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Got Exide Megainva for 9k (after exchange of old battery). 3 years replacement guarantee. Was actually looking for Base Nebula (with 4 years replacement warranty) but it was unavailable so settled for this.

Exide IT 500 was for 11K after exchange of old battery but I would have needed a new trolley (because of its tall tubular design). Since that also was carrying a 3 year unconditional warranty I settled for megainva. Didn't see much advantage in buying IT 500.

I was looking for an 850 VA inverter for my home. More inclined towards APC as I've been using that for a couples of years at my Parents house.
Got this quote from a dealer in Bangalore
APC BI850SINE: 5800
Exide IT500: 13900
Trolley: 900
Installation: 450.
Is this a good deal? Also is there any other models or reliable brands (Sine wave with good switchover time etc) that I should be looking at?

I recently bought a APC inverter (850 VA sine wave) at chennai for 6800 Rs. There is a huge demand for the inverters in TN and I had a hard time to get one APC. Almost all of the vendors were pushing for Microtek or a different Desi brand. I finally got a APC after a week of search.

I am not sure about the Exide batteries as the waiting time for Exide tubular is 2 weeks. So I went for Base tubular for 11200 Rs. It is BT15000 with 150 AH @C20.

Thanks!
Was it the same model of APC inverter as in my previous post?

Yes, same.

PS: The look of this model is differnt from what is available in the website. I was anxious whether the item is genuine or bogus. I called APC customer care and they confirmed that waht I got was genuine and it is a new model.

One side is power cut and the other side heavy increase in power tariff from tomorrow the 1st April. Now high time to think of power saving. At present I am paying Rs 1010 for 550 units. Now for the same consumption I may have to pay 550X5.75 =Rs 3122+20. I am shocked and worried of what to control or what to send to the corner. Can any one give some ideas to bring it down with in 300 units. At present we use 2 systems, one Note book,1 Fridge, 1 Washing Machine, 1 grinder , 1 microwave,1 mixi,1 TV,1 Home Theatre,one DVD,8 CFL bulbs,7 fans,1 inkjet and 1 Laser jet pinter,and one inverter. I am eager to know how much power the inverter will consume to charge 12Volt battery.If it consume less, I want to full charge the battery and to use the inverter power for few hours. Is it a wise idea.Any experts please comment. My inverter is Sukam Sine wave 800VA and battery is Stan Red 500Plus. The tariff mentioned above is of Tamilnadu electricity Board's.

The inverter consumes quite a lot of power, most of it at stand by, that is when there is power and the battery is full, but the inverter keeps the battery at a slow charge.

. Normal over all efficiency of an inverter is 80%, so you are loosing 20% power.

. The standby current in an 800VA unit can be as high as 0.5A, so you are loosing 1/8 (KW)*24(Hours)*30(days) = 720/8 ~ 70 units per month:Shockked:

I would say you have been extremely lucky till date paying approximately Rs.2/unit. Here in Delhi we pay around Rs.6 after some 200 units. But barring going back to the nature and using only fan and bulb, there is very little that you can do to reduce the power consumption per say.

One basic method of saving electricity is to switch off the mains supply to modern appliances when not in use - MW, TV, Computer, UPS, cell phone chargers, etc. Though they may consume very little power by themselves, say 1 or 2 watts when in standby mode, but once you add up the number of hours you get

1 x 24 x 30 = 720 Watt-Hour (0r 0.74 units) per month, per device for every watt consumed in standby mode.

Now if you have 5 such appliances and they consume 2 watts in standby, you are loosing 0.72 x 5 x 2 = 7.2 units. Add some other areas where you are inadvertently consuming electricity (for no reason) and you can easily come up with 20-50 units of unnecessary billed power per month.:D

My APC UPS goes into 'float-charge' mode after full-charging the battery.
I think float-charge consumes very little power, relatively.

Also during the regular three hour continous power-cuts (in Tamilnadu), I switch the UPS to 'away' mode wherein the battery is preserved. Only when I really need the power I utilize the batteries.

Thank you Aroy.
I will try your method and control at least 100 units. I was in a place where the power was almost free.So it seems a big sting for me.So charging inverter full and dis connecting the power and use battery will be of 20% loss. So the inverter has to be ob stand by. Any way to switch off after full charge, and disconnect from power to save the stand by power.

Hello,

What about the option of using solar inverters.Have been seeing some adds regarding solar inverters/hybrid inverters for residential use. Though the initial investment could be high would it be worth waiting for recovery time.

Thanks

Unit rates are charged by slabs. Your calculation is wrong.

On careful study it is understood that the tariff for those who are consuming above 500 units are calculated as from0-200 is Rs3.00 per unit ie Rs.600 and 201 to500 is@Rs 4per Unit is Rs.1200 for 50 units @5.75 that is Rs237.5 and the fixed charge is 40. So the total of 550 units will be 2077.50. That is Rs.1067 increase as per new tariff. My monthly budget increased for power Rs 1067plus. If I can bring it below 300units then it will be of with in 1000 which is like the past.In this case the question is How can we make use of inverter to reduce the consumption?

Enery can neither be created nor be destroyed.
It can be conserved though!

You can't reduce consumption if you are using an inverter. In fact, you would be increasing consumption, if you use an inverter, no matter what you do. But the quantum of increase could be controlled depending on your use. But speaking practically, even thats difficult - if you don't use it in stand-by mode, you may save a very small amount, but would loose a lot of convenience.

Hello,

any suggestion on using solar inverters?

Thanks