Forum Discussion

MagillaGorilla's avatar
Mar 17, 2015

Inverter

I noticed that the motorhome that I am buying (2006 Damon Daybreak) has an inverter in the rear storage bin. I don't know if it is factory or not. So it got me thinking that I know very little about inverters in RVs. So I will ask:

1: was an inverter a factory "option"

2: if it was, what size should it be?

3: What do you run on your inverter?

4: How quickly does it deplete your house batteries when you use yours?

5: Should I run a separate inverter just for my TV?


Any other thoughts on the inverter would be welcome.

3 Replies

  • MagillaGorilla wrote:
    I noticed that the motorhome that I am buying (2006 Damon Daybreak) has an inverter in the rear storage bin. I don't know if it is factory or not. So it got me thinking that I know very little about inverters in RVs. So I will ask:

    1: was an inverter a factory "option"

    2: if it was, what size should it be?

    3: What do you run on your inverter?

    4: How quickly does it deplete your house batteries when you use yours?

    5: Should I run a separate inverter just for my TV?

    Any other thoughts on the inverter would be welcome.

    1- most likely
    2-2000-3000 watts
    3-anything that uses 120V (eg) tv,fridge,coffe pot,dvd player
    120 volt lite,fans etc
    4-depends on the AMP draw on the applinace being used
    number of batterys you have and the size of their reserve capacity
    5- No

    when boondocking batterys can be replenished by running gen set for a few hours
    If using inverter while driving the motor alternater will keep the batterys up
  • In most cases an inverter is a factory option. Sometimes it is only for the entertainment systems and is quite small, 300 watts or so. Some are meant to run the whole motor home as well as charge the batteries. These are usually 2000 watts with 100 amps of charging power. Batteries determine how long you can run the inverter. If you have only two group 24 batteries, you will be able to run your TV and satellite receiver for 4 or 5 hours. If you have a full house inverter, and the microwave runs on it, you should only use it for a few minutes. You can't run the air conditioning from an inverter. If your whole house is on the inverter, four six volt golf cart batteries would be best. If you have solar power you will be able recharge the batteries without plugging in. It will take a couple of hours of driving to recharge the batteries or several hours of being plugged in to shore power.