Which Inverter

[Wildrover21]

I'm considering adding an inverter to my Auto-Trail Scout to give me mains capability off grid. Any advice greatly appreciated.

 

[Richard n Ann]

I'm considering adding an inverter to my Auto-Trail Scout to give me mains capability off grid. Any advice greatly appreciated.

What do you want to run off it? And how many leisure batteries do you have?

 

[Wildrover21]

I’ve got two leisure batteries and want to run an electric kettle and microwave I guess. Will be running the engine fairly regularly touring over the winter in the uk and I have a 100w solar panel

 

[Lenny HB]

No chance with that set up, you need to work out how much power you are going to take from the inverter then you can work out the size battery bank you need and how you are going to charge them.

E.g. A small 1000 watt kettle will take approx 83 amps at 12v plus around 10% for inverter efficiency so say 90 amps.
If you want the batteries to last you want a max discharge at the C5 rate which is 20 amps for a 100 ah battery so for a 1000 watt load you need 450 ah battery bank.
Having said that if not used too often you could just get away with 300 ah without shorting the battery life too much.

Also you really need 300 to 400 Watts of solar.

A good B2B when driving will get a faster charge into to the batteries, don't ever run a modern diesel stationary from cold.

For what you want to do you really need Lithium.

 

[Richard n Ann]

Get a little inverter by all means we've got a 200w one for the TV, vacuum cleaner charging, tooth brush charging and hair clippers

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[Wildrover21]

So maybe a smaller inverter and a 2kva generator would be a better idea?

 

[Pausim]

So maybe a smaller inverter and a 2kva generator would be a better idea?

You will find the use of a generator is controversial and I fear your initial enquiry may get lost in the for and against arguments.

My first suggestion would be to use gas for boiling a kettle. Also remember that a microwave advertised as 800 Watts consumes far more electricity than this, the 800 Watts is just the heating output not the electricity input. Anything that involves producing heat uses large amounts of battery power and generally I find it better to use gas.

 

[Raul]

Maybe a small 1,5kw inverter generator, or as you said 2kva, but inverter generator. It will be much quieter and more economic. Plus a good surge capability.

 

[funflair]

When we had 320ah of Gel we would use the microwave and coffee machine and Jen would use her hair dryer sparingly all from the 3kw inverter, we had 320watts of solar and an EFOY 12v charger but very rarely needed to use the EFOY.

Now that we have 480ah LiFePO4 we use all of the above plus electric kettle and induction cooker outside, recharge is from 520watts solar and B2B while driving but the capacity of the LiFePO4 will see us through a few dull days.

Its just a balancing act but agree in principal that gas is best for heating things unless you really have the capacity.

 

[Lenny HB]

So maybe a smaller inverter and a 2kva generator would be a better idea?

Only if you are going to camp miles from anyone else, generators are very anti social. Even the quietest ones are very annoying to others.

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[Pausim]

So maybe a smaller inverter and a 2kva generator would be a better idea?

If you are planning on using campsites those that allow the use of generators often specify the times when you can run them and these are unlikely to be when you want to use your microwave or kettle. They are usually times when other campers are likely to be off site.

 

[autorouter]

There's another issue with inverters - there are different types: Pure Sine Wave (PSW), Modified Sine Wave or Quasi Sine Wave.

Pure Sine Wave is the best, it accurately represents the wave shape of the Alternating Current mains in your house. Some electronic devices rely on the wave shape for their operation, and stop working or work very badly if they don't get it. However some things like fan heaters, kettles and drills don't care about the wave shape.

I'd always go for a PSW inverter, especially if there are TVs, phone chargers and microwaves with digital controls. Others seem to have success with MSW for some of these things. PSW costs more than the others - if it doesn't say Pure Sine Wave on the box then it most likely isn't.

 

[Richard n Ann]

This is our PSW Bobby Dazzler...

AJ 275-12

The AJ range consists of sine wave inverter that convert battery voltage into utility quality 230Vac* which can be used with all usual electrical appliances.

www.studer-innotec.com

It's only about 6 inch square and only uses 0.2 amps on standby

 

[the1andonly]

If you have huge amounts of solar/ battery bank you can do almost anything, (money) if not you have to think abit.
Inverter can waste energy on standby so dont have it on standby isolate after use.
Use the size commensurate with use ie not appropriate to use not one huge one for everything.
Puresine versus modified sine wave decided on application check what you really need. Why spend £500 when £47 would do.
I use a 150w msw (20yr old) for slowcooker (normally when travelling) charging gtech hoover.
800w msw (£47 toolststion) washing machine, simple food processor (no electronics)
Nothing that heats!

 

[Klárika1]

Get a little inverter by all means we've got a 200w one for the TV, vacuum cleaner charging, tooth brush charging and hair clippers

What size is your tv? I'm thinking of buying an inverter have 24"tv and satalite box trying to find out what size I need.

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[Richard n Ann]

What size is your tv? I'm thinking of buying an inverter have 24"tv and satalite box trying to find out what size I need.

It's a 24" LG smart TV. Uses about 1.5 amps from the battery via inverter so that's about 20w

 

[Klárika1]

It's a 24" LG smart TV. Uses about 1.5 amps from the battery via inverter so that's about 20w

Thank you for your reply I thought would of needed much bigger but know nothing about inverters.

 

[Richard n Ann]

Thank you for your reply I thought would of needed much bigger but know nothing about inverters.

The sky box will probably use a bit more but 200w should be plenty. Our inverter is physically small too, just fits in nicely under the bench seat..

 

[mitzimad]

lots of tv's are 12v if you havent bought one yet better to get one of those

 

[Klárika1]

lots of tv's are 12v if you havent bought one yet better to get one of those

I have a few small tv's already hence don't want to be buying another.