Posted 2007-07-11 8:34 AM (#63647) Subject: Battery & inverter
Member
Posts: 15
Location: MI
I am totally not sure what I am doing here, but my question is,if I hook a convertor to a deepcell battery could I run lights,tv,micro,fans,appliances,etc with a set up like that? I understand NOT all at once.How big of a convertor do I need?Or am I way off base on this??
Thanks....
Posted 2007-07-11 9:09 AM (#63650 - in reply to #63647) Subject: RE: Battery & inverter
Veteran
Posts: 247
Location: La Crosse, WI - God's Country
Can you? Sure. The size of the inverter is dictated by the load you'll be demanding and the available battery power. Most inverters have appliance size guidelines listed - let that be your guide unless you want to do some math and figure load and demand.
Lights and say a small TV should be ok with a 400 watt. The microwave may demand more than that - folks that are using those or feel like running the numbers can chime in. We use our little inverter for the horsey light string and not much more, lol.
Posted 2007-07-11 11:52 AM (#63663 - in reply to #63647) Subject: RE: Battery & inverter
Veteran
Posts: 129
Location: Northwest Ohio
We just bought a 400 watt inverter because the description said it could run small TV and video game console. We don't have a horse for our son so we bought the inverter for him to keep busy while we're riding when we don't have electric hook-ups. I'll let you know how it works out.
I have to ask........where can I find string horsey lights?? I want some!!
Posted 2007-07-11 12:38 PM (#63666 - in reply to #63647) Subject: RE: Battery & inverter
Veteran
Posts: 211
Location: El Paso, Texas
I guess my question is: If I hook up an inverter an plug in my Mr. Coffee, how long before my batteries are dead. How fast does an inverter drain deep cycle batteries?
Posted 2007-07-11 1:35 PM (#63674 - in reply to #63647) Subject: RE: Battery & inverter
Veteran
Posts: 247
Location: La Crosse, WI - God's Country
That depends - on how many watts the coffee maker draws. There's no way to calculate as the wattage draw would vary depending on the brew cycle... I'd hope that we'd be able to avoid the math discussion, but here goes. Amps = watts/volts (need to also take into consideration the inverter's efficiency rating - you might lose 10% there) Brewing, a given coffee maker needs 1250 watts - 200 to keep the joe warm. Figure using it for 20 minutes, that's 41.7 Amp Hours. I'd imagine that your batteries wouldn't last long, even with a big enough inverter... In general, power hogs like microwaves and coffee pots are best run with generators or shore power.