Forum Discussion

cubbear's avatar
cubbear
Explorer
Oct 18, 2014

12 V or 110 TV

should a person get a 12 V TV or use inverter and 110 V

25 Replies

  • Id consider either one. I just happen to have (2) 12 volt TVs in my TC and they both work great. One is a Jensen and the other one is an RCA with built in DVD player. I just like the idea of being able to watch TV and not using the inverter.
  • 2oldman wrote:
    Posts with '12v tv' in them.

    Using an inverter is what most of us do. That way we have a much wider choice of TVs. And no, there's no reason you have to have a 12v TV for Rvs.


    X 2

    I have a 200 watt modified sine inverter that powers my 19" Vizio & Panasonic Blu-Ray. There is very little amp draw. Also, I'm using a very small dedicated 35 amp deep cycle AGM battery with these two components as I did not want to power them from the coach battery. The inverter can be used for other purposes, as well the battery.
  • RoyB's avatar
    RoyB
    Explorer II
    For me it was go with 120VAC HDTV and DVD system. The WATTAGE is low for these systems and with the HDTV it seems I have much more input/output options with most of the 120VAC TV sets. We use the VIZIO model here which has all sorts of different input/output connections.

    Our earlier HDTV used an external 120VAC transformer brick for power source which made it very easy to to just go to Radio Shack and pick the proper DC adapter and plug into any 12VDC circuit but those have became hard to find anymore. Occasionally I will still find a HTDV using the TRANSFORMER BRICK.

    I also have several other items I need to supply 120VAC for when camping off the power grid which is easy to use the 300WATT to 600WATT PSW inverters for. The HDTV external DVD unit is one of those items. The standalone 12VDC DVD units may be available out there but I only find them in the 120VAC type power cords.

    My needs also include many other 120VAC items I want to power up when camping off the power grid so having a small INVERTER is a must have item anyway so why pay the very high dollar expense to pick up on of the 12VDC HDTV units. They sure don't come cheap like the WALMART VIZIO units which are in high demand. My 22-inch VIZIO HDTV was around $150 as I recall on sale at WALMART.

    I have a couple of emergency 120VAC outlets in my trailer setup ran from my inverter setup with one near the Home Entertainment areas and the other near the bedroom area.

    Some folks always bring up you may lose some efficiency using the 300W to 600W Inverter setup to run several of your 120VAC items but for me that loss of efficiency of transferring 12VDC up to 120VAC to be able to use is low enough not to be a problem. This is especially true since I need the 120VAC source of power for other off-road camping needs anyway...

    My emergency 120VAC emergency power setup is second nature to us now over the years and works out very nice for us. My 600WATT PSW Inverter is actually ON all the time we are setup even at those places where Pedestal 120VAC Electric is available to use. Never worry about some of my really needed 120VAC powered up units going off-line in case of commercial power outages.

    This is just me talking here and this really falls under the concept of what you really want to do. Having a low wattage 120VAC SOURCE always available has really been a blessing for us.

    Roy Ken
  • I have always been curious as well - so I am subscribing to this.