Inverter recommendations
I'm looking to add an inverter to my new 5er. I run dual 6V Costco batteries and have a 160W solar panel on the roof. The inverter will primarily be for watching TV or running a coffee maker in the...
Forum Discussion
Coffeemaker can be too much pain with your setup.
With nothing else but TV and lights 160W panel is enough to charge your batts by the evening, on a clear summer day. On a cloudy day - depends how cloudy.
Beside inability of your panel to provide enough amp-hours daily, there is a matter of very high current drawn by those kitchen gadgets. Roy is right - with mere 2 batteries it's better not to exceed 70-80A, so with inverter losses this translates to max 900W device. Your batts won't die instantly if you run 120A, but they won't like it either.
For TV/CD alone, no kitchen gadgets - 300W inverter is enough, and 600W is plenty. Get PSW inverter, some electronics don't work well with MSW type.
Running a generator few times a day to make a coffee - well, I won't comment on that.
With nothing else but TV and lights 160W panel is enough to charge your batts by the evening, on a clear summer day. On a cloudy day - depends how cloudy.
Beside inability of your panel to provide enough amp-hours daily, there is a matter of very high current drawn by those kitchen gadgets. Roy is right - with mere 2 batteries it's better not to exceed 70-80A, so with inverter losses this translates to max 900W device. Your batts won't die instantly if you run 120A, but they won't like it either.
For TV/CD alone, no kitchen gadgets - 300W inverter is enough, and 600W is plenty. Get PSW inverter, some electronics don't work well with MSW type.
Running a generator few times a day to make a coffee - well, I won't comment on that.
