Home / Backup time / 220Ah with Efficient home
A 220Ah 12V tubular battery runs 3 BLDC fans + 6 LED bulbs for about 6 hours 25 minutes. That load averages 144W, and the battery holds 924Wh usable once you apply 70% inverter efficiency and the 50% depth of discharge lead-acid batteries are limited to. 924Wh / 144W = 6.4 hours.
The same coverage as a normal home, rebuilt on BLDC fans and LED lighting. 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.
| Appliance | Watts each | Qty | Minutes per hour | Average draw |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BLDC Ceiling Fan | 30W | 3 | 60 min | 90W |
| LED Bulb | 9W | 6 | 60 min | 54W |
| Total average hourly load | 144W |
On paper a 220Ah 12V battery stores 220 x 12 = 2640Wh. 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 220 x 12 x 0.7 x 0.5 = 924Wh.
Heavy tubular used where outages run past 6 hours. 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.
At 6 hours 25 minutes this is a Low Load setup — comfortably past the 5-hour mark, so an ordinary evening cut will not come close to draining the usable half of the battery.
Runtime and capacity are two different questions. With every appliance on at once this profile draws 144W continuous, which sizes to (144W / 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. BLDC Ceiling Fan spikes to about 135W for a second or two when its motor kicks in, so peak demand is 144W continuous + 135W surge = 279W. Against a 600VA inverter that is 54% headroom — it holds.
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.
| System efficiency | Usable energy | Estimated backup |
|---|---|---|
| 55% | 726Wh | 5 hours 3 minutes |
| 60% | 792Wh | 5 hours 30 minutes |
| 65% | 858Wh | 5 hours 57 minutes |
| 70% (default) | 924Wh | 6 hours 25 minutes |
| 75% | 990Wh | 6 hours 53 minutes |
| 80% | 1056Wh | 7 hours 20 minutes |
Run the two-hour test on the efficiency estimator to replace this guess with your own measured factor.
If you are still choosing a battery, this is the whole shelf against exactly this load.
| Battery | Usable energy | Estimated backup | Band |
|---|---|---|---|
| 100Ah | 420Wh | 2 hours 55 minutes | Moderate |
| 120Ah | 504Wh | 3 hours 30 minutes | Moderate |
| 135Ah | 567Wh | 3 hours 56 minutes | Moderate |
| 150Ah | 630Wh | 4 hours 23 minutes | Moderate |
| 165Ah | 693Wh | 4 hours 49 minutes | Moderate |
| 180Ah | 756Wh | 5 hours 15 minutes | Low load |
| 200Ah | 840Wh | 5 hours 50 minutes | Low load |
| 220Ah (this page) | 924Wh | 6 hours 25 minutes | Low load |
| 250Ah | 1050Wh | 7 hours 18 minutes | Low load |
And this is the same 220Ah battery against every other load profile we model.
| Load profile | Average draw | Estimated backup |
|---|---|---|
| 2 ceiling fans + 3 LED bulbs | 167W | 5 hours 32 minutes |
| 1 ceiling fan + 2 LED bulbs | 88W | 10 hours 30 minutes |
| 3 ceiling fans + 5 LED bulbs | 255W | 3 hours 37 minutes |
| 2 fans + 4 lights + TV + WiFi router | 246W | 3 hours 45 minutes |
| Refrigerator + 2 fans + 4 LED bulbs | 276W | 3 hours 21 minutes |
| Laptop + WiFi router + 1 fan + 2 lights | 163W | 5 hours 40 minutes |
| 2 fans + 6 lights + TV + refrigerator + WiFi | 404W | 2 hours 17 minutes |
| Air cooler + 2 LED bulbs | 198W | 4 hours 40 minutes |
| 4 tube lights + 2 fans + billing computer | 420W | 2 hours 12 minutes |
| 1 fan + 2 lights + 2 mobile chargers | 98W | 9 hours 26 minutes |
| TV + set-top box + 2 fans + 3 lights | 242W | 3 hours 49 minutes |
| 3 BLDC fans + 6 LED bulbs (this page) | 144W | 6 hours 25 minutes |
About 6 hours 25 minutes. The load averages 144W and the battery delivers 924Wh usable at 70% efficiency and 50% depth of discharge, so 924 / 144 = 6.4 hours.
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 5 hours 3 minutes. Measure yours with the efficiency estimator.
A standard 600VA inverter. The sizing rule is (average load / power factor 0.8) x 1.25 safety margin, which on 144W gives 225VA and rounds up to the nearest retail tier.
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 220Ah x 12V = 2640Wh nominal becomes 924Wh usable.
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 6 hours 25 minutes and materially more, at a fraction of the cost of a second battery.
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.