How to choose the best inverter for home? Can this Inverter buying Guide India help?
The top priority is to check if the inverter matches the needs of your home and if it has all the facilities you want. I have been using inverters for 10 years now, and I can shed some light with this inverter buying guide in India.
Power delivering capability/Load capacity, Backup Time/Supported Battery size, Wavelength.
Battery life depends on the size and power of the batteries, and whether they’re charged efficiently. You may use more than one size of battery for your inverter.
More powerful batteries or more than one battery means a more expensive inverter.
Want to harness solar power? This also means more expensive inverters.
Want to know more?
How much Load Capacity you need?
The first point to tackle in this inverter buying guide India, the general power consumption can be calculated like below:
Say you want to run 5 fans, 4 tube lights, 5 LED bulbs, and one TV. The total power requirement is (5*90 + 4*40 + 5*12 + 100) = 770 watts. So you need an inverter that can support 770 watts.
This also means you have to pick batteries that can store at least 4-5 hours of power to run 770 watts/hour.
If you are planning on a solar inverter, then the solar panels should be greater than 1kw to run 770 watts as well.
Inverter capacity calculator
The capacity is measured in Volts and Amps, often abbreviated as V and A respectively. The VA is written inside the square brackets, and the VA is written outside the square brackets.
The most common VA-rated inverters are around 700 VA.
For this example, now the power requirement is 770 watts, thus you will need 770 / 0.8 = 962 VA rated inverter.
So you should get around 1100 VA inverters or which is the nearest VA rated inverter you have. But do not get an inverter that has less VA than your requirement.
Backup time/ Battery Bank
The cheapest inverters are of 12V, which means you can only use one battery upto 200AH.
36V, 48V inverter systems can use 2-4 batteries.
More batteries mean more backup time.
If you attach solar panels then you can charge the batteries using that otherwise, the electric bill will be on the higher side. And the time to charge more than one battery will be significantly higher as well.
One 150Ah battery can give you around 3-4 hours, so more batteries will give you more backup time when the grid is off.
Sine wave inverter vs Square wave inverter
The inverter converts AC current into DC to store in the batteries. And when you need backups, it will convert the DC current into AC and send it to your devices.
The electricity transmitted has two waveforms, Since wave and square wave.
You should always get a Pure Wave Inverter. Pure sine wave inverters are great for all appliances. Where were square wave inverters that might shorten the lives of your appliances?
UPS Mode
If you are shopping for inverters, then you should always get the inverter where the UPS mode works flawlessly. UPS mode is a much-needed feature to run your computers while there is a power cut. If there is a power cut, your computer will not shut down and restart if you have UPS mode on.
So if you are working from home then you should always get inverters with UPS mode.
Battery types
Batteries are divided into three types of batteries flat plate batteries, tubular batteries, sealed maintenance-free batteries.
Usually, you will be offered a tubular battery and most of the inverters support almost all of the batteries that are available in India.
There is a switch you can use to change the battery type if you have any unusual batteries to use.
Home Inverter or UPS
UPS is generally known to keep your desktop computer alive during power cuts. But an inverter is suitable for the whole house.
And if you are using an inverter with UPS mode, then you do not need separate UPS for your computer.
I only use a UPS-enabled inverter and face no issues.
Check the wiring of home
Well, we did not have proper earthing done. We came to know about it when we were going to install an inverter. So you should always check for earthing for safety reasons.
Also, you have to decide if you want to power your whole house or just some electrical outlets with the inverter. Your wiring might be limiting you, so you might need to consider some wiring done while installing the inverter.
And remember for large appliances like AC you will need powerful inverter and a lot of batteries and solar panels (if any) to make it work.
Best Inverter brands
In my experience, I have been very happy with luminous inverters. You can choose Exide, Microtek as well. But I will prefer Luminous.
Warranty
Ideally, inverters get around 1 year of warranty. And you should check if you can get more time for the warranty period.
Conclusion – Inverter buying Guide India
By now you must have understood the key points of selecting an inverter for your home. NO matter the inverter, you must look for load capacity, backup time given along with battery capability.
Ref: Solar inverters gov