Why would you put a power inverter in a camper?

Here is a typical 30A Power Distribution scheme... Might show you what all is included in a camper trailer and the different ways things are powered up...


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As you can see almost of the basic items provided in the camper are run from 12VDC. The reason for this is so you can camp off grid without shore power connections... Of course you long term stay is totally dependent on your battery bank capacity.

If you want to have a few 120VAC items while camping off the power grid you will need a Power Inverter setup to give you the 120VAC to power up these items... The downside to this it takes alot of Battery Power to even run the smallest of the Power Inverter. You will need to beef up your DC Power Battery banks to use the Power Inverters for any length of time...

Roy Ken

We use ours for off grid camping to run TV, Cpap machine etc,.

Many new campers have residential refrigerators that only run off a/c power. It allows you to run the refer off battery power while you are traveling down the road without having to run your generator.

Many of us dry camp or boondock, so an INverter, comes in handy when you don't have electric hookups.

We use ours to run the tv and dvd. Also to recharge electronic devices.
That way you don't have to run the generator at night.
You simply run it the next day to recharge the batteries.

If you only camp with hookups, there's no need for one. But that really limits your camping choices.

It depends on what you want to use, and how you camp. My first TT some 35 years ago had a hand pump for the sink, gas powered mantel type lamp, catalytic type heater and built in ice chest. No battery and no power cord. Most of my subsequent rigs were used mostly for remote dry camping and I didn't use an inverter. My current rig requires AC power for the recliners to work, needs AC for the stove vent fan which is part of the microwave, needs AC for the televisions etc. Since it doesn't have any DC outlets I also just decided to go the easy route and use AC power for my Bipap machine. I ended up installing two inverters on auto transfer switches that power all my outlets. 1 is a 600 watt unit that is sufficient for most things we run, and a 2000 watt unit I just use for short duration high power usage such as the microwave, wifes hair dryer, or the coffee pot should we decide to go Kurig that day.

I am using mine to power up alot of emergency radio comms electronics when off-grid... It is also my Home Entertainment 120VC source of power.

The alternative would be to run a generator during this time frame which is not allowed in alot of places.

The other alternative is to have a good SOLAR POWER setup to keep your batteries charged up . Then you can run Power Inverters off the batteries and allow the high sun to replenish them in silence without having to run a generator for three hours each day like i do...

If you are only interested in running some small fans and having a couple of lights going then a bag full of D CELLs and a can of white gas is about all you need... This is what we did back in our tent camping days back in the 50s - 60s...

Now days we all have battery banks to keep up with items we want to have running when camping off grid...

All depends what you want to do when you are camping...

Roy Ken

StiltzM109R wrote:
What is the point of putting a power inverter in my toy hauler?

Who knows? ... that's obviously up to you to determine. :R

I see other people putting power inverters in their campers.

I installed one in my own camper for those times we may lose campsite shore power ... allows us to continue using a toaster, coffee maker, 120 vac fans, etc, just as usually do. :)

Everyone's needs are different and so too are their solutions. ;)

An inverter converts 12 V from your batteries, to power the 120V outlets, when you do not have shore power.

The inverter creates 120vac out of 12vdc. One thing is, you can watch TV while on
Battery power.

Assuming your TH doesn't have one built in, it would allow you to convert the 12v power from your batteries to run 110v (household) items.