Looking for a AC/DC Blu Ray Player/QUEST OVER
Our favorite local campground has very few sites with hookups and we frequent Natl. Parks often and not many have hook ups, so we are looking for low power consumption equipment. Most Blu Ray players...
Forum Discussion
tplife wrote:
Power inverters, that convert 12V to 110V, use 5-20W of power even with nothing plugged into them. Converters, that convert 12V to whatever voltage your appliance runs on (19V laptops as an example) use almost no power at all. We use converters (from Radio Shack) exclusively for that reason, and inverters only as a last resort. We tent camp with a single Optima Blue-Top AGM.
Inverters vary on the amount IDLE (or no load draw)of power used according to the wattage size of the inverter.
For instance a 200W inverter can be as low as 100 ma at 12V or 1.2W and compare that to say a 2000W inverter which is going to easily draw 2A or 24W at 12V.
That idle current can be often used as a measuring stick as to what size inverter you want to use.
Basically it makes no sense to use a 2000W inverter to power a device of 24W or less since the idle current will be equal or more than the load draw.
So, IF you have a TV drawing 40W and a Blu Ray player drawing 15W you will have 55W of power to load the inverter.
In this case you want to have MORE load than the idle current of the inverter so you could choose a 200W-300W inverter since they often will have idle current draws of 100 ma - 250 ma (1.2W-3W) and the load will easily exceed the idle current.
Keeping in mind that in real life inverters do not often draw a linear current draw but it is often a good idea to load your inverter at a min of 1/2 of its rating for best "efficiency". However in the real world this does not happen often and really it is all about a COUPLE OF WATTS which is not going to break your camping trip (or your life) apart.
If you WANT to use "entertainment" stuff you should be willing to sacrifice a bit. If a few watts is a deal breaker then I would suggest upgrading your battery bank and enjoy your entertainment...
