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What can I run from my Inverter … Realistically.

What's Real & What's Dreaming

When using inverters many people have different conceptions of what are realistic inverter loads. Here is a general overview of What’s Real & What’s Dreaming.

Basic household AC appliances such as Televisions, Microwaves, computers etc. are all suitable to run from the correctly sized and the correct type of inverter.

So what’s not suitable or highly uneconomical?

Air conditioners are highly uneconomical to work off an inverter. Most large inverters these days can power AC’s with no problem, but the battery bank will nearly always let the system down. If you must run an air conditioner, look for an inverter that load shares with a generator, as the generator will be the primary power source, with the Inverter assisting in start up loads. Battery chargers will be more important here, so ensure the right sized charger is used.

YOU CANNOT run a battery charger off a Power Inverter connected to the same battery bank.

This generates a loop sequence that only discharges your batteries quicker that the charger can recover them. This is due to the losses and inefficiencies within the inverter and battery charger.

Large heating elements such as frying pans, toasters and fast boil kettles are very uneconomical to run from a power inverter. They require a large inverter system, quick battery charging capabilities and sufficient storage within the battery system. Generally to do this you would require around 400amps storage @ 12 volts, along with an inverter over 2000watts. The charging would have to come from a large battery charger running from an AC generator (forget solar in this case). The easiest solution is to just run your generator to begin with.