Power situation in Pune

[Soundstage]

Hello all!

Just found out about this forum and have gone through a number of enlightening posts. I am relocating to Pune and have heard a lot about the poor power quality as well as the load shedding/outages there. Are there any members from Pune on the forum and how do they cope? Is the concern justified or is much of it hype?

All comments/suggestions greatly appreciated.

Many Thanks!

 

[sridhar-v]

Hi!

Pune used to have a scheme where the industries used to run on their captive gensets during summer . So for the last few years there has been load shedding during the summer months only in areas where there is a lot of "theft". In the area where I live (Nav Sahyadri) there was hardly any load shedding.

This year the genset scheme is in lombo but till date there has not been any load shedding. Occasional tripping of supply does occur. Also maintenance shutdowns are on thursday.

You will need std. protection against spikes EMI noise etc & also 440v on single phase. Pls see my posts on the high voltage surge protector

 

[askii2]

We have had power outages for 2-3 hours in a few areas form the city on Thursdays in last 2 weeks. Otherwise we don't have power outages. Rainy season is a different story. MSEDCL makes it a point to switch-off power at the slightest hint of thunderstorms, lightning or strong winds every year. This is a problem during June. Once rain stabilizes, MSEDCL doesn't have to power-off.

There was only one day in entire April when we had low voltage running for 4-5 hours in Parvati-Swargate area. I shutdown all the electronic equipment and AC, Fridge during that time. Things work well otherwise.

I'll recommend an inverter to cover tube-lights, fans, internet routers during occasional power-offs. That is anywhere between 300 to 500W of power.

 

[just4kix]

Power situation is Pune is better when compared to rest of Maharashtra but Mumbai is better. There is no need to be paranoid about it. We have load shedding typically on Thursdays but off late that too is redued.

As stated above, investment in UPS, stabilizers, etc. will be a wise move.

Anyway, the climate in Pune compensates some of the Mumbai disadvantages. We use AC at night only and that too for a couple of hours just after plopping on to the bed. When I visit my uncle in Mumbai, I remember that AC is on for quite a while.

 

[Soundstage]

Thank you Sridhar-v, askii2 & just4kix, for your valuable inputs. Most likely, I shall be settling down in Magarpatta City. Trust the power there is not that bad!

So, it shall look somewhat this way:

Distribution Box => MCB => Dedicated A/V Line => Online UPS => Sockets = Various A/V components.

My knowledge in these matters being only skin deep, please do correct me if I am wrong. Would I need spike/EMI protectors in addition to the UPS?

Further, knowing my family, there would be upto 3 TV sets beaming various channels any given day. There would also be 2 PCs & a small Compo system operating at various times during the day. Will it make sense to have another smaller UPS with a dedicated line for these? If yes, then I would appreciate your take on the capacity.

Finally, what protection would be required for a Fridge and ACs? Inverter for tubelights, fans etc is a given.

Thanks again,

 

[hemantwaghe]

Pune has "Pawar" ( alongwith Kalmadi ) , but not proper Power it seems !!

 

[just4kix]

Power situation is Magarpatta City is not bad but the traffic sitiuation in that area (outside the township) is horrible and will remain so for a year.

 

[Soundstage]

Power situation is Magarpatta City is not bad but the traffic sitiuation in that area (outside the township) is horrible and will remain so for a year.

Is that because of the work going on currently on the Solapur Road? During my visit last month I used the Nagar Road and found it pretty decent.

Cheers

 

[just4kix]

As our American friends would say, "affirmative".

And traffic jams are usually during peak rush hours - 9 AM to 11:00 AM and 5:30 PM to 8 PM.

 

[askii2]

Distribution Box => MCB => Dedicated A/V Line => Online UPS => Sockets = Various A/V components. My knowledge in these matters being only skin deep, please do correct me if I am wrong. Would I need spike/EMI protectors in addition to the UPS?

An off-line UPS should also suffice IMO since you won't worry about millisecond switchover times for A/V components. UPSes have excellent power protection built into them. Inverters usually do not have any power protection built into them and are slower when switching to battery. Either an off-line UPS or an inverter + spike guard will suffice. If you don't need to keep A/V equipment during power-offs even a good quality spike guard will suffice.

Further, knowing my family, there would be upto 3 TV sets beaming various channels any given day. There would also be 2 PCs & a small Compo system operating at various times during the day. Will it make sense to have another smaller UPS with a dedicated line for these? If yes, then I would appreciate your take on the capacity.

Finally, what protection would be required for a Fridge and ACs? Inverter for tubelights, fans etc is a given.

Thanks again,

Ideally you should get a spike guard for everything. Just fit it into the mains box and it'll cover all components. That should suffice for fridge, ACs and everything else.

Whether you want to have a dedicated UPS for TVs, PCs and compo system depends on whether you need them during power offs. My recommendation will be to keep a basic minimum set of tubelights, fans + 1PC and internet gateway on an inverter. A dedicated line isn't a must but is very convenient if you can get it connected through all switchboxes.

I have installed a dedicated inverter line through all switchboxes in my home. I find it very convenient to move some switches/sockets in or out of the inverter whenever there is any need. It was expensive to start with (More than Rs. 5000 IIRC), but has helped me in the long run.

 

[Soundstage]

Thank you Askii2, for your sound advice!

Cheers

 

[Soundstage]

Thank you Askii2, for your sound advice!

Cheers

 

[just4kix]

I am using a lot of AV equipment and just have a spike guard. No stabilizer.

 

[Soundstage]

I am using a lot of AV equipment and just have a spike guard. No stabilizer.

Which means I don't need to get too hysterical about outages/fluctuations in Pune.

Have you any idea about the online UPS' ... in the sense, do they really clean the power and improve performance?

Thanks

 

[just4kix]

Online UPS beyond 500VA are very expensive. I have no idea on the price. The batteries are becoming more and more expensive. But they do help in "cleaning" the power line.

- the incoming raw power is fed to the "AC to DC" converter part of the online UPS and converts it to 12V DC
- the 12V DC charges the batteries
- the batteries supply the power to the "inverter" part of the UPS which converts it back to 230V AC
- the output is thus much cleaner in terms of voltage and frequency
- however the sine wave is not perfect

I will recommend an online UPS for the projector only (if you have one). The rest can do with an Inverter/UPS.

 

[Soundstage]

I will need to go in for an online UPS for my projector. It needs to be shut down correctly. Abrupt power outages have the potential to drastically reduce bulb life, if not damage it altogether.