Power cuts? No problem! Inverters are here

Inverters come in two breeds — locally assembled inverters and branded ones. While branded inverters are expensive than the locally assembled ones by around Rs 2,000, branded ones have the advantage of good after sales service and finances which are not available in the locally assembled inverters. Companies like Microtek and Su-Kam give Prestolite batteries with their inverters while Luminous offers Exide. All these inverters come with 18 to 24 months warranty while the batteries carry 18 to 24 months replacement guarantee, meaning if anything goes wrong with the battery, the company will replace it without any extra cost.

Moreover, these batteries are almost maintenance free and one doesn’t need to top them up every fortnight or month. The electricity consumption during recharging of branded battery is much lower than local batteries.

When you plan to buy an inverter you should keep in mind the size of your home and how many accessories you want to operate during the time of power failures. For a standard middle class home of two bedrooms and a living room, inverter of 500 VA is ideal. This can run three lights and three fans for nearly four hours along with a TV. A 500 VA inverter of leading brands like Microtek, Luminous, Su-Kam is available between Rs 7,200 to Rs 8,200 including a branded battery.

With the increasing number of rooms, more users of personal computers, avid telly watchers or music lovers, one can go for 700 VA to 750 VA inverters. The branded range of these including branded battery is available in the market between Rs 9,900 to Rs 11,000, some with trolley as well. This is a perfect size for 3-4 rooms home and can provide power backup for nearly four hours on full load of four fans, four lights and one television.

For further bigger homes, one needs to get higher capacity inverters of 1250 VA or 1350 VA which can even run air-coolers and can supply uninterrupted power up to four-five hours on full load of eight fans, eight lights and one television. In any given situation, the power backup can always be extended by reducing the consumption. Branded inverters in this range are selling between Rs 16,400 to Rs 17,000.

A 2.5 KVA capacity inverter can run your 165 ltrs refrigerator also along with 16 lights and 16 fans for full four hours, can go for few more hours if the load is reduced. Price range varies between Rs 30,000 to Rs 33,000. A 5 KVA inverter can cool your home while powering one AC, 16 lights and 16 fans (full load) for eight hours. This Microtek inverter can be installed at a cost of Rs 67,000.

A combination can be made of locally assembled inverter and branded battery. But one needs to be careful about the fact that a faulty inverter can spoil the battery as well if it doesn’t have auto cut charging.

If you are short of cash, you can still install an inverter in your home. With a lot companies ready to finance your buy, you can go for finance schemes. Bajaj Auto Finance is a leading financier which has tied up with Luminous, Microtek, Su-Kam etc. Loan can be arranged through dealers at 5-8 per cent rate of interest depending on the advancement and period of repayment which is usually 8-12 months.

If you decide to finance your 750 VA inverter costing Rs 11,000, you will have to make a downpayment of Rs 3850 along with a processing fee of Rs 400. This will be followed by eight post-dated cheques of Rs 963 each at the interest rate of 5 per cent. The interest rate goes up to 6-7 per cent if the downpayment comes down and payment through post-dated cheques goes up.

Besides this, the dealers at their level can arrange for private finance too. However, this facility if not available if you go for locally assembled unit.