would this work?

milo · Guru

would this work?

Ma · Guru

No being technically minded MIlo, I asked Blue if I could use our little heater when we free camped and he said that there is not an inverter that he has heard of that will run a heater.

milo · Guru

this is begining to be a royal pain in the ****** ..****

davkar · Senior Member

Hi
It will not run a heater on a inverter you will require a large inverter and a big battery , but you can buy 12 volt heaters on ebay for this type of thing they work quite well and do not drain battery fast, I hope this helps
Regards

Happywanderer · The Master

I know with my inverter, I was told by my S.in.L not to use it to boil the jug, just not enough strength in it. So I presume the heater would be the same.

Peter_n_Margaret · Guru

Milo, the power to run a heater does not come from the inverter, it comes from the batteries.
The inverter just converts it to a more useful form.
The Tardis would not be capable of carrying enough batteries to power a decent electric heater. FULL STOP.

Cheers,
Peter

milo · Guru

thanks peter,

Old Crofter · Senior Member

Milo, if noise is not a problem your Honda 20i will run your reverse cycle airconditioner in the Tardis. I used mine at home the other morning as a trial. From 2degree to 18 in 1/2 hour.

cheers

Bob

jimricho · Guru

I recently "camped" at an unpowered site for two weeks and I used a "Shuttle Chef" (similar to a "Dream Pot") to store hot water for washing up etc. Each morning I boiled the billy (the inside vessel) and placed it in the Shuttle Chef. I also boiled the kettle for my early "heart-starter" cuppa (Twinings in a teapot) and filled a Thermos for later use for my mid-morning caffeine booster shot (proper coffee in a plunger).

When I used to go on 4WD tag alongs I found a billy of boiling water in bucket of cold was enough for a warm shower using one of those 12v pump showers available at Kmart, Big W, camp stores etc.

Dunco · Senior Member

What about a diesel heater ?

PeterD · Guru

Milo, back to your inverter, even if you carried enough batteries, you would need a 3,000 W inverter to run your heater not a 300 W job. Just as well you know to ask first.

milo · Guru

thanks bob, we might have to give it a go.. with the genni
dunco , we may some stage diesel heater , but we'd have to use the tardis alot more than we do now..
and thanks peterd, can i stll just use an inverter for the laptop??
also .. if we have the genni running , that will charge the house battery at the same time i presume?
which is also being charged from the solar panel on the roof, ..
which i thnk runs the lights and 12volt stuff.. ie lights and tv..

man this takes alot of getting your head around..

oh we got the tardis booked in soon for a full service and check up and run down of things,
so we'll be prepaird abit more for our big trip to adelaide and alice in september..

we also bought a set of hand held uhf radios, so which has a range of 4ks, so i hope we can chat to the truckies
along the way to find out what the roads are like etc. and any one else i gues..

milo

jimricho · Guru

Re the laptop.... one of these is a better solution than using an inverter.....

(use of Jaycar image is acknowledged)

(Jaycar cat no MP3324 more at http://www.jaycar.com.au/productView.asp?ID=MP3324&form=CAT2&SUBCATID=1044#6)

It's a brave person that uses a "modified sine wave" inverter to charge a laptop, a "pure sine wave" is ok

If your house battery is recharged when "Tardis" is plugged into a power point it will be recharged when plugged into a generator.

milo · Guru

thanks jimricho,
so could i run the laptop all day and tv , lights , with out draining the battery too much?

jimricho · Guru

milo wrote:
thanks jimricho,
so could i run the laptop all day and tv , lights , with out draining the battery too much?

How long's a piece of string? confuse

You do need to be economical with your use of house battery power. I charge my laptop from the vehicle's main battery via a cig lighter socket, often when on the move, and just use the laptop's internal battery when on line.

TVs and laptops can draw down significantly on a house battery, as well as unnecessary use of lights.

It's my view is that it's best to avoid usng inverters if there is any other option. The quoted efficiency of an inverter may not be achieved in the real world.