My Story: How I Became An Apostle Of The Inverter Solution

In this article:
»Passion From User Experience
»Under Immense Pressure
»Search For A Viable Solution
»The Score-Card
»Why This Story

I must admit that I am more than a bit passionate about the inverter. That passion is obviously why serious marketers are ever raving about customer satisfaction. They are schooled in the art of selling and fully understand the power of word-of-mouth in delivering positive or negative outcomes, depending on the customer's experience. They realise the weight of the positive testimonial of a satisfied customer and the referrals and market buzz that could result from meeting customers' expectations. In fact, the whole concept of network marketing rides on this platform: satisfied customers will, most times, introduce the product they have enjoyed to their friends, family and colleagues. Sometimes they're just showing off; at other times there is a genuine interest to offer the other party a chance to enjoy the same value. Effectively, they promote the product on behalf of the marketer and, because they are talking to trusting friends and family, the promotional impact is far-reaching, often with good conversion ratios.

Passion From User Experience
So, if I speak passionately about inverters, don't mistake me for a manufacturer of the product. I merely acquired one while in search of a badly-needed viable power solution and, better believe it, that product went far beyond my expectation in delivering results. I have, of course, gone further to research into and understand the product much more and increasingly, I've recommended it to friends. If I think it works so well, I shouldn't keep that from my friends, you know. Mind you, in a practical sense, I've personally used only one brand of inverter. So, while I am completely sold on the performance of the product I use and feel strongly about the inverter option for power back-up, I can hardly vouch for every brand in the market.

Under Immense Pressure
Anyway, let me get to the story of how I got into the use of this product. Firstly, I'd heard about inverters a few years back. I remember clearly that it was at Medimart, a supermarket at the Isolo bus-stop in Isolo, Lagos. While there, there was no public power supply (general lighting was off) and no generator noise, yet they were using their PC and other gadgets at the check-out counter. I enquired and was told it was an inverter they were using. They mentioned that you ran the equipment off a battery, but somehow, the idea didn't hit home. Now, fast-forward to a few years after and find me with a major project that required constant power supply, especially to run a PC. Frankly, power to use my PC was the principal need, but this was absolutely critical to the success of a project that needed a few months of work to beat into shape. Unfortunately, almighty PHCN could not be counted on for any meaningful support. Initially, I tried running my generator to sustain my work, but the financial burden of running a generator for the better part of a day could not be sustained, especially as the project was in incubation, not yielding any revenue. I needed a solution and fast too, because the frustration was beginning to tell.

The Search For A Viable Solution
Anxious to move forward, I went in search of a solution, asking questions extensively. My defined need was for an affordable device that could provide power just to run my PC and possibly a fan. Any other need didn't matter because my concern was about the work I had on hand. I finally, through consultations, got introduced to inverter as a possible solution. Further evaluation followed and I soon came to the conclusion that taking an inverter was the option to try. I wasn't sure, but had to take a chance. I just hoped it would meet my defined requirement, but when I bought a 1400kva sine wave inverter, I was told it could do a lot more than I primarily needed. So we went on to provide for other uses, many times over what I initially anticipated.

The Score-Card
The exceeding success of my experiment with the inverter is my reason for preaching it. It has delivered far beyond my expectation. How is this? Check out this score-card:

  1. Load Capacity: I simply wanted to use a PC and possibly a fan for some cooling. I found I could load a lot more to it: PC, including printer, UPS and fan for the PC, table lamp, general lighting at several points in the house, two or more other fans, two TV sets, as many phones as possible all at once and a few other things in between. Yet, it has never been loaded to 50% load capacity (the front panel LCD indicator gives continuous calibration).


  2. Staying Power: I worried about the claims as to how many hours the fully charged system would work and never trusted the claims. The reality is surprising. The system, if fully charged and loaded reasonably, has done stretches of eight hours and more. Most times, the public supply gets back before it will run out. For all practical purposes, it has, for once, made the idea of round-the-clock (aka 24/7) power supply a reality.


  3. Automation of Change-over: The system I use is automatic. No change-over is required. No hassles. It simply works like clock-work.


  4. Huge Money Saver: This is the sweetest part. I had a generator after all and my problem was how to sustain running it for extended periods, given the cost of fuel and the high frequency of power cuts. It was a burden which I desired to let off. The inverter has more than done what I hoped for. I never imagined using power without a cost! Unless and until I need to change the battery pack (I hope it does several years of work), there is no running cost. Of course, if there is a fault (I reject that!) it has to be repaired, but so far, so good. The idea of fuel and oil for a generator is history - yes I keep a little fuel, just in case, as happens occasionally, the system is exhausted when PHCN is on break for the good part of a day. Even at that, you only run a gen set for a while, just to recharge!


  5. All The Hygiene Factors: It's never been so good, using power without noise, fumes and all the mess of generators. Except you want to make a statement with the generator noise, life is better without it.

Why This Story
It possibly amounts to repeating myself, but this product caught my fancy and I became passionate about it. It has been valuable to me and served well in every respect. I thought I should let others know, because I know that the power supply challenge has held down many dreams. Inverters are not too cheap to acquire when you include the cost of battery, but if you understand figures, you will readily get the picture: over a short period, the savings on running costs, compared to the generator alternative, recoups the purchase cost. Depending on your need, the inverter may be a good solution if you really need steady power, at affordable cost, to move ahead with some important work.

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