Selection of Various Types of Inverter-(Part-3)

SELECTION OF VARIOUS TYPES OF INVERTER-(PART-3)

HOW TO SELECT RIGHT INVERTER

Before buying an inverter for, It is very important to understand what is the right inverter for our requirement for that we do understand the basics criteria of Inverter. * In order to make a good estimate of your power needs, you’ll need to take a look at all of the devices you plan on plugging into your new inverter. * If we only need to use one device at a time, then that’s the only one you’ll need to look at. However, you’ll need to add together the numbers from multiple devices (like an LCD screen and a video game system) if you plan on using them at the same time.

(A) POWER REQUIREMENT:

One of the most important factors that we must know before buying an inverter is Power requirement. * Power requirement means all electrical appliances (like fan, tube lights, television,Pumps, CFL etc.), we want to run at the time of power failure. The power requirement is simply addition of the power consumed by various electrical equipments. * The thing we must understand that Inverter is not a Generator. Inverter has its own limitations. If power requirement is more than our estimation, then an inverter alone cannot create demands effectively. * High power inverter can run our refrigerator and air conditioners, but battery will not last more than few hours. Hence it better to estimate Inverter Load Carefully * The selection of correct size Inverter is very important, If we need to power small appliances like energy efficient light bulbs, we do not need to buy a 2000W power inverter because it will consume more power even in standby mode and work very inefficiently with small appliances. On the other hand, if we connect a coffee machine to a 150W inverter we will quickly blow a fuse, Therefore power estimation is important thing. * The size of Inverter depends on the watts (or amps) of what we want to run. It is recommend that we choose at least 10% to 20% more than our requirement. * Suppose you want 1No Fans, 1No Tube lights, 1No CFL and 1No television to operate at the time of power failure. Therefore the total power requirement to be (1×90 + 1×50 + 1×25 + 1×120) = 285 watts. Here Total Load is 285 watts.

(B) SURGE POWER (STARTING POWER):

Starting and running power requirement of all electric appliances are different. * Starting power of Electrical Equipment is several times greater than their normal working power. * An 18 Watts CFL takes around 25 Watts power to start and after few seconds it works on 18 Watts. Some appliances like Refrigerator, Washing Machine etc take almost double power to start as compared to the normal running power. * For example Gridding Machine have normal working power 1000W, their starting power is higher than 4000W, so inverters with continuous power 2000W are not suitable because their peak power is limited by 4000W. * For selecting right Inverter, Always take into account starting power requirements of your equipment, especially devices with electric motors, Electronics Choke, Capacity, inductive * The Size of the inverter should be chosen based on the power consumption of your load. * Resistive loads: All resistive loads like toaster, coffee maker, electric range, iron, Incandescent lamps, flood lighting. Laser Printers use Nichrome resistance wire in their heating * The Starting Power or Surge Power rating should be 6 times the Watt rating * Inductive Loads: All Inductive Load like induction motor, reciprocating pumps and compressors, refrigeration, air-conditioning, Oxygen Concentrators have more starting current. * The Starting current (LRA) should be 5 times the full load current (FLA). * Capacitive Loads: Switched Mode Power Supplies (SMPS), electronic equipment like battery chargers, computers, audio and video devices, radio etc. * The Starting Power or Surge Power rating should be 3 times the Watt rating * Microwaves : * The Initial power consummation by the microwave will be 2 times the cooking power. * A Water Supply Pump: * The starting surge can be 3 times the normal running rating of the pump * The inverter should, therefore, be sized adequately to withstand the high inrush current.

Starting Factor

Type of Device Starting Factor Air conditioner 5 Refrigerator / Freezer 5 Air Compressor 4 Sump Pump / Well Pump / Submersible Pump 3 Dishwasher 3 Clothes Washer 3 Microwave 2 Furnace Fan 3 Industrial Motor 3 Portable Kerosene / Diesel Fuel Heater 3 Circular Saw 3 Bench Grinder 3 Incandescent / Halogen / Quartz Lamps 3 Laser Printer / Other Devices using Quartz Lamps for heating 4 Switched Mode Power Supplies 3 Photographic Strobe / Flash Lights 4

It stands for the Volt ampere rating. It is the voltage and current supplied by the inverter to the equipments. * If an inverter operates with 100% efficiency, then the power requirement of th…