We are going over to Lost Dutchman SP in Apache junction, tomorrow for the long weekend. While the girls go off on their hikes (which I cannot due as the knee is still on the mend), I will be inside watching some football. We are in a non electric site and even though we have two generators, the built in 4Kw and the Honda 2000 backup, I will not be running either.I have had the same 250 watt Statpower inverter since 1994 (bought it for less than $100 to use on our boat). It plugs into one of the 3 cigarette lighter outlets located on the dash of our E-350 Class C. A simple 6 foot extension cord reaches the power cord of the 26" Vizio and voila, color TV with no generator. Now if we want to watch a movie the Statpower will run the DVD player and the TV again with no generator, I just plug them both into the extension cord.LED LCD's use the least power and DVD players draw next to nothing. In addition to quiet viewing we use the inverter to charge all of our many electronic toys from I Phones to cameras and even my hearing aid's and remote. The point being there are lots of low draw AC applications that do not require a generator, all it takes is a small inverter and you are good to go. :C

I only use my 2KW Honda Generator to re-charge my battery bank at 8AM each morning for three hours when camping off the power grid...Thats the way to do - figure out your needs and get a big enough battery bank to keep it all going until the next morning then use a generator to make your on-board smart mode converter to recharge your battery bank back up to its 90% state of charge so you can do it all over again for the next day/night camping run off the batteries. Roy Ken

Yep. I'm surprised an inverter that old would not create all sorts of buzz in the TV.. it's not a psw is it?

WOW! Most of us have been at zero or below all week and you discuss A/C !!!!!!! :)

2oldman wrote:Yep. I'm surprised an inverter that old would not create all sorts of buzz in the TV.. it's not a psw is it?I guess Statpower is a quality unit as I have never experienced any interference. When it dies someday and I assume it will eventually, I will just go and get another one. I have to assume the new ones are even better. Nice to have three cigarette lighter outlets on the E-350. Even with the GPS taking one, still can charge stuff with the inverter and have one left. :C

AC the quiet easy way | Good Sam Community

15 Replies

Highway_4x4
Explorer
Jan 11, 2014
Just remember there is no free lunch. It's going to take 10 amps of 12 volt DC to get 1 amp of 120 volt AC. It's all about the watts. Volts X amps= watts. Watts devided by volts = amps.
pnichols
Explorer II
Jan 11, 2014
Desert Captain wrote:
The point being there are lots of low draw AC applications that do not require a generator, all it takes is a small inverter and you are good to go.

Hmmm ... you indeed are using a generator to use low AC draw applications.

You are merely doing what I call "offsetting" your power consumption from you power replenishment. You consume power from your battery(ies) at a different time from when you start up one of your generators and recharge your battery(ies). I guess I don't understand what your point is. :h
olfarmer
Explorer II
Jan 11, 2014
Ha, when I read the heading, I thought he was talking about Air Conditioning too, but after reading his post I realized that he was talking about Alternating Current!
2oldman
Explorer II
Jan 11, 2014
Sometimes it helps to read the post.
bukhrn
Nomad
Jan 11, 2014
I believe the OP is referring to A/C or AC,Alternating Current, an electrical term, as opposed to DC,has nothing to do with A/C ,Air Conditioning, although most A/C's do run on AC.
Mike__Rose
Explorer
Jan 10, 2014
Glossary of Terms
A/C: An abbreviation for air conditioner or air conditioning.
A/C Condenser: The condenser is the outside fan unit of the Air Conditioning system. It removes the heat from the Freon gas and "turns" the gas back into a liquid and pumps the liquid back to the coil in the furnace.
A/C Disconnect: The main electrical ON-OFF switch near the A/C Condenser.

I guess I read it incorrectly :)
CavemanCharlie
Explorer III
Jan 10, 2014
pasusan wrote:
Mike& Rose wrote:
WOW! Most of us have been at zero or below all week and you discuss A/C !!!!!!! :)
I was thinkin' the same thing. ;)

CavemanCharlie wrote:
I put two 6 volt deep cycle golf cart batteries in my Travel Trailer. Then I converted all my light bulbs to LED. I just have a el cheap-o Wall Mart inverter I can plug into one of my two cigarette lights built into the trailer and it runs the TV and DVD player just fine. I can go for days without needing to recharge my batteries. I also have a 12 volt fan that plugs into a cigarette lighter socket for air circulation. (It is a bit noisy though. Wish I could find a more quite one.)
Hi Caveman - here's one: Endless Breeze. We've got one - it's pretty quiet and moves a lot of air.

Thanks for the link. But, at 70 dollars I can live with the noise of my old one. Thanks anyway.
2oldman
Explorer II
Jan 10, 2014
AC, not A/C.
pasusan
Explorer
Jan 09, 2014
Mike& Rose wrote:
WOW! Most of us have been at zero or below all week and you discuss A/C !!!!!!! :)
I was thinkin' the same thing. ;)

CavemanCharlie wrote:
I put two 6 volt deep cycle golf cart batteries in my Travel Trailer. Then I converted all my light bulbs to LED. I just have a el cheap-o Wall Mart inverter I can plug into one of my two cigarette lights built into the trailer and it runs the TV and DVD player just fine. I can go for days without needing to recharge my batteries. I also have a 12 volt fan that plugs into a cigarette lighter socket for air circulation. (It is a bit noisy though. Wish I could find a more quite one.)
Hi Caveman - here's one: Endless Breeze. We've got one - it's pretty quiet and moves a lot of air.
CavemanCharlie
Explorer III
Jan 09, 2014
I put two 6 volt deep cycle golf cart batteries in my Travel Trailer. Then I converted all my light bulbs to LED. I just have a el cheap-o Wall Mart inverter I can plug into one of my two cigarette lights built into the trailer and it runs the TV and DVD player just fine. I can go for days without needing to recharge my batteries. I also have a 12 volt fan that plugs into a cigarette lighter socket for air circulation. (It is a bit noisy though. Wish I could find a more quite one.)

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AC the quiet easy way

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