Power outages or irregular power supply are common in India, whether you live in urban areas or small villages. Regular tasks can be challenging to do under certain circumstances, making a power backup device essential for all households. An inverter is an excellent option for your home because it provides uninterruptible electricity to keep your equipment running during a power outage.
To choose the best inverter for home, you don’t need to understand the technical workings since that’s not necessary. But you should be aware of certain basic features and abilities, of an inverter.
What is an inverter? – It is a backup power generating device that converts low-voltage direct current into standard household alternating current power, to provide your home with an uninterrupted electric supply.
When purchasing the best inverter for a home, some noteworthy things should be kept in mind, such as inverter type and capacity. The quality of your device and its components will make all the difference.
Also, there are a few things that you should not ignore while buying the best inverter for home.
1. Do not forget to Calculate Your Power Requirement
To find the right inverter for your home, you must first determine your power requirements. This entails identifying appliances/gadgets that will be used during a power outage, such as lamps, tube lights, fans, TVs, mobile phone chargers, and Wi-Fi routers.
You’ll need to specify the electrical consumption of each device you want to attach to the inverter, as well as the overall consumption. This will decide how many watts of inverter power are needed. Calculating the power requirement is one of the most important things that to think of when selecting the best inverter for your home.
Depending on what the AC looks like, you have two options, namely Sine wave inverter and Square wave inverter. It is recommended to purchase a Sine wave inverter despite its slightly higher cost, as it is safer and lasts longer. You can also find some modified sine wave inverters in the market that are cheaper than the regular ones.
2. Calculating the Capacity of an Inverter
In ideal circumstances, your overall power consumption should equal the inverter’s energy. However, incoming power is insufficient in the electrical grid. Domestic usage’s power factor is roughly 0.7 watts and is determined based on how efficiently incoming power is used.
It divides the gross energy usage in watts in phase 1 by 0.7 to get the VA’s approximate inverter capacity. This is the maximum load of the inverter if any of the modules are used simultaneously. If an inverter of the same capacity is not available, choose one with a higher capacity.
The inverter capacity, which is measured in Volt Ampere, is directly proportional to the total load that you are looking to support with it. The accurate value of the inverter capacity can be found by dividing the total load to be supported by the power factor, which is a measure of lost efficiency in the conversion of DC to AC. You can find the value of inverter capacity mentioned in the product description when you buy an inverter.
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3. Selecting the Battery Size Wisely
Once you’ve chosen the best inverter for home, you’ll need to choose the correct battery capacity to ensure that it runs smoothly. The size of the battery is calculated in Ah.
First, you need to determine how long the inverter would be used to provide backup. For, e.g., if you want a 600 VA inverter and want to use it for 4 hours, the acceptable battery size is:
600 * 4 = 2,400VAh
Since a typical inverter battery has a 12V power rating, the battery capacity is 2,400/12 = 200Ah.
The battery capacity, which is calculated in Ampere hours, can be found based on the backup time needed for all your appliances. There is a simple calculation that will help you pick the perfect battery for your needs.
Let’s take another example to make this more clear
Battery capacity= Power needed in Watts * Backup time (In hours) / Battery Voltage (Taken as 12V)
Imagine you need to run 3 fans, 3 tube lights, 1 CFL, and a television for 3 hours straight, during a power outage. Based on the formula, you would need a 130 Ah battery.
If the same battery capacity isn’t sufficient, use a larger one, much like the inverter.
We all are looking for more sustainable resources of energy and solar energy is the front-runner in these areas. So if you are also considering going for solar energy, here are top reason why you may want to consider solar inverter battery instead of normal inverter.
| Features | Solar Inverter | Normal Inverter |
|---|---|---|
| Wave Type | Only Sine Wave. Noiseless inverter. No humming sound | Square and Sine wave |
| Display | LED & LCD display | LED display |
| Charging Option | Electricity and Solar | Electricity |
| Backup Time | 24 hours | 4-6 hours |
| Battery Life | Upto 8-10 years | Upto 5 years |
| Protections | Overload, Overcharge, Deep discharge, Reverse PV, Batter connection | Overload, Overcharge, Deep discharge |
| Warranty | 2 years | 2 years |
| Upgrades | In-built solar charge controller | Need to add solar charge controller |
| Electricity Bill Saving | Yes (upto 90%) | No |
| Price (Indian rupees) | Starting 3,600 | Starting 3,500 |
Choosing the best inverter for home is not a tough nut to crack. Identifying where it can be used, the types of loads (appliances) it can power, and the actual power the inverter will withstand can help you select the best inverter for your needs. Leading inverter and battery makers, such as Luminous, deliver a wide variety of inverters to choose from. They provide some of the finest power backup solutions with high load handling capacity and an intelligent battery charging mechanism. You should choose the best inverter battery for home based on your electricity requirement. To know which appliances can efficiently run on the inverter you choose, calculate the appliance load using their online load calculator. For professional advice, visit their website or dial their toll-free phone.