motorhome inverter

[ipjodan]

Hello,

Im after an inverter for my motorhome - 12v to 230v, does anyone have any recomendations, ie sine wave verses quai sine? which are the best brands on a budget (200 pounds) i will needs a max of 2000 watts, i will be running about 1500 watts

Thanks

 

[bananaspark]

Depends on what ur going to be running, -if i had a set of powertools, fridge and flourescent lights to run i'd steer clear of an inverter (regardless of type) and get a decent generator. I'f its a tv, a laptop, battery chargers, radios and the very occasional motor appliance, I'd get a cheap mod-sine if only for the cost.

b/

 

[JohnD]

1500W sounds a lot. is this lights and TV, or something extra?

 

[bernardgreen]

You should consider using 12 volt caravan / vehicular flourescent lighting units (rather than 230 volt lamps from an invertor) as these are far more efficient since their internal mini invertors are matched to the needs of the tube and are only active when the light is on.

 

[jossper]

1500 watts at 12 volts is 125 amps from the battery! This would give under an hours use before an average vehicle battery would be flat.
Unless you've got a really big (& therefore very expensive) separate battery for the "domestic" side in your motorhome, I think you'd be better off with a generator for this kind of load, as bananaspark suggests

 

[robbie98]

our local ALDI have an inverter in now rated at 600w for (I think ) £45

good value I think with a 3 yr warranty (check that point too but they usually carry 3 yrs at Aldi)

 

[TicklyT]

You should consider using 12 volt caravan / vehicular flourescent lighting units (rather than 230 volt lamps from an invertor) as these are far more efficient since their internal mini invertors are matched to the needs of the tube and are only active when the light is on.

Same with TVs etc.
Most LCD TVs etc. seem to use a 240V to 12V power supply anyway. I would check with the manufacturers before plugging them directly into a 12 Volt supply, as they may require additional regulation/protection.

 

[plugwash]

yeah automotive "12V" is a totally different kettle of fish from what you get out of a 12V wall wart. Automotive "12V" can be anywhere from 8V or lower during engine start to 16V or so under high revs with short spikes running well over 100V.

 

[JohnD]

I still want to understand what it's needed to supply.

 

[comms]

These are the ones we use along with a battery guard system that isolates the battery except ignition circuit at low voltage (engine start voltage)
http://www.antares.co.uk/prod compact sine inverter.htm

Forgot to add we also use the split charger system DC/AC (supplied by antares) to charge an auxilary battery, that is used for the inverters on some vehicles.