard of fan mods to inverters so a quieter fan is put on, but I would be want to know specs of the fan in it already and the one replacing it to make sure I’m not under capacity. THere’s plenty on google about this.

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        • #5
          Originally posted by chrisski View Post
          I like JPMs suggestion of passive cooling with metal fins, but I would be suspicious of that and would check the reviews and the reputation of a company.
          If the inverter is used (including placement and ventilation requirements) within design constraints, and the cooling sysytem is designed by someone who knows something about heat exchanger design, passive or natural cooling is as effective and more reliable cooling method than forced ventilation cooling. As such, and as designed, and when used within design constraints, passive cooling via natural convection cannot fail unless gravity somehow fails. Not so with, for example, fan driven forced convection. Also, while natural convection usually costs more up front because of what are usually larger heat transfer surface areas, the operating (air moving or pumpng) costs are, just like the noise, == zero.

          For any proposed equipment check the data sheets of any candidates and make sure your site/operating/design conditions are with the specified design constraints.

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          • #6
            I would expect a quality design, would have enough heat sink to manage on convection
            75% of the time (more or less, cooler here). Then fans would cut in some peak days for
            extreme heat. Note, some fans are a lot noisier than others; A big fan throttled down (we
            used in phone office equipment) is much less than a small fan at peak, and blade design
            matters as well.

            Obviously, location matters for cooler operation, and containing noise. Bruce Roe

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            • #7
              I have a rack of four enphase micros keeping my original PV installation running. They are not mounted on the back of a panel, rather then are mounted in group of four on basement wall. They are completely quiet. My two different Fronius inverter have a variable speed fan motors.. Not noisy for a basement but wouldnt want it in my bedroom.

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              • #8
                Noise comes from 2 things in an inverter. Transformer windings and Fan airflow. my 6.8kw inverter has no hum below 500w of load, and then it slowly increases with load. Fans are silent, never hear them.
                Powerfab top of pole PV mount (2) | Listeroid 6/1 w/st5 gen head | XW6048 inverter/chgr | Iota 48V/15A charger | Morningstar 60A MPPT | 48V, 800A NiFe Battery (in series)| 15, Evergreen 205w "12V" PV array on pole | Midnight ePanel | Grundfos 10 SO5-9 with 3 wire Franklin Electric motor (1/2hp 240V 1ph ) on a timer for 3 hr noontime run - Runs off PV ||
                || Midnight Classic 200 | 10, Evergreen 200w in a 160VOC array ||
                || VEC1093 12V Charger | Maha C401 aa/aaa Charger | SureSine | Sunsaver MPPT 15A

                solar: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-Solar
                gen: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-Lister

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