Battery Usage - Basic Difference Between Standby Use and Cyclic Use

To understand the difference between standby use and cycle use, it is important to first understand the definition of standby use and cycle use. When a battery is used as a regular power source it is also being discharged and recharged afterwards, it is known to be in cyclic use. However, standby use is the term used when the battery gets used as an emergency source of power during the power cut time.

Let us understand the difference between standby use and cycle use based on some factors:

• Voltage Requirement: The voltage needed by a battery to get completely full is called cycle use, but it should not be kept at that voltage because it does not suit the cell life. However, the voltages on which the battery can be kept at one time to keep it in good shape and stored till you need it.

• Life Cycle: The factor determining the life of cyclic use is the total number of discharge and charge cycles which can be completed. However, in standby use the design life is up to five years.

• Usage: Cyclic use is often used for discharging and charging of electrical equipment including household appliances and motorbikes, etc. whereas standby is used as the power backup source of energy. Situations wherein there is a sudden outage of the electricity, standby use batteries are used.

• Battery Performance: Standby use batteries have a longer shelf life due to its ability to store the power for a longer period. Generally, cyclic batteries performance depends on different parameters like depth of charges and discharges, type of charging factors and methods. Also working temperature of the batteries.

• Up to 1000 charge and discharge cycles are expected and depend on the average depth of discharge whereas in standby battery stays connected to a charger that ensures the battery to be fully charged and ready to be used.

• Cyclic use can also be understood with the term Direct Power Source whereas Standby Use means to back up power source.

• Standby application is a typical use for an industrial system in the form of equipment like Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) whereas for cyclic use a usual application system is electrical power loading system.

It is to be remembered that some of the lead batteries are commonly used in standby condition, where they are very rarely cycled, but also kept on charge constantly. Such batteries live long, if charged under a certain voltage.