I thought of writing a review of my APC inverter when I bought it. Somehow, I considered it feasible to write a review until its a little old and used. Now, after 3 years, I am writing about it.
I bought my APC 800VA (500 watts) inverter in March 2006 from Smart Motor Agency in Lajpat Nagar. While I am not so interested in discussing about the dealer, I am glad to share my experience about the Inverter.
In the last three years, I never had any problem with the inverter. I called APC Customer Care only once and they visited within 24 hours during warranty period. The UPS supports up to 3 fans, 3 tube lights, 2 CFLs for 4-5 hours. Actually this is the maximum I have observed. But, considering its running on a single battery, it sounds good to me. On this kind of load, it goes to nearly 75% of its capacity. If you switch off 2 fans, it can support a cooler as well.
Another good thing about this inverter is, it does not let the computer trip when light fails. This way, it works as a UPS for the computer. Well, it is in fact a UPS. The service from APC has been good so far. However, once the warranty period is over, you may not get any support from them.
Technically, it is an advanced UPS - Inverter that runs on Square wave. While most others are sine-wave inverters. It has only 2 buttons; one to reset it and another, to test it or to disconnect it from the battery. If in case, its fuse goes off, you cannot change it because it is not visible. If under warranty, APC replaces the inverter. The drawback is, if the inverter fails after warranty, you may have to buy a new one. At least this is what I gathered from the dealer.
Since this UPS uses external battery, I would like to mention about the battery too. I bought an Excide Inverter Plus battery with this UPS. I am glad I bought this because they say it is a maintenance free battery, and I think it is. Further, I don’t think it eats a lot of electricity because there hasn’t been any significant change in my electricity bills after getting it installed.