Choose the right inverter & battery for your home - Quick Guide

Are you planning to buy a new inverter or upgrade your old one? Whatever may be the reason, it is very important to understand what is the right inverter for your home. The power requirement at your home can be different from your neighbour’s home. So do not just blindly install the same inverter (in terms of power) in your home. Before buying an inverter for your home do a little homework and understand the basics.

# What is an inverter?

Most of us associate inverters with emergency power back-up – a device that magically lights up our house when the government cuts the main supply of electricity.

This belief is only partly right.

Yes, one of the uses of the inverter is to provide power back-up but if that was it then why would they use inverters in developed nations, where they never face power cuts, like US, UK, Australia etc.?

Simple Definition for Inverter:

Simply speaking, the inverter is a device that turns Direct Current (DC) from batteries to Alternating Current (AC).

 And we hear you asking,

# what is this DC and AC ?

Direct current (DC) is produced from the source of energy such as batteries or solar panels.

Unfortunately, direct current can’t be carried to over long distances – that is why the main electricity supply we get in our houses is in AC – alternating current.

All of our electronic equipment is made to run on AC because that’s what we get in our main power supply. AC and DC look something like this:

As you can see, direct current is really like its name. DC is so direct that it just flows in one direction whereas alternating current is more like a sea with waves – it goes high and low.

# Now here comes the problem:

If batteries and solar panels (the original source of energy) generate DC and but all of our ordinary electrical equipment like fans, TV, lights, laptops etc. can only run on AC then how can we power them through batteries and solar panels?

Inverter solves the problem:

The inverter takes DC from batteries or solar panels and converts it into AC so that you can plug and play electric stuff like fans, TV, lights, blenders, laptops etc. through the inverter, anywhere.

In countries like India when the main (grid) power supply is often cut, inverters keep the power up through batteries – they convert the DC power stored in batteries into AC as they are attached to the main power socket of our house so that we can continue operating our electrical equipment even during power cuts

# How are the batteries charged?

Inverters in India have an inbuilt charger for them to charge batteries. When the main grid supply is on they charge the batteries.

In foreign countries, people use inverters when they are cruising in their RVs, private boats or camping in remote places to use their electric gadgets like blenders, TV sets, laptops, microwaves etc. They can power the gadgets by simply plugging them into inverter, and the inverter is charged from the car batteries.

The technology has advanced too much that inverters are obsolete in India as they have been replaced with Home UPS – a device which intelligently combines the features of inverters and UPS into a single unit. No one buys an inverter these days, they buy UPS.

So what do you need to know?

Look at the list of appliances that you want to run on backup and their wattage. Check the list below to get some standard values used for calculations:

• 1 Fan – Fans Consume 70-90 Watts. For calculation we take 90 watts.
• 1 tube light – Assume 40-50 watts for standard tube lights. 28 watts for T5 tubelights.
• 1 CFL – 25 watts (default) or take the actual number if known.
• 1 Television – LED TVs take 30-100 watts depending on size. LCD TVs consume 50-150 watts. CRT takes about 120 watts.
• Set top boxes consume anywhere between 8 watts and 25 watts. Standard Definition set top boxes consume 8 Watts. HD boxes consume about 18 watts and HD DVR boxes consumed 25 watts.
• Desktops consume 120-250 watts depending on type High end is about 450-650. Those with LCD screens consume about 150 watts and those with CRT about 250.
• Laptops consume about 50 watts.
• Wi-Fi routers, modems, mobile phone chargers, etc consume 5 watts or less.
• Gaming stations and home theatre systems consume 100 watts or more depending on type and size. It should be available on product manual or on manufacturers’ website.
• A room air cooler would be about 250-300 watts.
• Induction cooker would be 1000-1500 watts (or 1 – 1.5 kW)
• Mixer Grinder would also be about 350 watts.

Now in the example, above we needed a 356 VA inverter and we want a backup of 6 hours, then the total VAh that we need is: 356 x 6 = 2136 VAh

A regular inverter battery available in market is of 12 V, so the Ah value of battery required would be: 2136 / 12 = 178 Ah

At the end, we’ll also recommend some reliable and secure batteries from sellers that you can trust on.

"6 Things You Must Know, Choose the Right Inverter & Battery for Your Home"

1. First, understand your Power Requirement

One of the most important factors that you must know before buying an inverter is your “Power requirement”. In simple words- what all electrical appliances (like fan, tube lights, television, CFL etc.) you want to run at the time of power failure. The power requirement is the addition of the power consumed by various electrical equipment.

Suppose you want 3 Fans, 3 Tube lights, 1 CFL & 1 television to operate at the time of power failure. Below is the power consumed by these items:

1 Fan – 70 Watts 

1 tube light – 40 watts

1 led light – 7 watts

1 led television – 70 watts

1 Refrigerator - 140 Watt

Therefore your total power requirement is (3*70 +3*40 +8* 7 + 1*70+ 1*140) = 596 watts

2. Find the VA rating of the inverter you need

It stands for the Volt ampere rating. It is the voltage and current supplied by the inverter to the equipment. If an inverter operates with 100% efficiency, then the power requirement of the electrical items and power supplied by the inverter is same. But we all know that 100% or ideal conditions don’t exist in reality. Most inverters have the efficiency range from 60 % to 80%. This efficiency is also called power factor of an inverter and is simply the ratio of power required by the appliances to power supplied by an inverter. The power factor of most inverters ranges from 0.6 to 0.8.

Hence Power supplied (or VA rating of the inverter) = Power requirement (power consumed by equipment in watts) / Power factor.

Usually, at homes, power factor ranges from 0.65 - 0.8, taking 0.7 for the calculations,

Power of inverter (VA) = 596/0.7 = 851 VA

So an inverter with 900 VA will be the right choice for your home

3. Know the battery your inverter needs

The battery is the backbone of an inverter system. The performance and life of an inverter largely depend upon the battery quality. The next big question is “how much back up will an inverter provide?” or for “how many hours it can run all of your equipment?”. This is what is called the battery capacity. It is the battery capacity that decides the backup hours. It is expressed in Ah (Ampere Hours).

In the market batteries with a capacity of 100 Ah,150 Ah, 180, 220 Ah etc. are readily available. So how to decide which one do you need? To find this out let's do a reverse calculation. Consider that you need a battery that provides back up to 3 hours.

Battery capacity = Power requirement (in VA) * Back up hours (in hrs) / Battery Voltage (in volts)

For lead-acid battery, battery voltage = 12 V.

Battery Capacity = (851 * 2) / 12 = 142 Ah

In reality, battery performance degrades with usage, so you are recommended to buy 5-10% higher capacity battery.

Therefore a battery with a capacity of 150 Ah will work for you.

So if you want to run 3 Fans, 3 Tube lights, 8 LED lights 1 television & 1 refrigerator for 2 hours during a power failure you would need 900 VA inverter and 150 Ah battery.

4. Single Battery or Double Battery

Now suppose your power back up requirement is 4 hrs for the same power load.

Battery Capacity required = (851*4) / 12 = 284 Ah ~ 300Ah

Since batteries are available between 60-200Ah, you will need 2 battery of 150Ah (in series) to provide 300 Ah. Two batteries together create 24 V output, hence you need to choose inverter which supports 24V input.

5. Battery Plate Type

Lead acid batteries come in flat plates or tubular (rod-shaped) plates.

Flat Plate or Tubular batteries come in small height containers, and are suitable for low power cut areas as their designed cycle life is low.

Tubular batteries come in small as well as tall containers, they typically have a longer design life, suitable for all areas. Due to the longer life, they are replacing flat plate batteries in inverter battery applications.

Plates should be constructed from highly pure lead alloy with high-pressure casting machines to ensure low maintenance and long life.

6. Consult with Technical Person 

Finally, you can consult with a technical person or shop owners. They can assist very well as you need inverter and battery for your home. We would suggest Box Power Enterprises one among the best

Other Features

When buying you may consider other features such as:

Warranty: Higher warranty indicates longer life and superior quality. Typically, the warranty on batteries ranges from 12 months to 48 months.

Float indicators & vent plugs: Batteries have conveniently placed visible float indicators so that you don’t miss topping up water when needed. Vent plugs should be designed to ensure that the gas pressure inside the battery is regulated.

Terminal Protectors: Batteries should come with terminal protectors to ensure utmost safety to the consumers. These protectors prevent chances of accidental electrical shock.

By understanding this simple calculation you not only save yourself from the misleading information shared by inverter dealers but also help yourself in taking the correct decision.

Here, are some batteries that we highly recommend. Amaron, Exide, SF Sonic, Luminous, Microtek, Tata Green, Amco and Amptek, This was highly recommended by one of the top and leading suppliers of Chennai, for batteries and inverters Box Power Enterprises (Contact: 9884688036) A good thing about this company is they offer the most competitive prices and absolutely free delivery & installation within 24 hours of your order. All kinds of Car Battery, Inverter Battery & Inverters available at doorstep. Also great in-service support.

Box Power Enterprises believes in making its customers smart and aware of the home repair and improvement. For inverter repair/buy in Chennai contact Box Power Enterprises.

Conclusion

We hope that this information helps you choose the right inverter for your house. We have tried to include answer to every question that we get on this website, but if you still have some doubt, you can leave a note in the comments section below.

Flipkart's PhonePe forays into offline space

The Flipkart-owned payments platform PhonePe is venturing into the offline space where it faces competition from market leader Paytm.

The Flipkart-owned payments platform PhonePe is venturing into the offline space where it faces competition from market leader Paytm.It will offer short-term loans and credit to customers along with installing point of sale (PoS) machines for midto large-sized offline merchants for a smoother payments process.

PhonePe, which was acquired by Flipkart last year, is one of the first companies to have got on board the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) where it says it has a market share of 40% of overall transactions. PhonePe started its offline foray from Bengaluru and will go to the top six cities by the end of this quarter. At present, a majority of its transactions come from Flipkart group companies, but it plans to on-board 30,000-40,000 offline merchants this quarter.

“We are looking at large players in the offline space and also at merchants who are usually small in size (like tea sellers, etc). We have already partnered with brands such as Barista, Cafe Coffee Day, KFC, Freshmenu and Metro Cash & Carry, among others. We have also enabled interoperable UPI quick-response (QR) code-based payments,“ said Pradeep Dodle, head of business development at PhonePe.

Paytm, which recently raised $1.4 billion from SoftBank, has been aggressively expanding in the offline space coupled with discounts for customer acquisition and repeat transactions.

Apple Patents Secret 911 Calling Tech for the iPhone

HIGHLIGHTS
- Technology would allow users to call 911 using their fingerprints
- The feature would look for a sequence of fingerprints or applied pressure
- Apple was granted 54 patents by the USPTO on Tuesday

In a bid to enhance security measures on iPhone, Apple has patented a technology that would allow users to secretly call 911 using their fingerprints. Separately, a report notes that Apple was granted 54 patents by the USPTO (United States Patent and Trademark Office) on Tuesday.

Starting with the 911 calling patent, the feature would allow users to call emergency services when a conventional method may not be practical, USA Today reported on Tuesday.

The feature would look for a sequence of fingerprints or applied pressure to trigger a 911 call which could be programmed to bypass the screenlock authentication and may also send user's location to the authorities.

"The user may programme the electronic device to recognise input entered with a particular sequence of fingers, such as 'pinky-ring-pinky', as a command to make an emergency call," the patent was quoted.

This will keep the potential attacker unaware of device owner's action and additionally, the feature could pull live audio or video directly from the iPhone.

The patent also includes a method that could erase or hide sensitive information of the user, the report added. The patented technology, if realised, could be very helpful in improving an individual's safety.

Now, we come to the Patently Apple report that notes Apple was granted 54 patents by the USPTO on Tuesday. Major patent applications include an iPhone Smart Dock with Siri, the ability to detect exit from a vehicle, as well as design patents for various products (earpiece, portable display with cover), VoIP and Wi-Fi patents, and more.

Jio vs. Rivals Theme Continues at TRAI’s IUC Open House

HIGHLIGHTS

- Airtel, Vodafone said low incoming call revenue will hamper rural service

- Jio promises to provide 99% coverage by the end of this year

- Telcos shared their concerns at the ongoing open house discussion on IUC

The warring parties over interconnect usage charges are digging in their heels.

Established operators such as Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Thursday contended that telecom infrastructure in rural areas largely depends on revenue from incoming calls, and lowering or removal of such charges will hamper services.

The new entrant, Reliance Jio, brushed aside the logic, claiming that it will provide 99 percent coverage by the end of this year even if mobile interconnection charges are dropped.

"Poor people in the country are subsidising inefficient network of telecom operators. There is very less cost of carrying calls on 4G network, but still incumbent operators are making people in rural areas use 2G network. We will install network in the village very next day if any operator wants to leave a village," a Jio representative said on IUC at TRAI's open house discussion on Thursday.

TRAI in an affidavit filed before the Supreme Court in 2011 had said telecom operators should be given time till 2014 to move to the bill and keep regime. Under this, operators only keep record of incoming calls on their network, but do not raise any demand from other operators.

The official held that continuation of IUC beyond 2014 has resulted in incumbent operators benefiting to the tune of Rs. 1 lakh crores.

Telecom operators levy interconnect usage charge (IUC) on incoming calls from the network of the other operator. These charges are passed on to subscribers by service providers.

"IUC in rural area is not for subsidy, but to recover charges because terminating operators (on which a call is made) cannot charge for incoming calls," a Bharti Airtel representative said.

He made the point that IUC is not meant for availing gains, but a way of recovering cost.

"Going by the growth rate, if the subscriber base of a new operator goes up to 400 million, it will push the cost burden of Rs. 2 lakh crores on the industry," the Airtel representative said. "Airtel's 4G rollout is at par with that of Jio and the new entrant should not give the impression that they are the only saviour of data services in the country."

The reasoning the official gave was that when a customer makes a call to a different network, he authorises his service provider to pay IUC to the operator on whose network the call has been made.

Vodafone said the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) in its report has mentioned that there are a number of incoming calls made in rural areas compared to outgoing calls and IUC provides revenue to support telecom infrastructure at such locations.

"We have our 54 percent of sites (mobile towers) in rural areas. One can say it is very easy to put a site next day, but we know how much hard work we have done," the Vodafone official added.

Another representative from Vodafone felt that maintenance of rural network should not be jeopardised by removal of IUC.

Idea Cellular, which is batting for a higher IUC, on its part, argued that the industry is under financial stress and needs reason to support future investment.

Courtesy Reliance Jio, Indian telecom sector earnings outlook worst among global peers: StarMine

The Indian telecom sector's aggregate earnings are expected to fall by nearly 70 per cent in the next 12 months, according to data from Thomson Reuters StarMine.

Indian telecom firms are reeling due to disruptive tariff plans from new entrant Reliance Jio, backed by India's richest man Mukesh Ambani and his vehicle Reliance Industries.

The earnings decline would be the worst among its global peers, the data shows.

To restrict customer churn to Jio, telecom companies have slashed tariffs, severely denting their bottom lines. The heads of India's leading wireless carriers are meeting India's telecom minister on Thursday, to discuss a range of issues that include the competitive environment and stressed balance sheets.

Almost all of India's mobile operators posted a loss in the first calendar quarter of 2017, with the sole exception of Bharti Airtel, which managed to eke out its smallest quarterly profit in four years.

The falling profits also leave the companies with fewer resources to service their debt obligations, which have swelled after the recent airwave auctions. Reliance Communications Ltd , the telecoms vehicle of Mukesh Ambani's younger brother Anil Ambani's group, has been one of the hardest hit and negotiated a reprieve on its loans this month.