Power Cuts in a country like India are common with high voltage fluctuations in many places. These fluctuations may turn out to be harmful to your appliances at times. They can often shorten the expected life of an electrical appliance. The fluctuations in voltage can cause an increase or decrease in electric current in the appliances which may result in the burning of the appliances.
Therefore, Voltage stabilizers have found a place in many households and offices in India. In this article, we will discuss how to choose voltage stabilizers for your electrical appliances.
What is a Stabilizer?
A stabilizer is an important appliance that is used to prevent serious damages to electrical appliances such as TVs, ACs, refrigerators and many more. They are extremely effective in checking voltage fluctuations and preventing damages caused by the issue and in return enhance the durability of your electrical appliances. A stabilizer, having the latest design and adherence to existing industrial specification can guard your appliances against voltage fluctuations for a long time
Why do voltage fluctuations happen?
Voltage fluctuations are the changes in the voltage delivered to our homes. It makes lights and electrical appliances go brighter or dimmer. They are typically not dangerous as they don’t break down your electrical appliances but they can damage the motors etc. of your electrical appliances. Voltage fluctuations can also change the output of your electrical appliance.
Voltage fluctuations mostly happen because of the bad wiring of the house, overload – when you are supplied more power than your given limit load, sudden switching on of all the electrical appliances in the house like motors or Air conditioners. Another reason for voltage fluctuations could be short circuits or bad earthing.
Now that you know how the voltage fluctuations happen, let’s learn what are the factors to be considered while buying stabilizers, and also about the need for appliances like these. So, let’s get started with a buying guide for Voltage stabilizer.
Things To Keep In Mind While Buying A Voltage Stabilizer
Different electrical appliances work on different voltages and also use different units of electricity. All the electrical appliances normally come with their range of specifications and features. Using the best voltage stabilizers will help deliver a constant range of voltage to your electrical appliances.
The standard voltage that Indian households get is around 230 VAC, 50Hz. So the maximum power of any electrical device could be calculated by multiplying 230 with the maximum rated current of the device. Once you have an idea about power consumption by a particular electrical device, it will help you choose a perfect stabilizer for your appliance among the best voltage stabilizers
Additional to the voltage limits, some other salient features of a voltage stabilizer must be present.
Mounting:
Voltage stabilizers operate with a high amount of electricity and power. Therefore, they come with the risk of being wet or damaged while kept on the ground. Therefore, these stabilizers should be kept at a higher level, not on the ground level. Placing voltage stabilizers at a higher level also saves children in the house from getting an electric shock.
Indicators:
Having an indicator in a voltage stabilizer is important as it shows the voltage which has been regulated by the voltage stabilizer. Some of the best voltage stabilizers in India come with an LED indicator.
Digitized:
The best voltage stabilizers are built with the latest digital technology. The main function of a voltage stabilizer is to tamper with voltage fluctuations to add an extra layer of protection on all the electrical devices connected. The digital technology used in the stabilizers helps it to adapt it to other electrical appliances easily.
The digitalization of a voltage stabilizer enables it to easily adapt to many other devices. Because of digitalization, all you need to do is shift this stabilizer from one device to another and it will adapt itself to the other electronic appliance.
Time Delay Systems:
This feature of a voltage stabilizer allows the compressor to generate the required voltage for the appliance and balance out the current flow when there’s a short duration power cut (3-5 minutes). . They are specifically used in stabilizers made for Air Conditioners and refrigerators.
Overload Protection:
Overheating comes with an increased risk of short circuits or burnouts. A lot of modern stabilizers come with thermal overhead protection. This add-on feature can save your device and you from fatal accidents. The feature enables a stabilizer to sense the excess heat and flow of current and allows it to immediately seize the current flow.
Therefore turning off the damaged device and blocking any kind of major damage.
Most of the voltage stabilizers come with 3-5 years of warranty so that you can have sufficient protection for your electrical appliances for longer. Always remember to choose a voltage stabilizer crafted particularly for refrigerators. We hope you make a good decision and get the best voltage stabilizer.
Types of Voltage Stabilizers
Voltage Stabilizers are designed depending on the appliances they are going to be used with. They are further classified based on the features and energy limits of an appliance.
Every appliance in the house comes with a different energy limit. Stabilizers are designed by keeping those energy limits and other technicalities in mind.
The Different Types of Voltage Stabilizers are:
● Air Conditioner Stabilizers
● Digital Stabilizer for LCD, LED TV and Music systems
● Refrigerator Stabilizers
● CRT TV and music system stabilizers
● Washing machine, treadmill and oven stabilizers
Air Conditioner Stabilizers
You need a stabilizer for your AC to protect it from possible voltage fluctuation because it’s a costly and highly vulnerable appliance. A voltage stabilizer for AC of up to 1.5 tons would cost somewhere around Rs.1500. The working range of voltage stabilizers for 1.5 Ton AC is between 190 to 270V.
The price of the stabilizer may change if there’s a difference in the load and capacity of the Air Conditioner in question.
Digital Stabilizers for LCD, LED TV and Music Systems
Digital Stabilizers for LCD, LED and music systems are different depending and the size of the TV and its working capacity. Here are some of the most commonly used voltage stabilizers depending on the size of the TVs:
● For 81.3 cm or below LCD, LED, 3D TV with a working capacity of 90-290V, you will need a voltage stabilizer with 320 voltage capacity.
● For TV falling in the range of 81.4 to 107 cm with a working capacity of 90-290V, you will need a 480-voltage capacity stabilizer.
● For TV ranging in-between 107cm-117 cm with a working capacity of 90-290V, you need a 720-volt capacity stabilizer.
● If you’re connecting your TV with DTH/DVD + home theatre and the total working capacity of the stabilizer attached is 140-290V, you need a bigger stabilizer with a voltage capacity of 1380 VA.
Refrigerator Voltage Stabilizers
● There are different voltage stabilizers for refrigerators available in the market depending on the size of the refrigerators.
● For a 300 liters refrigerator with a working range in between 70V-300V, you will need a 500-voltage capacity stabilizer.
● For a 600 liters refrigerator or one 4 amps deep freezer with a working range in between 90V-290V, you will need a 1000 voltage capacity stabilizer.
● For one 6 Amps deep freezer or refrigerator with a working range between 100V-300V, you will need a 1500 voltage capacity stabilizer.
Click To Know More About Voltage Stabilizers For Refrigerators
CRT TV and Music System Stabilizer
● For one CRT TV attached with DVD/DTH with a working capacity of 90V-300V, you will need a 200 or 250 voltage capacity stabilizer depending on the size of the TV.
Washing Machine, Treadmill, and Oven Stabilizer
● For appliances such as Microwave oven/treadmill/washing machine with a working capacity of 150V-280, you will need to have a 3500-voltage capacity stabilizer.
Choosing Which Voltage Stabilizer Is Best for General Appliances?
You must put in some of your time to select among the best voltage stabilizers for the electrical appliances. It is important to look at the key features and focused area while looking for the best voltage stabilizers in India. The nature of voltage stabilizer, power consumption range and the level of fluctuation are the very basic features that you should be looking for in voltage stabilizer.
The very first thing that you need to do is, to check the total energy or the energy limit of the appliance after connecting it to the voltage stabilizer. When an appliance is connected to the stabilizer, the energy consumed by the appliance varies.
Calculating the energy consumption!
A normal electric appliance tends to use double the amount of power and electricity when it’s not connected with a voltage stabilizer as compared to when it’s connected to one. It’s therefore important to note this down.
The size of a voltage stabilizer is the same as of UPS or an inverter. All the voltage stabilizers come in both kilo Volt Ampere (kVA) and Volt Ampere (VA). One Kva is equivalent to 1000 VA.
Now, you should be able to calculate the exact amount of power of the voltage stabilizer that is needed.
E.g., if the sum of watts connected to the stabilizer is 1000 then you need to choose a 1200 VA or 1.2 Kva stabilizers. The total watt value must be increased by 20% to get an approximate value of VA size that is perfect for your use. Also keep in mind that 20% value is only for households, not for industrial purposes, as the power factor differs in Industrial and household appliances.
How Do Voltage stabilizers Work?
Voltage stabilizers are more specifically known as Automatic and Safe voltage regulators. They are static appliances that help to stabilize input voltage before connecting it to the main appliance. It’s important to use a voltage stabilizer for heavy voltage appliances like a fridge which tend to break down due to voltage fluctuations.
Whenever there are voltage fluctuations or power breakdown in households, these voltage stabilizers recognize the voltage fluctuations and also regulate them internally to give a constant range of voltage for an efficient work output of electric appliances. What happens in this small machine is, whenever the voltage is low, the stabilizer tends to sense it and it boosts up the required level of voltages which is supplied to the electrical appliance like a refrigerator. The exact reverse happens when there is a high voltage input.
The voltage stabilizers are able to do this by using electronic circuitry, which changes the alternate taps of an inbuilt autotransformer by using electromagnetic rays. These electromagnetic waves are responsible for generating the required voltage. If the voltage supplied is not adequate for the working of electrical appliances, these stabilizers work in a way to get the required voltages within the range of electrical appliances.
This is how a voltage stabilizer adds an extra layer of protection between the electrical appliance and the fluctuating voltage source. Voltage stabilizers continuously monitor the voltage source and tamper it to deliver voltage in a safe range to the appliance. The consistent range of stabilized voltages helps the electronic appliances to live longer than usual.
Conclusion
So, after reading out this article, we hope that you have gained the required knowledge on a few most important things before you go out to buy a stabilizer that’s perfect for your needs. Also, you need to know about some basic terms like voltage fluctuations, input voltage, and power consumption, etc. before you go out a buy one for your needs. This will ensure you don’t get stuck while reading through the specifications of different stabilizers. So, this was our Buying Guide for Voltage Stabilizer. Always keep the things we discussed above in mind for choosing the right voltage stabilizer for your needs. Having a stabilizer is important as it will save your electrical appliances from fatal damages and it will also ensure a long life of your appliances connected to it.
FAQ
Yes, nowadays most modern appliances indeed feature an inbuilt stabilizer. But, the truth is that a built-in stabilizer only provides protection for a particular voltage range. Adding an extra stabilizer increases the voltage range that could be handled by the unit and therefore offer enhanced safety.
The basic use of voltage stabilizers is to stabilize the voltage used by the electrical appliances connected to it.
Such notes and claims do not come with stabilizers; the reason behind it is because it’s not a power saving unit. You can though save some bills to an extent because the basic job of a voltage stabilizer is to keep the power consumption constant and there are some chances that the electricity may be saved in between this process. You can assume that the stabilizer consumes its fraction of power. The normal power saving of a voltage stabilizer is up to 5% maximum, but if you use it on all the devices that need it, you may end up saving a lot more energy.
You probably need a stabilizer when there are more than usual fluctuations in the voltage. You may see a consistent pattern of high and low fluctuations or may see it suddenly especially after power cuts. These fluctuations will make your electrical appliances prone to damage. The reasons for these fluctuations are bad wiring, overload, suddenly turning on and off of high voltage appliances, shorts circuits or even bad earthing.
No! If you have a traditional stabilizer instead of a regular stabilizer, you must not use it for any other appliances because they both won’t be compatible with each other. A fridge requires additional safety and therefore, you need some add-on features to ensure both, the refrigerator and the stabilizer are safe. The add-on feature includes a time-delay system also known as ITDS.
There are many types of stabilizers according to different phases available in the market. You’ll see one phased stabilizer and also a three-phased stabilizer. If you’re looking for a stabilizer for household use one-phase stabilizers should be enough for your need. But in-case for a stabilizer for an entire house, you’ll need a three-phase voltage stabilizer. You need to dig deeper if you want to know more about every aspect of the phase connection.
Many people don’t know the fact that voltage stabilizers also consume electricity. The electricity consumption of the stabilizers depends on their efficiency level. A stabilizer having an efficiency of 95% to 98% (as it’s common) will consume 2% to 5% of the electricity load.
This means a 1000 VA stabilizer will consume up to 50 watts at peak load. Leaving the stabilizer switched on for nearly 10 hours can result in the consumption of 0.5 electricity units.
Every electrical appliance present in the house comes with different features. They have their specific energy limits. Depending on the energy limit of devices at home, you need voltage stabilizers. The manufactures design these voltage stabilizers after studying the energy limit of these devices.
Therefore, you have different stabilizers for different devices at home such as TVs, washing machines, refrigerators, ACs, ovens, music systems, and many more. The following categories of stabilizers are easily available in India:
o Digital stabilizer for LCD/LED TVs and music systems o CRT TV and music system stabilizers o AC stabilizers o Washing machine stabilizers o Microwave oven and o Treadmill stabilizers o Refrigerator stabilizers
An inverter is used to convert DC into AC and helps your devices at home or work function at times of power cuts. The inverters need a battery that enables it to store electricity and use it during power cuts. Whereas, the voltage stabilizer does nothing of this kind.
The main purpose of voltage stabilizer is to stabilize the input current to ensure that the electrical appliances connected to it receive electricity within a voltage range. It does not work during power cuts.
Before selecting the stabilizer, you need to have an idea of how much power your appliances use. You can get good insights into how much power your electrical appliances consume by doing a basic electrical load evaluation.
In Manual voltage stabilizers, the output is to be corrected manually, i.e. if output voltage decreases, you will have to rotate the switch up, and if output voltage increases, you have to rotate the switch down to make your appliances work on the electrical inputs supplied for running efficiently.
But in the case of Automatic voltage stabilizers, the output voltage is corrected automatically with the help of electromagnetic switches i.e. power replays. There’s no need to rotate the switch up and down manually.
Yes, you can run your electrical appliances without a stabilizer, but at your own risk. Your appliances will work perfectly fine until major voltage fluctuations occur. But when there are
fluctuations, they may damage your appliances and that is why stabilizers are used to regulate the input voltage.
Three-phase stabilizers are only used for three-phase motors. You only need one if you have a three-phase motor. Mostly, all the home appliances work on single-phase voltage stabilizers. But we don’t recommend putting one stabilizer for the complete house. This may actually result in an increase in overall electricity consumption. Instead of going for one stabilizer for the whole house, go for individual stabilizers for particular devices. This will save you some money in the long run.
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