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150Ah - 12V lead-acid tubular - 70% assumed efficiency

How long does a 150Ah battery last with 2 ceiling fans + 3 LED bulbs?

A 150Ah 12V tubular battery runs 2 ceiling fans + 3 LED bulbs for about 3 hours 46 minutes. That load averages 167W, and the battery holds 630Wh usable once you apply 70% inverter efficiency and the 50% depth of discharge lead-acid batteries are limited to. 630Wh / 167W = 3.8 hours.

The arithmetic, line by line

The default Indian evening load-shedding setup: two rooms cooled, three lights on. Duty cycle matters here: Battery Buddy multiplies each appliance by the minutes it actually runs in an hour, so a fridge that cycles 40 minutes an hour is counted at two-thirds of its nameplate wattage instead of full blast.

Average hourly load, appliance by appliance
ApplianceWatts eachQtyMinutes per hourAverage draw
Ceiling Fan70W260 min140W
LED Bulb9W360 min27W
Total average hourly load167W

Why a 150Ah battery only gives you 630Wh

On paper a 150Ah 12V battery stores 150 x 12 = 1800Wh. You never get that. Lead-acid tubular plates are rated for roughly 50% depth of discharge, and the inverter loses more converting DC to AC, so the honest figure is 150 x 12 x 0.7 x 0.5 = 630Wh.

India's best-selling home inverter battery size. If you have already measured your own system with the efficiency estimator, put your real factor into the calculator — that single number moves the answer more than any other input.

What this result means for your outage

At 3 hours 46 minutes this is a Moderate Load setup — it clears the 2-hour danger line but stays under 5 hours, so a long monsoon outage will need you to shed something.

  • Plan a shed order in advance: decide now which appliance gets switched off at the two-hour mark.
  • Measure your true efficiency before buying a bigger battery — a degraded battery mimics an undersized one.
  • Check the surge figure below before adding any motor-driven appliance.

Will the inverter actually hold this load?

Runtime and capacity are two different questions. With every appliance on at once this profile draws 167W continuous, which sizes to (167W / 0.8) x 1.25 on average draw and lands on a standard 600VA inverter.

The start-up surge test is the one most calculators skip. Ceiling Fan spikes to about 210W for a second or two when its motor kicks in, so peak demand is 167W continuous + 210W surge = 377W. Against a 600VA inverter that is 37% headroom — it holds.

Efficiency is the number that actually moves the answer

Battery age, electrolyte level, cable thickness and terminal corrosion all show up as one thing: a lower effective efficiency. Here is the same battery and the same load across the realistic range.

The same setup at different real-world efficiencies
System efficiencyUsable energyEstimated backup
55%495Wh2 hours 58 minutes
60%540Wh3 hours 14 minutes
65%585Wh3 hours 30 minutes
70% (default)630Wh3 hours 46 minutes
75%675Wh4 hours 3 minutes
80%720Wh4 hours 19 minutes

Run the two-hour test on the efficiency estimator to replace this guess with your own measured factor.

Other battery sizes against 2 fans, 3 lights

If you are still choosing a battery, this is the whole shelf against exactly this load.

Every standard Indian battery size against 2 fans, 3 lights
BatteryUsable energyEstimated backupBand
100Ah420Wh2 hours 31 minutesModerate
120Ah504Wh3 hours 1 minutesModerate
135Ah567Wh3 hours 24 minutesModerate
150Ah (this page)630Wh3 hours 46 minutesModerate
165Ah693Wh4 hours 9 minutesModerate
180Ah756Wh4 hours 32 minutesModerate
200Ah840Wh5 hours 2 minutesLow load
220Ah924Wh5 hours 32 minutesLow load
250Ah1050Wh6 hours 17 minutesLow load

Other loads on a 150Ah battery

And this is the same 150Ah battery against every other load profile we model.

What else a 150Ah battery will carry
Load profileAverage drawEstimated backup
2 ceiling fans + 3 LED bulbs (this page)167W3 hours 46 minutes
1 ceiling fan + 2 LED bulbs88W7 hours 10 minutes
3 ceiling fans + 5 LED bulbs255W2 hours 28 minutes
2 fans + 4 lights + TV + WiFi router246W2 hours 34 minutes
Refrigerator + 2 fans + 4 LED bulbs276W2 hours 17 minutes
Laptop + WiFi router + 1 fan + 2 lights163W3 hours 52 minutes
2 fans + 6 lights + TV + refrigerator + WiFi404W1 hour 34 minutes
Air cooler + 2 LED bulbs198W3 hours 11 minutes
4 tube lights + 2 fans + billing computer420W1 hour 30 minutes
1 fan + 2 lights + 2 mobile chargers98W6 hours 26 minutes
TV + set-top box + 2 fans + 3 lights242W2 hours 36 minutes
3 BLDC fans + 6 LED bulbs144W4 hours 23 minutes

Frequently asked questions

How long will a 150Ah battery last with 2 ceiling fans + 3 LED bulbs?

About 3 hours 46 minutes. The load averages 167W and the battery delivers 630Wh usable at 70% efficiency and 50% depth of discharge, so 630 / 167 = 3.8 hours.

Why does my 150Ah battery give less than 3.8 hours in practice?

Because 70% is an assumption, not your measurement. A battery two or three years old, a low electrolyte level, thin cabling or a charger that never completes a cycle in short grid windows all pull the effective factor down. At 55% the same setup gives 2 hours 58 minutes. Measure yours with the efficiency estimator.

What inverter size suits 2 ceiling fans + 3 LED bulbs?

A standard 600VA inverter. The sizing rule is (average load / power factor 0.8) x 1.25 safety margin, which on 167W gives 261VA and rounds up to the nearest retail tier.

Can I use the full 150Ah of the battery?

No. Lead-acid tubular batteries are rated for roughly 50% depth of discharge — draining past half state of charge sulphates the plates and shortens life sharply. That is why 150Ah x 12V = 1800Wh nominal becomes 630Wh usable.

How do I get more backup out of this setup without buying a bigger battery?

Cut the load, not the comfort. Replacing induction ceiling fans with 30W BLDC fans and any remaining CFLs with 9W LEDs typically removes 40-45W per fan and 6W per bulb. On this profile that is the difference between 3 hours 46 minutes and materially more, at a fraction of the cost of a second battery.

Does Battery Buddy sell batteries or recommend a brand?

No. Battery Buddy is a free, brand-neutral calculator from Flocci Technologies. It shows the formula for every number so you can check it against any dealer's quote, and it needs no sign-up.

Battery Buddy is free, needs no sign-up, sells no batteries and shows every formula it uses. It is built by Flocci Technologies, an India-first AI-native software studio behind 30+ apps that share one Flocci identity.