What size inverter?

tadau68 · Veteran Member

What size inverter?

Pamela G · Senior Member

Get the biggest you can afford. Although they may say 1000w they usually put out less, we have a 2000w and i can run the 700w microwave but not with the 800w toaster. Not usually a problem just need to be organised

Peter_n_Margaret · Guru

Pamela G wrote:
Get the biggest you can afford. Although they may say 1000w they usually put out less, we have a 2000w and i can run the 700w microwave but not with the 800w toaster. Not usually a problem just need to be organised

No, get the best you can afford. There is a lot of crap on the market.

Any inverter that won't run an 800W toaster is actually less than an 800W inverter and a 700W (cooking power) microwave probably draws between 1,00W and 1,200W, so you have been dudded.

Cheers,

Peter

Treecrest14 · Senior Member

Well - I have a 2000w (purchased it on ebay) and run our Cap Machine or the Microwave. But it also comes down to the battery capacity as to how long you can run these appliances. We have 2 x 100ah batteries.

Never tried a toaster as I would use the Griller on the gas stove if I ever wanted toast.

Cheers
Glen

Bagmaker · Senior Member

to further confuse you-
get the one with the least current draw on idle
and the one with no fan (big heatsink) as well as noting the good advice above.

You can get cheap power meters from jaycar -plugs into the wall at the socket- which will measure how much your blender is using. Add about 50% capacity to cover starting loads as Peter says.
As for the drill, get a decent battery drill

tadau68 · Veteran Member

This a 1500w pure sinewave. 3000w surge Smallest and most portable unit on the market Designed and build with the highest standards Very low idle current draw - 45W 3000W Surge capacity for 1/2s Low input voltage protection Short circuit protection Over temperature protection Low input voltage protection: (10+/-0.5) Suitable for AU socket style Will this take a lot out off my batteries 2 150 deep cycle?. Running a 95ltr fridge. Any info welcome Cheers Troy

Delta18 · Guru

Peter_n_Margaret wrote:
Pamela G wrote:
Get the biggest you can afford. Although they may say 1000w they usually put out less, we have a 2000w and i can run the 700w microwave but not with the 800w toaster. Not usually a problem just need to be organised
No, get the best you can afford. There is a lot of crap on the market.
Any inverter that won't run an 800W toaster is actually less than an 800W inverter and a 700W (cooking power) microwave probably draws between 1,00W and 1,200W, so you have been dudded.

Cheers,
Peter

Read Pamela's post properly. She said she can't run her toaster at the same time as her microwave. Not surprising even for a not crap inverter. Not dudded at all.

Peter_n_Margaret · Guru

tadau68 wrote:
This a 1500w pure sinewave. 3000w surge Smallest and most portable unit on the market Designed and build with the highest standards Very low idle current draw - 45W 3000W Surge capacity for 1/2s Low input voltage protection Short circuit protection Over temperature protection Low input voltage protection: (10+/-0.5) Suitable for AU socket style Will this take a lot out off my batteries 2 150 deep cycle?. Running a 95ltr fridge. Any info welcome Cheers Troy

45W is a huge idle current draw, it might even exceed the current requirement of the fridge. Our 130L 12V fridge draws about that.

And 3,000W surge for 1/2 a second is way too short to be useful.

What is the current draw of the fridge and what is the conversion efficiency of the inverter?

Cheers,

Peter

Peter_n_Margaret · Guru

Delta18 wrote:
Read Pamela's post properly. She said she can't run her toaster at the same time as her microwave. Not surprising even for a not crap inverter. Not dudded at all.

My apologies, I did misread the post.

Notwithstanding, a 2,000W inverter should be able to run an 800W toaster and a 700W microwave at the same time, unless the microwave is particularly inefficient or the batteries can't provide the 2kW plus the inverter inefficiency.

Cheers,

Peter

C00P · Senior Member

Our van has a 2000W inverter, but so far we haven't used it. We use the microwave when in a Caravan Park on 240V power, otherwise we cook with the gas stove or oven.
I also have a small 150W inverter which has a low current draw when unloaded of about 150mA and use this to charge the laptop, charge rechargeable batteries, or recharge our mobiles etc.

Don't forget that 240V appliances often use a lot of power and can really drain your batteries in a short period of time.

A rough approximation is Power = Current times Voltage*. And Current = Power divided by Voltage.
An 800W microwave, for example, would be drawing about 3 amps at 240V (800/240 =3.33) , but over 60 amps at 12 volts (800/12 = 66.6). So, if you run the microwave for an hour, then you will have taken 60 amp/hours out of your batteries. This is about half of the capacity of a 120Ah battery.
(The high current explains why the cables from your battery to your inverter need to be heavy duty).
If you are just going to use the microwave for a few minutes, then it's feasible to use the inverter. But the microwave will rapidly flatten your battery if you try to use it to cook a roast.

Most appliances have the power rating stamped on them somewhere. It will usually say something like :230/240V 50Hz 800W. Your Ninja blender will have it somewhere, either on a plate showing the make, model and serial number, or maybe moulded into the casing. You can also check the specifications in the instruction manual (if you still have it). From Google it seems they range from 700W up to 1500W. If you are only running it for a few seconds up to a couple of minutes each time, then it shouldn't drain your batteries too much.

Cheers

Coop

(*This formula is accurate for DC but a bit rough when considering AC. It can be used as a rough guide to the loads to expect from using an inverter with 240V appliances. It makes no allowance for inverter inefficiencies, which adds further to the load on the battery).

-- Edited by C00P on Wednesday 14th of December 2016 02:00:46 AM

blissonwheels · Senior Member

Gooday,

We have a Morningstar Suresine Inverter, they are bullet proof, OK only 300 Watt, but if you need more take a Generator for those things, microwaves etc. The Suresine will do 600 Watts for a 15 minute burst, we run our twin tub washing machine from it no trouble, uses that extra capacity to start and then settles down to under the 300 watt capacity.

I always consider if you want all the luxuries of the 240 volt high draw appliances you have at home don't go caravanning, or be prepared to stop where you can connect to shore power..

We have had other Inverters previously and they have not been very reliable when used below their rated capacity, the standby power draw of the Suresine is negligible.

Cheers,

Aus-Kiwi · Guru

Not sure of our inverter brand ? It's 3500 watt . I had to fit a breaker to prevent one who knows better from turning everything on and blowing DC fuse . Limiting amperage draw this way was the best way . Btw it's a concerted bus . Not done by myself .