Power cut is not a new thing in India. Even though the situation has improved over the years, power failure is still prevalent in almost every Indian state.
In order to overcome this situation, it is necessary to purchase an inverter or ups for your home. However, if you face severe power cuts or voltage fluctuations in the area where you live, it is important to invest in a good quality inverter that will last long. So, while buying an inverter, pick the best inverter or ups for home and the best inverter battery that would meet all your requirements.
Here we have compared the features, working, service quality, durability and warranty of various inverters and curated a list of the best inverter for home from some of the best electrical equipment manufacturers.
Best Inverter for Home in India
1. Luminous Zelio+ 1100 Home Pure Sinewave Inverter UPS
Highlights
The Luminous Zelio+ 1100 Home Pure Sinewave Inverter is an intelligent home UPS powered by a 32 bit DSP processor. It has an adaptive learning capacity to estimate the backup and charging time and provide optimal battery charging. The LED display on the inverter makes it more convenient for you as it indicates the status of power backup and battery charging time.
On the safety front, it has an MCB that acts as protection from input mains. The bypass switch is another great feature of this inverter as it directly supplies output from the grid in the event of a defect in the home UPS. It also comes with many other protection features like short-circuit, reverse polarity, battery over-charge and battery deep discharge.
The inverter can be used in ECO & UPS mode. In UPS mode, it maintains a safe voltage output to provide ample protection to appliances like computers. In ECO mode, the voltage range is increased to reduce the usage of the battery.
This inverter supports a single battery and is compatible with a flat plate, tubular and VRLA (SMF) battery. The main highlight that makes it one of the best inverter in India is that it ensures a noiseless operation.
2. V-Guard Prime 1150 Digital Inverter UPS
Highlights
V-Guard produces some of the best electrical appliances, and any person living in India would have used their products in any parts of their life.
The V-Guard Prime 1150 Digital sine wave inverter comes with a multitude of features. It is compatible with a tubular, flat plate and SMF battery with a capacity of 80 to 230 AH.
Its High Performance Selection switch allows you to change the power output to provide extended backup to the appliances based on your requirements. The Battery Gravity Builder is another best feature of this inverter as it keeps the battery healthy and assures a more extended backup.
The inverter features a visual and audio indicator to indicate the mains mode, charging mode, low backup alert, overload, short circuit, battery water topping, reset breaker trip and many other features. The battery water topping feature makes it one of the best inverter for people who do not know when to top up the battery with distilled water. This feature reminds you to fill the battery with distilled water to improve the longevity and performance of the battery.
The Dual Mode Operation feature allows you to switch the inverter to either UPS mode for computer loads or normal mode for domestic appliances. You can run a 49 inch LED TV, 600W mixer grinder or a 0.5 HP water pump with this inverter. A special switch has been provided for running an inverter refrigerator.
3. Microtek Hybrid HB1125 24×7 UPS
Highlights
Microtek is a reliable and trusted company that provides some of the best inverter in India. The Microtek Hybrid inverter is a pure sine wave inverter and is suitable for running all the sensitive appliances in your home.
It comes with features such as a bypass switch, voltage range selection switch and IBGM. The IBGM technology improves battery life and performance by maintaining the right battery gravity.
The hybrid technology of this inverter ensures a noiseless operation and better performance with extended backups and improved battery life.
It supports two batteries, and a battery charging current selection switch has been provided for standard and fast charging mode. It also has a display that indicates mains on, ups on, battery charging, overload and battery low.
4. ZunSolar 1050 VA Pure Sine Wave ZRi PWM Home Inverter
Highlights
ZunSolar 1050 VA Pure sine wave home inverter comes with a wide input range of 130 to 280 V. The DSP based PWM technology and the autonomous charging algorithm makes it one of the best inverter that you can buy today.
The main highlight of this inverter is that it can be used with a solar panel.
The inverter does not require a separate charge controller for using it with the off-grid solar power system as it comes with an inbuilt PWM solar charge controller.
It supports fast charging and comes with electrolyte level indicators. This inverter is most suitable for areas having long and regular power cuts. The company claims a low maintenance cost for this inverter.
5. V-Guard High Grade ABS with CRCA Cabinet Smart Pro 1200 S Solar Inverter with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth Connectivity (Metallic Grey)
Highlights
This V-Guard Smart Pro 1200 S inverter is solar compatible and is the most suitable inverter if you live in an area where there are frequent power cuts. The solar compatible inverter reduces electricity usage from the power grid and helps you save on the electricity charges.
The inverter can also be accessed with a smartphone using the V-Guard Smart app. V-Guard app facilitates you to control the power, check the backup time and change different modes according to your requirements. You can review the duration of power cuts and plan your load usage accordingly by accessing the battery backup time.
The Turbo Charge mode is an excellent feature as it charges the inverter 30% faster than on normal mode. Another great feature that comes with this inverter is that you can charge the phone, tablet and power bank through a charging point at the front panel even if the inverter is completely shut down.
The Battery Water Topping feature warns you to top up the inverter with distilled water for providing a consistent power supply and enhanced durability to the battery.
The V-Guard Smart Pro 1200 S can easily run a 55 inch LED TV, 750 W mixer grinder and even a 0.75 HP Monoblock Pump. It also comes with a switch that facilitates you to run an inverter refrigerator.
6. Luminous Solar Hybrid 1100/12V Home UPS
Highlights
Luminous Solar hybrid 1100/12V inverter is a sine wave solar hybrid UPS that uses grid and solar power. The sine wave output of this inverter ensures a noiseless and safe operation for your sensitive appliances in the home.
This inverter comes with an Intelligent Logic Control that reduces the charging time so that you can save your electricity bills.
The ISOT technology in the inverter cuts off the grid power and supplies electricity through solar panels when the batteries get charged. The company claims that this technology helps you to save up to 1.5 to 3 units of electricity per day.
Another great feature of this inverter is the i-charge technology that can be activated with the touch of a button to quickly charge the battery in a short time when grid power is available. This technology will be helpful if you live in an area where there are long power cuts.
It supports both UPS and ECO mode so that you can run computers with the UPS mode. It supports only a single battery. It comes with a battery type selector to manage the charging currents as per the requirements of a connected battery.
This inverter comes with several safety features as well. It continuously monitors the health of the batteries and provides enhanced protection against deep discharge, overcharge and short-circuit. It also features a main fuse that safeguards the sensitive appliances in your home in case of an excessive current.
7. Exide Technologies 1050VA Pure Sinewave Home UPS Inverter with Digital Display
Highlights
Exide Technologies 1050VA inverter is a pure sine wave home UPS inverter with a copper transformer that provides grid quality power output. The Digital Signal Processor that comes with the inverter is a high-speed microprocessor that facilitates grid quality power to provide maximum protection to your electrical and electronic appliances in your home.
The three-stage ASIC (Auto Sense Intelligent Control) Technology is a groundbreaking feature that improves the battery life and ensures minimal water topping. This technology automatically senses the condition of the battery and regulates the current accordingly for charging the battery.
For the convenience of the user, the inverter has been provided with an LCD display for indicating the battery voltage, battery charge, AC mains input voltage, overload, connected load, short circuit trip, low battery trip, AC main fuse blown and many other features. The electrolyte sensor indicator of the inverter indicates a low water level in the battery so that you can top it up with distilled water.
The inverter can be switched from mains to UPS, and a manual mains bypass facility has also been provided on the inverter. This inverter is suitable for use with a computer, LED TV, fan, bulb, tube light, mixer grinder, etc.
Best Inverter for Home – Buying Guide
Buying an inverter can be pretty cumbersome if you do not have enough knowledge about an inverter or its battery. So, here are a few points to be noted while picking the best inverter for home.
Types of Inverter
There are three types of inverters in the market, and they are pure sine wave inverter, modified sine wave inverter and square wave inverter. Pure sine wave inverter is the best inverter for running home appliances of all the above three inverters.
Pure Sine Wave Inverter
Pure Sine Wave Inverter has a more complex construction and working than a square wave and a modified sine wave inverter. This type of inverter is expensive and is mainly used to run home and commercial appliances.
The main advantage of the pure sine wave inverter is that most of the appliances are designed to run with a sine wave supply. So it is guaranteed that these appliances will work properly without any flaws. The output waveform of the pure sine wave inverter is much smoother than the square wave and modified sine wave inverter.
Another significant advantage of a pure sine wave inverter is that it has exceptionally low harmonics. Pure sine wave inverter is the best inverter for running appliances like TV, computers, mixer grinder, etc.
Modified Sine Wave Inverter
Modified Sine Wave Inverter or a Quasi Sine Wave Inverter has a more complex construction than square wave inverter but much simpler than sine wave inverter. The output waveform of a modified sine wave inverter is neither sine wave nor square wave. But the output waveform is more like a square wave inverter with an extra step resembling the shape of a sine wave.
A modified sine wave inverter will work with most of the appliances but not as efficient as a pure sine wave inverter. Some appliances may even make some annoying noise while operating with a modified sine wave inverter. This type of inverter has a reduced harmonic distortion than a square wave inverter.
The modified sine wave inverter is unsafe to run electronic appliances with timer and motor as it will cause permanent damage. Thus, modified sine wave inverter has limited applications.
Square Wave Inverter
Square Wave Inverter is the simplest and cheapest inverter. This type of inverter is mainly used to run small or simple tools with a universal motor. This type of inverter is seldom used anymore as it has a square wave at the output.
In simple terms, this type of inverter converts DC input into AC in the form of a square wave. Currently, all the appliances are designed for sine wave supply. So, if the square wave is supplied to appliances that support sine wave, then it may cause damages to the appliances.
Power requirement
The most important thing to be considered while buying a brand new inverter is to apprehend the power requirement. The total load that you run on inverter backup is the main thing that influences your power requirement.
Assume that you want to run one fan, one tube light, two LED bulbs and one television. The power consumed by these items comes out to be (1 fan x 100 watts + 1 tube light x 50 watts + 2 LED bulbs x 10 watts + 1 LED TV x 130 watts)= 300 Watts. Therefore, the total load to be run on the inverter is 300 Watts.
VA Rating
VA means Volt Ampere Rating. VA indicates the voltage and current supplied by the inverter to the electrical appliances. In an ideal condition, the total Wattage of all electrical appliances collectively should be the same as the VA of the inverter. But, unfortunately, due to the Power Factor of an inverter, the inverters do not operate with 100% efficiency. Most inverters come with a power factor ranging from 0.7 to 0.8.
So to ascertain the VA rating of an inverter, we shall take power required by the electrical appliances as 300 Watts from the previous example and the power factor to be 0.8.
VA rating of inverter = Required Power in Watts / Power Factor or Efficiency of the inverter.
So here, the VA rating of the inverter would be-
VA = 300 / 0.8 = 375 VA
So here, we assume that you will need an inverter with a rating of 375 VA. But you may not get an inverter with an exact rating of 375 VA. So you will have to buy an inverter with a VA rating of more than 375 VA. Inverter with a rating of 400 VA will be an ideal option to meet your requirements.
Battery Size
The battery is the main constituent of an inverter system. Hence, the backup hours you would get from an inverter mainly depends upon the capacity of the battery. Therefore, the capacity of a battery is expressed in Ampere Hours (Ah) to represent how much energy can be stored in a battery.
In the above example, we required a 400 VA inverter. Now assume that we need a backup of 4 hours. Then the Vah comes out to be-
Vah = Total watts x Total backup hours
Vah = 400 W x 4 hrs = 1600 Vah
Usually, an inverter battery comes with a battery voltage of 12 V, so the required Ah of the battery would be-
Ah = Vah / V
Ah= 1600 / 12 = 133 Ah
So, if you want to run one fan, one tube light, two LED bulbs and one television for 4 hours, you would require a 400 VA inverter and a 130 Ah battery.
Warranty
Like every other home appliances, branded inverters come with a warranty. Suppose the inverter encounters any problem under the warranty period, the company will either provide a free of cost replacement or service the inverter without any repair charges.
It is better to go for an inverter that comes with an extended warranty period so that you can save on the service charges.
Pricing
An inverter that comes with a lot of features is expensive than the ones that come with fewer features. The VA rating also plays an important role in the pricing of an inverter. Inverters with high VA rating are pricier than inverters with low VA rating. However, inverters with a high VA rating can operate heavy electrical appliances when there is a power failure.
The brand name, features and the VA rating are the main things that decide the price of an inverter.
Digital Display
Digital Display is a helpful feature to understand if the inverter or the connected battery is working properly. It provides live status and warning information to you so that you can take immediate steps to ensure the proper functioning of the inverter. Some of the best inverters in the market display backup time, battery charging time, battery charge level, AC mains input voltage, ECO / UPS mode, battery water level, connected load, overload, short circuit trip, battery low, fuse blown and so on.
Battery Topping Reminder
An inverter with a battery topping reminder reminds you to top up the inverter with distilled water if there is insufficient water in the battery. The inverter will alert you with a visual or audio indication to ensure long life and high performance for your battery.
Types of Battery
Inverter battery plays an important role in an inverter system. The quality of an inverter battery decides the performance and efficiency of the inverter system. The different battery types available in the market are flat plate battery, maintenance-free battery, and tubular battery.
Flat Plate Battery
Flat plate inverter batteries are lead-acid batteries suited for areas with frequent power cuts of minimum duration. Flat plate batteries are the cheapest of all three batteries. In addition, flat plate batteries have a quick charging rate and require very little time for charging. However, flat plate batteries have a short life than tubular batteries, and they come with a short warranty period.
Maintenance-Free Battery
Maintenance-Free batteries are sealed batteries that require the least maintenance. They lose electrolyte at a much slower rate than tubular and flat plate batteries. Therefore, these batteries do not require an electrolyte level check and a top-up of distilled water. Unlike the above two batteries, these batteries require no service, but enough care should be taken to ensure that they are fully charged and kept clean. Maintenance-free batteries are safe to use but have a short life and are costly compared to tubular battery.
Tubular Battery
Tubular inverter batteries are lead-acid batteries suited for areas with long power cuts. They are the most efficient inverter batteries, and they require only minimum maintenance and very few top-ups of distilled water. In addition, tubular batteries have a complex design, environmentally friendly and generally bigger than flat plate batteries. They have a longer life, and they come with a long warranty period. But they are slightly costlier than flat plate batteries. Tubular batteries are the best inverter batteries for home use.
Tubular batteries come in various sizes, so the inverter batteries should be selected based on the space available in your home. In addition, tubular batteries come in two different forms, and they are:
Short tubular inverter battery: Short tubular inverter battery is smaller in height but larger in width than a tall tubular battery. So these batteries can be easily stored if you have limited space in your home.
Tall tubular inverter battery: Tall tubular inverter battery is larger in height but is smaller in width than a short tubular battery. A tall tubular battery provides better backup time than a short tubular battery and is most suitable in homes with enough space to store the battery.
Difference between UPS and inverter
A UPS or uninterrupted power supply provides electric power supply during a power failure without any delay or interruption. It continuously supplies power to the electronics devices connected to it by drawing current from AC mains. In the event of a power failure, it will draw current from its battery to supply the power to the connected devices. The switching speed between the AC mains and battery is very quick and instantaneous that it does not affect the operation of the electronic devices.
UPS units are mainly used in offices and commercial establishments to protect data, information and electronic devices in case of a power failure.
An inverter, on the other hand, is mainly used for converting DC to AC. It is connected to a DC supply that is the battery to power the AC appliances. Inverters can only convert power and cannot generate or store power in them as there is no internal charge controller. If the inverter is disconnected from the battery, then there will be no power supply to the AC appliances. The switching time of an inverter is not quick and instant like a UPS, so that the delay might cause loss of data and shutdown of computers in case of power failure. But it provides an extended backup time than a UPS.
Main differences between UPS and inverter
| UPS | Inverter |
|---|---|
| Provides AC backup power in case of power failure | Converts DC to AC for powering AC appliances |
| Used mainly in homes, offices and commercial establishments to overcome the issue of data loss in case of power failure | Used mainly in homes and offices to power up the appliances in case of a power failure |
| It provides less backup time | It provides a longer backup time than UPS |
| It is expensive | It is cheaper than UPS |
| The switching speed is instant | The switching speed is not instant like in a UPS |
| Connected directly to appliances | Connected to batteries and AC appliances |
| It can convert DC into AC and vice versa | It can only convert DC into AC |
| It has a very complicated circuit | It has a simple circuit |
| It is made up of an inverter and charge controller | It is an integral part of a UPS |
| It can store power as it comes with an inbuilt battery and charge controller | It cannot store power in itself but can be stored in an external battery |
Best inverter brand in India
Luminous
Luminous is a well-known inverter brand that produces a wide range of power backup, home electrical and solar devices. Their products are very much innovative and suitable for the changing trends. Luminous inverters come with many features, and you can even control some of the inverters with your smartphone.
Microtek
Microtek is another renowned brand when it comes to power backup solutions. Microtek produces some of the most reliable and advanced power backup products. Moreover, Microtek has even made unique products like line interactive UPS in India. Today, Microtek offers various products in India related to solar energy, voltage solutions, wires and cables, etc.
Exide
Exide is known for producing some of the best batteries in India. In addition, Exide also offers a wide range of home inverters in India. These Exide home inverters are manufactured with the latest technologies for use in the home and are highly reliable products that you can depend.
V-Guard
V-Guard, like other brands, is also one of the best inverter brands that you can rely upon while buying an inverter for your home. V-Guard digital UPS and solar inverters are highly appreciated by many households in India for their notable performance and reliability. The V-Guard inverters can also be controlled through a smartphone for sheer convenience and comfort.
Best Inverter – Frequently Asked Questions
How does an inverter work?
There are two different types of electrical power, and they are Direct Current (DC) and Alternating Current (AC). The electronic appliances in your home use Alternating Current. Alternating Current cannot be stored, but Direct Current can be stored in batteries. So, here comes the use of an inverter. The inverter converts Direct Current to Alternating Current. That means with the help of an inverter, the power stored in the battery is converted from Direct Current to Alternating Current for running all the electronic appliances in your home.
What is a solar inverter?
A solar inverter converts direct current (DC) into alternating current (AC). The solar panel generate direct current, and this electricity is then stored in the battery. But home appliances require alternating current to operate. So the inverters convert the direct current into alternating current for running the appliances in your home. The solar inverter comes in different formats like grid-tie inverter, off-grid inverter and hybrid inverter.
Which battery is best for the inverter?
There are different types of batteries available in the market. Flat plate batteries are the most common inverter batteries in use, but they require regular maintenance. Maintenance-free batteries overcome the drawbacks of flat plate batteries as they do not need any maintenance as it doesn’t need any electrolyte level check or water top-up, but they have a short life. On the other hand, tubular batteries are the most popular and efficient inverter batteries for home use. Tubular batteries have low maintenance, longer life and are safe for the environment, so a tubular battery is the best battery for an inverter for use in the home.
Which inverter is best for home?
The best inverter for home are the inverters mentioned above and are the best you would get currently in the market. Please go back to the list to view which is the best inverter for home in India.
Final Thoughts
So, here we come to an end to one of the most important appliances required for your home. While buying an inverter, make sure you have done all the wiring and other electrical works in advance. Also, make sure to read the instructions manual before operating the instrument. It will cover any doubts that come into your mind.
So we hope the search for your unending quest of finding the best inverter for home ends here.