Loft Conversion with Inverter in loft

Heedtheadvice · 14 November 2018 at 11:44AM

Your cupboard is of a larger size than most small switch panel cabinets so the forced (fan) ventilation is most likely not required. The presumption here is that the temperature in the closet reaches little more than the room ambient and ventilation will certainly assist that.

The max operating environment temperature is given as 55C so if needed you can always measure that in the vicinity of the inverter. Many a roof space could reach close to that on a Sunny hot day as posted already.

However, even if the inverter does not shut down or fail soon, bear this in mind. Most electronic equipment mean time between failures (aka it's life a without repair) shorts with increasing ambient temperature and this it is likely that you will reduce life expectancy. You will then incur more cost compared to cool running.

As an engineering rule of thumb I aimed to have heat sinks not exceeding 35 degrees to prolong life and thus ambient temperature below that. I opted to install my inverter in a cool part of the house!

Your decision as to if you need to move it. A trade off between the cost of that move and reduced inverter life. We do not know either but it might be worth asking the Fronius manufacturer their opinion? I could envisage over £100 to move to a cooler location.....

Exiled_Tyke · 14 November 2018 at 12:15PM

Heedtheadvice wrote: »

Your cupboard is of a larger size than most small switch panel cabinets so the forced (fan) ventilation is most likely not required. The presumption here is that the temperature in the closet reaches little more than the room ambient and ventilation will certainly assist that.

The max operating environment temperature is given as 55C so if needed you can always measure that in the vicinity of the inverter. Many a roof space could reach close to that on a Sunny hot day as posted already.

However, even if the inverter does not shut down or fail soon, bear this in mind. Most electronic equipment mean time between failures (aka it's life a without repair) shorts with increasing ambient temperature and this it is likely that you will reduce life expectancy. You will then incur more cost compared to cool running.

As an engineering rule of thumb I aimed to have heat sinks not exceeding 35 degrees to prolong life and thus ambient temperature below that. I opted to install my inverter in a cool part of the house!

Your decision as to if you need to move it. A trade off between the cost of that move and reduced inverter life. We do not know either but it might be worth asking the Fronius manufacturer their opinion? I could envisage over £100 to move to a cooler location.....

I agree with all of this. In addition, we are assuming that it's a 'hot' loft space. In reality the panels themselves do add an additional layer of insulation which may make at least a little difference?

pinnks · 14 November 2018 at 12:46PM

I agree. I reckon my loft maxed out at about 30 degrees this summer, despite the heat outside being near that too. Before I had my panels it would have been at least 10 degrees hotter. I guess the question is, do you think the temperature in the cupboard would exceed 30 degrees without some form of intervention. And, if you did nothing now and it did, could you add that ventilation in a visually acceptable way later? Could you open the back of the cupboard and super-insulate and draft proof the door?

Martyn1981 · 14 November 2018 at 1:48PM

pinnks wrote: »

I agree. I reckon my loft maxed out at about 30 degrees this summer, despite the heat outside being near that too. Before I had my panels it would have been at least 10 degrees hotter. I guess the question is, do you think the temperature in the cupboard would exceed 30 degrees without some form of intervention. And, if you did nothing now and it did, could you add that ventilation in a visually acceptable way later? Could you open the back of the cupboard and super-insulate and draft proof the door?

Louvre door?

JimLad · 14 November 2018 at 2:48PM

Thank you for all your advice guys.

For the time being I'm going to get a vent installed in the top of the cupboard (its just plasterboard above the door so will be easy) and then monitor the temperature in there when it gets to a hot point in the summer.

The wife was talking about installing some shelves above the inverter to make use of the cupbaord space but im thinking this is probably a no no as it will stop air flow?

Coastalwatch · 14 November 2018 at 5:53PM

JimLad wrote: »

Thank you for all your advice guys.

For the time being I'm going to get a vent installed in the top of the cupboard (its just plasterboard above the door so will be easy) and then monitor the temperature in there when it gets to a hot point in the summer.

The wife was talking about installing some shelves above the inverter to make use of the cupbaord space but im thinking this is probably a no no as it will stop air flow?

If forced air is necessary then a simple bathroom extractor fan activated by a thermostat might be an option if all else fails!

EricMears · 14 November 2018 at 7:15PM

A roof vent might be better than a hole in top of cupboard door.

gefnew · 14 November 2018 at 8:13PM

hi
if it is like the sma inverter I have it has a fan function outlet to drive a fan to remove excess heat. you will need to get a fan ,but a 5v computer fan should suffice.
regards
gefnew

Loft Conversion with Inverter in loft

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