Inverter Battery Buying Guide

1. Long power cuts?

The first thing that you need to ask yourself is, how long do I need back up for? In other words, how long on an average is there no electricity at your home or at office? Three hours? Eight hours? Or just the half hour?  Note: The higher the capacity of the battery (Ah), the longer the back up!

2. Types of Batteries?

Battery Types	Price	Maintenance	Battery Life
1. Flat Pate	Low	It requires Maintenance and frequent top up of distilled water in the battery cells	Usually Lasts up to 3+ Years
2. Tubular	Moderate Low	it requires Minimal Maintenance and like topping up the distilled water	Usually Lasts up to 4+ Years
3. Tall Tubular*	Moderate	it requires Very Minimal Maintenance and like topping up the distilled water twice a year!	Usually Lasts up to 5-8+ Years
4. Gel Tubular	High	Zero Maintenance. Fit and Forgot!	Usually Lasts up to 5-6+ Years
5. Sealed Maintenance Free*	High	Zero Maintenance. Fit and Forgot!	Usually Lasts up to 3+ Years

• *Flat Plate batteries: These are your regular inverter batteries that employ a basic construction. These batteries are recommended for infrequent use and not for areas where power cuts are too frequent. While these batteries are relatively inexpensive, they require regular maintenance (water topping) to keep them performing optimally.
  
  Advantages:
  - Cheap and light on the pocket
  
  Disadvantages:
  - Require regular maintenance
  - Not recommended for indoor use
  - Have a shorter life span than tubular batteries
  - Not recommended for long power cuts as they are not built for frequent deep discharging
  - Take longer to charge than tubular batteries
  
  
• *Tubular batteries: These batteries employ an advanced construction and are highly recommended for areas with long power cuts. Even though these batteries are more expensive than the flat plate variety, they make up for it with a longer life span, much less maintenance and greater reliability.
  
  Advantages:
  - Built for deep discharging, and therefore recommended for areas with long and frequent power cuts
  - Charges faster than flat plate batteries which means you are more prepared for the next power cut
  - Requires less water topping than flat plate batteries
  - More reliable than flat plate batteries
  - Usually come with a longer warranty period than the flat plate variety
  
  Disadvantages:
  - More expensive than flat plate batteries
  
  Tubular Batteries are divided in to 2 types 1. Short Tubular and 2. Tall Tubular Batteries
  Tall Tubular Batteries: Deep Cycle batteries, this are most consistent, reliable in terms backup compare to flat plate, and it can give more power, efficiency increasing overall battery life. Approximately 1500 cycles for 80% DOD (depth of discharge)
  Powerwale Prefers Tall Tubular instead of Short Tubular and Tall Tubular gives more life than the short Tubular
  
  
• *Sealed Maintenance Free: Meant for only Online UPS(High Critical Work loads) and this batteries, cant be used for Normal Inverter or UPS and Warranty is not applicable for SMF batteries, connected to Home UPS Approximately 400- 450 cycles at 80% DOD

3.Frequent power cuts?

The capacity of the battery isn’t the only thing that matters. Even though a high capacity battery will give you a long back up, it also needs to recharge quickly and be ready for use again. This is critical for places where there are frequent power cuts. A tubular battery has an upper hand here. These batteries charge much faster than traditional flat plate batteries.

4. Battery Warranty?

In Most of the brands, Warranty has 2 components

• 1. FOC: Free of replacement (During this period, if any of one battery cell, fails out of 6 cells, you are egilible for a Free replacement of the battery from the company
• 2. Pro rata: In Pro rata, you have to Pay some money based on the, when the battery fails For example if a battery has 36+12 (free of cost + pro-rata) months of warranty, and it fails in the 40th month, then 75% value of the battery will be deducted from its current MRP Price And you will get 25% discount on the MRP of the newly replaced battery Powerwale Recommendation,would be dont look for Prorata, always as go for battery, which has more FOC months and
  A higher warranty period of Full Free Replacement is an indication of the quality of the battery. A longer warranty period means that a company is sure of its product and will last for at least the amount of time promised by it. A battery with a longer warranty period is always advisable.

5.Other important factors to look?

• Onsite Warranty: Does the battery cover Onsite warranty and does it has Toll Free No?
• Is this battery has been in market? is it proven? for how long? are there any complaints? for eg: Exide IT 500 Battery is proven in the market since 15 years! and it is one of the best recommend battery from Powerwale.
• Last but not least, think about your Space Constraints, if any!

Caution

• Dont go for unbranded or local brands, it can fail at any time and it releases harmful gas from cells, resulting High maintenance cost!
  Local batteries use poor quality lead, take a long time to charge and are inefficient. What’s more a local battery is also prone to explosions from the poor quality of material used inside. A good branded battery, on the other hand, undergoes stringent quality control that ensures you get what you are paying for!
• Dont prefer New brand, New Model, Unless untill it is from Exide, Amaron or Luminous
• Dont buy Sealed Maitenance Free batteries (VRLA) as it void the warranty, if you connect this batteries to Normal UPS/Inverer other than online UPS