Need help with voltage stabilizers !

R

rawfiul

Disciple
So the market currently has a voltage stabilizer targeted towards each home appliance. Like This is for TV , This is for Washing machine, This is for AC, This is for fridge and This is for PC.

The whole thing feels gimmicky. I am shifting and will be getting every home appliance and the area is notorious for bad electricity voltage.

Can someone help me purchase voltage stabilizers? There must be a simple all use case stabilizer that is long lasting, which is it?
 
If you put a mainline voltage stabilizer, then others are not required. A 5kva or 10kva is more than enough if you have one AC, fridge, washing machine, TV, microwave, etc since most of the items don't run 24/7.
 
6pack said:
If you put a mainline voltage stabilizer, then others are not required. A 5kva or 10kva is more than enough if you have one AC, fridge, washing machine, TV, microwave, etc since most of the items don't run 24/7.
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I have heard this increases electricity cost by a lot. Plus installation is much complex
 
Few related questions.
1. How do we determine if our area has bad voltage fluctuations? Do I just peek at the meter at random times in the day and see if it keeps itself within a 220-240V range?
2. Are modern (large) appliances (tv/fridge/washing machine) susceptible to these fluctuations? I realize a stabilizer is an insurance but I just wanted an idea about its tolerance.
3. Does occasional power cuts/electricity going out also contribute to voltage fluctuations? And is that also detrimental to these appliances?
 
rawfiul said:
I have heard this increases electricity cost by a lot. Plus installation is much complex
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Any voltage stabilizer will increase electricity cost. All of them have their own transformer inside according to the load they support. If a stabilizer says it supports max 2500w then it has a transformer that can take that load. A stabilizer can't produce electricity on its own, so it will put a load of 2500w on the mains. 2500w x 24/7 will naturally increase the number of units consumption per month.

As an example, my 850va inverter which supports max 550watts of load, puts a load of 550w on the mains 24/7 even if everything connected to it is shut off. I get about 15 units extra per month due to this.

In the end, it's depends on whether you really want to stabilize the electricity on your own or spend extra if something happens to the electronic stuff in your house.

There's a third option - tell your electric company that there is very high voltage in your area and they will do some adjustments to the wire connection that comes to the main transformer every building or society has. Ofcourse tell your society secretary or the person in charge of maintenance to make the complaint officially.

Installation is extremely simple. Two wires from mainline go to the stabilizer and the two wires that the entire house runs of that were connected to the MCB are connected to the output of the stabilizer.
 
Get an online UPS inverter for your load. It stabilizes the voltage out of the box as it creates separate power grid for your house. You don't need anything else.

ascalon said:
1. How do we determine if our area has bad voltage fluctuations? Do I just peek at the meter at random times in the day and see if it keeps itself within a 220-240V range?
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Electric meters don't have voltmeter. So get the voltmeter.

ascalon said:
2. Are modern (large) appliances (tv/fridge/washing machine) susceptible to these fluctuations? I realize a stabilizer is an insurance but I just wanted an idea about its tolerance.
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In some places like Goa, you really have to use stabilizer but for most cities, you don't need it.

ascalon said:
3. Does occasional power cuts/electricity going out also contribute to voltage fluctuations? And is that also detrimental to these appliances?
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Yes and yes. Voltage can fluctuate before power goes out and when it comes back on.
6pack said:
Any voltage stabilizer will increase electricity cost. All of them have their own transformer inside according to the load they support. If a stabilizer says it supports max 2500w then it has a transformer that can take that load. A stabilizer can't produce electricity on its own, so it will put a load of 2500w on the mains. 2500w x 24/7 will naturally increase the number of units consumption per month.
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It'll only run at 100% load if application running on asks for it. Sorta like SMPS. You might have a 2000W smps but if it's powering an i3 then it won't draw 2000W power.
 
ascalon said:
Few related questions.
1. How do we determine if our area has bad voltage fluctuations? Do I just peek at the meter at random times in the day and see if it keeps itself within a 220-240V range?
2. Are modern (large) appliances (tv/fridge/washing machine) susceptible to these fluctuations? I realize a stabilizer is an insurance but I just wanted an idea about its tolerance.
3. Does occasional power cuts/electricity going out also contribute to voltage fluctuations? And is that also detrimental to these appliances?
Click to expand...
1. No need to peek at the meter. If you have a normal ceiling fan that speeds up and down randomly during the day or night, or old bulbs that increase or decrease brightness, then you have voltage fluctuations in your area.
2. Yes, but most of them have taken this into account and have a wide working range. Problems arise when the fluctuations go beyond that range.
3. Power cuts will affect electronic stuff that has pcb's inside them.
Power cuts and fluctuations happen due to load mismatch in the neighborhood. This happens more in summer in cities when people use ac's more or near industrial areas. I'm sure others can explain it more precisely than me.
lockhrt999 said:
It'll only run at 100% load if application running on asks for it. Sorta like SMPS. You might have a 2000W smps but if it's powering an i3 then it won't draw 2000W power.
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Oh, I though it will put full load on the mains. Good to know it's just dynamic load.
 
6pack said:
1. No need to peek at the meter. If you have a normal ceiling fan that speeds up and down randomly during the day or night, or old bulbs that increase or decrease brightness, then you have voltage fluctuations in your area.
2. Yes, but most of them have taken this into account and have a wide working range. Problems arise when the fluctuations go beyond that range.
3. Power cuts will affect electronic stuff that has pcb's inside them.
Power cuts and fluctuations happen due to load mismatch in the neighborhood. This happens more in summer in cities when people use ac's more or near industrial areas. I'm sure others can explain it more precisely than me.

Oh, I though it will put full load on the mains. Good to know it's just dynamic load.
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Even with dynamic load, i have heard stabilizers connected to mains are at best 80% efficient. This will bump monthly bills. For this reason, i wana go with individual appliance stabilizers but cant settle on brand and model
 
80% and 90% efficiencies are too low. Not only for power bill, but will need serious cooling if even 3kw is being used in the house using 1 AC, a fridge, 2/3 fans and lights, a computer etc. That results in almost 600W or 300 W of heat output from the little stabilizer - needs a noisy cooler to keep under 500 degrees Celsius over long term.

Forget using the full 5 / 10 kW capacity.
 
kiran6680 said:
80% and 90% efficiencies are too low. Not only for power bill, but will need serious cooling if even 3kw is being used in the house using 1 AC, a fridge, 2/3 fans and lights, a computer etc. That results in almost 600W or 300 W of heat output from the little stabilizer - needs a noisy cooler to keep under 500 degrees Celsius over long term.

Forget using the full 5 / 10 kW capacity.
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Yeah. Hopefully 99.99% efficient transformers are invented in future.
 
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