My son is an over-the-road long haul trucker. He's having a power inverter installed in his truck for 110 volt stuff. Looks like TV, DVD and possibly a little fridge is all he will be using it for. I'm thinking a 1500 watt inverter will more than handle the things he may be powering. They only allow one brand to be installed. His only choice is 1500 or a 3000 watt.If I understand an inverter and it's power: The fridge runs 40 watts, the TV about 20 and the DVD about the same. That's less than 100 watts so he would have another 1400 watts available (maybe for a rasor, fan or other small items.Am I correct on the power draw placed on the inverter?

Yes and 500W would do if allowed. 1500W will run a small microwave.

We power More than that with a 2000 WATT. 1500 is sufficient What is the price difference between the two. Tinstar wrote:My son is an over-the-road long haul trucker. He's having a power inverter installed in his truck for 110 volt stuff. Looks like TV, DVD and possibly a little fridge is all he will be using it for. I'm thinking a 1500 watt inverter will more than handle the things he may be powering. They only allow one brand to be installed. His only choice is 1500 or a 3000 watt.If I understand an inverter and it's power: The fridge runs 40 watts, the TV about 20 and the DVD about the same. That's less than 100 watts so he would have another 1400 watts available (maybe for a rasor, fan or other small items.Am I correct on the power draw placed on the inverter?

Just make sure it's sine wave inverter and all will be good. If you go for the cheaper modified sine over the long run you'll end up replacing the appliances.

wallynm wrote:We power More than that with a 2000 WATT. 1500 is sufficient What is the price difference between the two. I'm not positive but it was somewhere around an extra $200 for the 3000 watt.

40W sounds low for a fridge, unless it's a tiny little thermoelectric desktop unit (which are barely able to keep a can or two of soda cool). It may consume a bit under 1 kWh per day, or an average of 40W, but the actual power usage would be practically zero (when the compressor is not running) or well over 40W (when it is—particularly when the compressor is starting up).Regardless, the 1500W inverter is more than sufficient for your son's needs and wants, and then some. He could also run a crock pot and an immersion heater for making tea or coffee.

Quick question about power inverter | Good Sam Community

tropical36
Explorer
Sep 26, 2015
J-Rooster wrote:
I agree with going bigger! And, Good Luck to your son I did the OTR Gig for 44-1/4 years been retired for 5-1/2 years.

The thing is and the OP should be aware, that a 3K watt inverter will draw 250amps at max. and will require 250MCM awg copper wire (big stuff) on the battery input end, to deliver such. That's quite a draw and trying to suck this out of two 6v batteries for more than an instant or two, would be like hooking a 500 gallon per minute pump to a 500 gallon tank.
2oldman
Explorer II
Sep 26, 2015
o..
J-Rooster
Explorer
Sep 26, 2015
I agree with going bigger! And, Good Luck to your son I did the OTR Gig for 44-1/4 years been retired for 5-1/2 years.
Canadian_Rainbi
Explorer
Sep 26, 2015
tropical36 is right. Without decent batteries, (over 200 AH) you are wasting time and money on a big inverter. Our microwave draws 150 amps or more from our 4 GCs. Big batteries and big cables.

On a single group 27 or 31 I wouldn't run much over 500 watts.
wa8yxm
Explorer III
Sep 25, 2015
"They only allow 1500 or 3000 watt"

Who is "They"?

For Tv computer and Sat stuff I'd go with soemthing in the 500 range but if they insist onf 1500.. Miight as well add a Microwave. Something in the 750 watt range should work fine.
tropical36
Explorer
Sep 25, 2015
Tinstar wrote:
wallynm wrote:
We power More than that with a 2000 WATT. 1500 is sufficient What is the price difference between the two.

I'm not positive but it was somewhere around an extra $200 for the 3000 watt.

The larger size wouldn't do much good without extra battery power, anyway.
As for mod or pure sine wave, we've been operating on a 1000w mod wave with two 6v batteries for years now for tv's the fridge and such and even make a pot of coffee with it most mornings, even if it might require starting the engine on occasion after a long night of other uses. Not suggesting the RV fridge will operate all night long with it and we still use the gas for that, but it does come in handy for short duration's and going down the road.
jerry8mm
Explorer
Sep 24, 2015
A lot of pure sinewave inverters have two outlets and only put out half of the rated power at each outlet.

I have a 2,000-watt inverter. It has two AC outlets and each one only puts out 1,000 watts, so I can't run a 1,500-watt appliance.

Just something to check before you buy.
zman-az
Explorer
Sep 24, 2015
I put in a 1800 watt to run my Keurig Coffee maker, I don't think a 1500 watt would work. Nothing like making a quick cup of coffee while going down the road. For $200 more I would go the 3000 watt version as well, never know what else you might need it for.
Dale_Traveling
Explorer II
Sep 24, 2015
If budget will allow I would go big also. A small microwave or even a coffee pot can have a large power demand. A one cup Keurig coffee maker will pull 1425 watts (per the pot label).
2oldman
Explorer II
Sep 24, 2015
dons2346 wrote:
Just make sure that either one of them is a pure sine wave.
We'll see if 'they' allow that. :)

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