inverter sizing
Hi all, Been doing a lot of searching and reading about inverters on the forums. My old toy hauler I installed an xantrex 1000w inverter and it worked fine however died once and seems pretty taxing...
Forum Discussion
There is little difference if any between 1000w inverter and a 400w inverter for draw while running TVs etc. (you do see a diff if you do it with a 2000w though)
It is all about inverter efficiency curves which are best at say 3/4 the wattage. So if your load is going to be 150w you want a 200w inverter. But if you use a 1000w inverter it's nearly the same AH out of the batteries.
The difference is the wiring and fusing for the inverter based on what the inverter could do. But you can wire it up only for what you will do with it, so if you are certain of the max load, then you could use the same wiring for the 1000 as for the 400.
I only needed a 400, but some 1000s came up on sale and I grabbed one. I only use it as though it were a 300, but I do have a nice back-up for the 2000w for running up to 100a loads like the kettle or toaster. Still need the 2000 as it is the only one that will run the microwave.
So the lesson is, you don't lose any AH by running the 1000w instead of a 400w for the TV/DVD but you gain some redundancy for running the kettle and toaster.
It is all about inverter efficiency curves which are best at say 3/4 the wattage. So if your load is going to be 150w you want a 200w inverter. But if you use a 1000w inverter it's nearly the same AH out of the batteries.
The difference is the wiring and fusing for the inverter based on what the inverter could do. But you can wire it up only for what you will do with it, so if you are certain of the max load, then you could use the same wiring for the 1000 as for the 400.
I only needed a 400, but some 1000s came up on sale and I grabbed one. I only use it as though it were a 300, but I do have a nice back-up for the 2000w for running up to 100a loads like the kettle or toaster. Still need the 2000 as it is the only one that will run the microwave.
So the lesson is, you don't lose any AH by running the 1000w instead of a 400w for the TV/DVD but you gain some redundancy for running the kettle and toaster.
