[Family wants power] Inverter Question

@cybertechie wrote:

…Exide used to be good some 4-5 years back but now they make crappy batteries that don’t last long…

Exactly what my electrician told me.

@sidbhai wrote:

Just wondering what’s the relation between battery and inverter?

Go through the below link. It will answer all your questions regarding Inverter

http://www.powerstream.com/inF...tm

@cybertechie wrote:

My last inverter purchase was back in 2014 May when i bought a Luminous 850VA sinewave inverter with Full tall tubular 150 MAH battery after lot of research for my in-laws house. I remember paying around 21k which included the price trolley and installation. 3 CFL bulb, 1 TV and 2 fans can run for nearly 8-10 hours on this combination. Tall Tubular batteries doesn’t require much attention and are maintenance free for most part. You may need to top up distilled water maybe once in a year or so.

Make sure that you buy a battery with maximum warranty available. it is quite an expensive affair to get the UPS battery replaced. In my Delhi home, 2 inverter batteries have just failed ( 200 MAH each). It will set me back by at least 30k to get them replaced Unfortunately both the batteries are out of warranty and did not even last for 3 years.

I second @DealSeeker suggestion. Go for Tubular batteries only. I’m not a fan of exide though. Amaron and Luminous makes better batteries.

Wow. Never thought of the aftermath. I would rather pay more – and get the best one now – than go with something cheap. So far, Amaron is leading (and is 99% my choice).

Paying 30k for replacement is a nightmare.

Is that common?

@Magus wrote:

@cybertechie wrote:

…Exide used to be good some 4-5 years back but now they make crappy batteries that don’t last long…

Exactly what my electrician told me.

I’m happy that your electrician has given an honest suggestion. Most of the sales guys tend to push Exide batteries due to better margins. Exide’s quality control has gone down the drain and they still charge a premium for their product. Amaron is perhaps the best manufacturer in India when it comes to car/Inverter batteries. Luminous inverter batteries are also excellent especially tall tubular one’s with 4 years warranty.

go green..go solar…try this

http://m.su-kam.com/power-solution/solar-soluti...

@sidbhai

Yes, it is very common in Delhi since inverter dealers are quite notorious to shove local made batteries down your throat claiming value for money factor. My parents fell for the price and bought two 200 Mah local made battery 3 years back. When i look at it, it wasn’t that cheap although it was a local made battery.

Now i have vowed not to let them fall for local battery again. I have asked to get either Luminous or Amaron battery with maximum warranty. Last thing you want is a battery failure in Delhi’s summer.

@sidbhai wrote:

@DealSeeker wrote:

@sidbhai Buy tubular battery (150Ah or above). See this (and other posts in that thread): http://www.desidime.com/forums/dost-and-dimes/t...

Has your setup changed after so many months? Amaron battery is the tubular one. Inclined to get that now. Your thoughts?

EDIT: While we are at it, what’s with the 150 AH recommendation? That’s a standard for home. Do I need more? Just trying to learn more.

Without getting too technical about it, I recommended 150Ah based on your power load requirements because, ideally, you should never exceed the 50% rated load on your batteries if you care about their life. I don’t want to get very technical here because then somebody will jump in and try to debate and I don’t have the time or the inclination.

Also, see this post: http://www.desidime.com/forums/dost-and-dimes/t...

@cybertechie wrote:

I’m happy that your electrician has given an honest suggestion. Most of the sales guys tend to push Exide batteries due to better margins…

That’s because he is also a very close friend of mine.

@chip wrote:

Bro. for inverter get microtek, numeric. Dont buy sukam.

as for battery by tubular battery only. exide 150 ah cost around 16 to 18 k, but it is a good buy. The more the ah, the more you will get the backup. greater ah is good for powercut prone areas.

do not buy battery brand which say inverter battery, specially for inverter etc.

You can use this inverter for you computer too, but sometimes the computer may restart when power goes, so you may need to get a small in-built ups too.

Problem of computer shutting down can be resolved by going for Sinewave UPS/Inverter. Although Sinewave UPS might cost an extra 1k over similar square wave Ups however the extra premium is worth it.

Now this is much complicated.

Also add a point on solar power based inverters.
In the span of 6-7 years start a ROI

Computer can restart on sine wave too.

Also, dont hear what electricians say. They are fools who have no idea about inverters.

@DealSeeker

I would strongly recommend you to switch to Amaron at-least for car batteries. If you follow Team BHP, members are in rage against exide for battery failures.

@hese wrote:

Now this is much complicated.

Also add a point on solar power based inverters.
In the span of 6-7 years start a ROI

Solar power is an excellent choice. Although initial investment is high, but in long term you will recover the money and moreover Government is subsidizing the price of Solar equipment. I was planning to undertake a Solar UPS setup for my Kerala home. There are a few bottleneck such as getting a trained engineer to get the work done and the initial costs. A decent Solar setup for a 4 BHK house may cost 1.5 to 2 lacs.

@chip wrote:


Also, dont hear what electricians say. They are fools who have no idea about inverters.

OMG

@chip wrote:


Also, dont hear what electricians say. They are fools who have no idea about inverters.

That’s some generalization

@cybertechie wrote:

@chip wrote:


Also, dont hear what electricians say. They are fools who have no idea about inverters.

That’s some generalization

well, up to a great length.

@chip wrote:

Computer can restart on sine wave too.

Also, dont hear what electricians say. They are fools who have no idea about inverters.

First of all, you should never run a computer on non-sine wave inverters. If you do, you will be reducing the life of your computer’s SMPS or laptop’s power adapter drastically. Secondly and most importantly, if your computer is restarting on an inverter, it’s because of the switchover time. See this post: http://www.desidime.com/forums/dost-and-dimes/t... CC @cybertechie

bro which type of wave is there in in-build ups.. ?
it is not sine wave. and all people work with that.

600 va Ups with 80 Ah.

Why less battery capacity ??
Battery fails every 3 years, you have to replace it, so small 80 Ah battery costs less, compared to 150 Ah battery, also you wont need large time backup.

12v, 80 Ah = 12 × 80 = 960 W, hope efficiency is 75 %, (it will be 80-90 %)
so 75 % of 960W is 720W

so you have solid 720 Wh,
you can run 1 × 40Wh tube light for 18 hours
or
1 × 40Wh tube light + 1 X 60Wh fan = 7.2 hours

as you need very less backup time use 80 Ah.

Offtopic:
Solar for the way….somewhere read, Karnatake Giving 9.3 Rs / unit to users who upload/supply solar power to grid..
so my recommendation, buy one solar panel + grid tie inverter + small home inverter with battery

@desibuddy wrote:

600 va Ups with 80 Ah.

Why less battery capacity ??
Battery fails every 3 years, you have to replace it, so small 80 Ah battery costs less, compared to 150 Ah battery, also you wont need large time backup.

12v, 80 Ah = 12 × 80 = 960 W, hope efficiency is 75 %, (it will be 80-90 %)
so 75 % of 960W is 720W

so you have solid 720 Wh,
you can run 1 × 40Wh tube light for 18 hours
or
1 × 40Wh tube light + 1 X 60Wh fan = 7.2 hours

as you need very less backup time use 80 Ah.

Offtopic:
Solar for the way….somewhere read, Karnatake Giving 9.3 Rs / unit to users who upload/supply solar power to grid..
so my recommendation, buy one solar panel + grid tie inverter + small home inverter with battery

Sounds like a plan, but going through all these – I am a little skeptical to go with 80 Ah. As far as Solar goes, probably in a new house.

Also, Snapdeal’s Amaron batteries does not ship to my pin code. But another local site does.

In short: The decision has been made. And it’s just a matter of time till we finalize it. Amaron tubular battery (Hi-backup or current) and, most likely, Amaron / Luminous inverter.

Big thanks to everyone. Truly appreciate it.

Will keep on updating this post as and when I make some progress.

I have been using microtek sinewave inverter with Exide IT500 since 5 years now All fine till now. Looks good for another 2-3 years and then the battery might die eventually.