3 Questions to Ask Before Buying The Best Inverter Battery
Just like the heart is important to the human body, a battery is equally important to an inverter. Batteries are the main power source that helps inverters provide an uninterrupted power supply. Also, a reliable and high-quality battery will help provide uninterrupted supply for longer durations. However, if you choose an incompatible battery by mistake, your inverter will be rendered useless. Hence, it is important to select a battery that is compatible with your inverter. Additionally, there are certain specific questions you should ask before purchasing the best inverter battery.
Image Source: Luminous
What should be the capacity of the battery?
The capacity of a battery refers to the maximum amount of energy that can be supplied to the device, in this case, the inverter. There are three categories of battery capacity, which are 0-150Ah, 150-180Ah, and 180Ah and above. The battery capacity also determines the backup duration. The voltage of the battery is decided by the inverter, but you have the option of selecting the capacity based on your power requirements and backup duration. It is easy to gauge your capacity requirements with a formula:
Battery capacity= (power requirements in watts * backup-time * aging factor) / (battery voltage*battery efficiency*inverter efficiency)
User can use below as constant numbers for ease of calculation
Constant variables (These numbers are constant for every case)
Inverter aging factor = 1.25
Battery efficiency = 0.8
Inverter efficiency = 0.8
Let’s understand this with an example. Suppose your total power requirement is 600W, your backup duration requirement is 3 hours, and the voltage is 12V, the battery capacity you should opt for:
-use correct formula to calculate this number
It is important to remember that the backup duration requirement depends on the period of the power cuts in your area.
- Which type of best inverter battery to choose?
There are three types of inverter batteries that you can choose from, which include flat plate batteries, tubular batteries, and gel batteries.
Flat plate batteries, also known as lead-acid batteries are the most common type of inverter batteries, which have a lifecycle of 3-4 years. These batteries require regular maintenance, but are economical. However, these batteries discharge harmful gases during charging, hence they have to be placed in a ventilated area.
Gel batteries are also a type of lead-acid batteries that contain a type of electrolyte, which do not have to be replenished. Thus, these batteries require little or no maintenance as compared to flat plate or tubular batteries. These batteries have a shorter lifecycle and are more expensive than regular lead-acid batteries.
Tubular batteries are the most efficient in the category of the best inverter batteries and they have an operational life of about 8 years. Additionally, these batteries require low maintenance. Hence, it comes as no surprise to see that these batteries are expensive.
Keep the pros, cons, pricing of each type of best inverter battery and your requirements in mind before selecting one of the aforementioned batteries.
- What is the charging duration of the best inverter battery?
Each of the three types of inverter batteries has varied charging times. Flat plate batteries is the fastest charging battery, while gel and tubular batteries charge slower than flat plate batteries, while they also offer greater efficiency. It is also vital to understand that the charging time also depends upon the capacity of the battery.
Buy the Best Inverter Battery for Your Requirements
These are some of the questions you should ask to get a better understanding of the inverter batteries in the market to choose the one that meets your unique requirements. Apart from this, you must buy a branded inverter battery from service providers like Luminous. This is because such reliable brands offer excellent quality batteries that have fast charging and are scientifically designed to increase longevity.
