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

How long does a 150Ah battery last with 3 ceiling fans + 5 LED bulbs?

A 150Ah 12V tubular battery runs 3 ceiling fans + 5 LED bulbs for about 2 hours 28 minutes. That load averages 255W, 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 / 255W = 2.5 hours.

The arithmetic, line by line

A whole 2BHK lit and cooled at once during a long evening outage. 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 Fan70W360 min210W
LED Bulb9W560 min45W
Total average hourly load255W

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 2 hours 28 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 255W continuous, which sizes to (255W / 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 315W for a second or two when its motor kicks in, so peak demand is 255W continuous + 315W surge = 570W. Against a 600VA inverter that is 5% 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%495Wh1 hour 56 minutes
60%540Wh2 hours 7 minutes
65%585Wh2 hours 18 minutes
70% (default)630Wh2 hours 28 minutes
75%675Wh2 hours 39 minutes
80%720Wh2 hours 49 minutes

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

Other battery sizes against 3 fans, 5 lights

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

Every standard Indian battery size against 3 fans, 5 lights
BatteryUsable energyEstimated backupBand
100Ah420Wh1 hour 39 minutesHigh load
120Ah504Wh1 hour 59 minutesHigh load
135Ah567Wh2 hours 13 minutesModerate
150Ah (this page)630Wh2 hours 28 minutesModerate
165Ah693Wh2 hours 43 minutesModerate
180Ah756Wh2 hours 58 minutesModerate
200Ah840Wh3 hours 18 minutesModerate
220Ah924Wh3 hours 37 minutesModerate
250Ah1050Wh4 hours 7 minutesModerate

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 bulbs167W3 hours 46 minutes
1 ceiling fan + 2 LED bulbs88W7 hours 10 minutes
3 ceiling fans + 5 LED bulbs (this page)255W2 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 3 ceiling fans + 5 LED bulbs?

About 2 hours 28 minutes. The load averages 255W and the battery delivers 630Wh usable at 70% efficiency and 50% depth of discharge, so 630 / 255 = 2.5 hours.

Why does my 150Ah battery give less than 2.5 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 1 hour 56 minutes. Measure yours with the efficiency estimator.

What inverter size suits 3 ceiling fans + 5 LED bulbs?

A standard 600VA inverter. The sizing rule is (average load / power factor 0.8) x 1.25 safety margin, which on 255W gives 398VA 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 2 hours 28 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.