Everything you need to know about inverters

Inverters are your saviour from time consuming power cuts and the solution to all your energy requirements! One of the greatest inventions for Indian households and Industries worldwide. It is a device that converts direct current to alternating current, it works as a power adapter. These are used to power electrical appliances in case of a power cut.

Not only is the work being shifted indoors but thanks to the Atma Nirbhar movement, so many new industries, start ups and what not are springing up which demand a huge lot of power supply. But occasional or sometimes even daily maintenance power cuts cause a great distress to the working of these. Inverters are extremely called for such situations!

In current times, everyone might be in need of inverters, but not everyone has the knowledge to make the right decision regarding which inverter to buy. So here are a few key points that can help you to make sound decisions regarding your purchase!

Environment and Consumption:

The first few questions to ask are why do you need the inverter, where would it be placed and what is the consumption. Before buying an inverter you need to be sure about how many appliances are to be operated using the inverter and for how long. Household inverters have different capacity and prices compared to the industrial inverters which are used in factories and workplaces.

Also, the environment helps decide which kind of inverter on a scale of basic to advanced functions is required. Household inverters are easy to operate with minimal functions in contrast to the industrial inverters. A household inverter would have to take less load and be consumed less, but might be required frequently, whereas an industrial inverter would have to take more load due to heavy machinery but might be required less frequently. Once the purpose of the inverter is clear you can move on to other determining factors as discussed ahead.

Power Rating:

Once you are through with the purpose and the appliances required to be powered, the next thing is to look for the power ratings. An inverter power rating is measured in Watts(VA), with two levels of power ratings, namely continuous and surge. The power rating mentioned on the inverter is continuous, generally.

Continuous rating denotes the intensity or load of the power the inverter can take for a continuous number of hours, whereas a surge rating is the capacity of the inverter to withstand an overload over a particular period of time. The continuous rating is lower than the surge rating.

The surge rating of 3 to 20 seconds is considered adequate. As far as the continuous rating is concerned, the industrial inverters are measured in kVA, their continuous power ratings differ depending on the size of the industry. A household power inverter would at the least require a power capacity of 760-800 VA. This is a very critical determining factor and should be well researched.

Other Electrical Specifications:

The next step would be to look for other electrical specifications. Input voltage lands first on the list. It is the voltage that is required by the inverter to function, 12 Volts DC is considered ideal for small inverters; 24-28 Volts DC are the standard input voltage required for bigger systems keeping in mind the safety. 200-400 Volts DC is considered as the standard for solar inverter systems and 300-450 Volts DC for vehicle to grid systems.

Another specification to keep in mind while buying a power inverter is the output frequency which stands as 50-60 Hertz ideally. Similarly, the output voltage is also a crucial factor, 120-240 Volts AC being the standard. Of Course there are more specifications one can look for, but these are the some basic ones which can help make a better choice.

Battery

The next in line is battery. There are various kinds of batteries that are available in the market which can be used inside the inverters. The oldest and the most common are the lead acid batteries. A lead acid battery inverter works using electrodes and electrolyte, using chemical technology. These batteries are easily rechargeable, cheapest and largely efficient but these require regular check ups and emit harmful gases.

The newer alternative is the tubular battery inverter, these are highly efficient and have become very popular lately. These ensure continuous power supply for longer power cuts. These are low maintenance batteries, but are costlier. Another battery type is the flat plate, which is highly suitable for areas which witness frequent power cuts, these are less efficient than the tubular batteries but result in less discharge.

The difference between the three is in the technology used and the output efficiency. A lead acid battery would work fine for proper functioning of a household inverter. Whereas the other two are best suited for industrial inverters.

Power Quality

The next thing to think about in your quest to find the best inverter is the power quality. Power quality refers to clarity of the current produced, which depends upon the technology used. The most preferable technology which is considered the standard and provides the least distorted current is the Sine Wave Technology. It is often called pure or true sine wave. For a household a total harmonic distortion less than 6% is considered feasible.

This is the technology that is used by most inverters now and one should prefer this over the others. A reduced quality can be found in modified sine wave inverters as well as square sine wave inverters, which have a higher distortion than the former. The modified and square sine wave inverters are cheaper but should be sidelined if possible!

Brands

One of the profound aspects in searching for the right inverter is the branding of the inverter. There are ample number of options available in the market, with a huge proportion of them being unbranded products with no assurance of quality. Sure, they do their jobs and serve the purpose, but the difference lies in the safety assured and the tenure for which they work efficiently.

A branded inverter might be more expensive but in the long run the low maintenance cost would only save your pockets from burning. That being said, there are a plethora of reputed brands available in India, some of which are Luminous, Microtek, V-Guard and Exide. Brands also provide a longer warranty and better customer service, hence you should not compromise with it.

Inverter Price

Once all these factors mentioned above are considered and coherently aligned the next thing to do is find an inverter that matches all these requirements in your budget. For every capacity an inverter would be available at the lowest price and also at the highest price, all in relation with each other. Thus for every option a spectrum of price is available. It is upto you to make a wise decision keeping in sight all your needs and cost limit.

One should however try to avoid going for the cheaper option. A reasonable inverter price for a standard household would be somewhere between INR 4000-INR 10,000. Whereas an industrial inverter could go up to a huge amount depending upon the scale of the industry.

These were only a few imperative elements that one needs to focus on while buying an inverter, however even these are enough to help you exercise good judgement and invest reasonably..! Check moglix.com to find inverter cost of different brands..!

Inverter: FAQs

Q. What is an inverter used for?

A. Inverter is a device which is used for converting the DC electricity from fuel cells or batteries to AC electricity. This is because most of the household appliances along with other electrical equipment and fixtures purely depend on AC electricity.

Q. Which inverter is best for home use?

A. Though there are numerous inverters available in the market, Luminous Zelio 1100 plus RC 18000 150 Ah Tubular Battery + Trolley, Luminous Zelio 1100 Inverter with RC18000 150 Ah Tubular Battery and Luminous Red Charge RC 18000 150Ah Recyclable Tall Tubular Inverter Battery are some of the best inverters available in the market.

Q. How many watts inverter do I need for home?

A. It completely depends on the total watts drawn by all your devices. If all of your devices require a total output of 500 watts then you should need to buy an inverter which can continuously give an output of 500 watts.

Q. What is an inverter and why is it needed?

A. An inverter is a device which helps in converting the direct current electricity into alternate current electricity. Inverters are mainly used as a source of power to run devices when there are power cuts. Most of our home appliances require only the AC electricity for proper working. If they are supplied with DC electricity then there are high chances of their damage. To avoid this, inverters are used as they convert the DC electricity from battery/fuel-cells to AC electricity and supply it to the appliances.