AC Power inverter

[Doofy]

Getting ready to install an inverter. I can't decide which truck to put it in. I have an F350 Diesel Plow truck with dual batteries or my '98 Ranger. The inverter is 1800 watts continuous/ 3600 watts surge. It will operate most power tools or the furnace in the house. I live in Alaska and have occasional power outages. Not fun when it is below zero.

The Ranger will always start but the diesel has to be plugged in when it's really cold outside. Can't plug it in if the power grid is down. Can't leave it plugged in all the time either because power is over 20 cents per KWH. Any ideas?

 

[Will]

An inverter isn't good at powering things that have to be on a lot. You need a lot of deep cycle batteries (starting batteries don't last long if you take them down below 90% of their capacity very often). Deep cycle batteries shouldn't be taken below 50%. So lets say you had a pair of group 24 deep cycles (130AH capacity total), you could reliably use 65AH of their capacity. That would allow you to burn a single 60watt lightbulb for 12 hours before needing to recharge.

Another issue is that inverters don't like to surge. In fact, their surge capacity is a joke. For instance, my bus has a refrigerator that uses 120watts running. I have a 400W/800W inverter and it will not start the refer motor--it just pops a fuse the second you hit the inverter switch. Probably your inverter would be the minimum size to start up a small fridge. A blower motor seems completely out of the question.

I use a 1,000W Yamaha generator camping and use the inverter just to charge cellphone and laptop batteries while moving. A generator can surge for real--I ran a 5000W AC unit off of it for years in my last camper. I ran a 900W electric radiator with it a couple weekends ago while camping. Gasoline is hugely more power dense than batteries. My generator has jumper cables so I have used it to jump my truck when the winch drug the battery down while I was stuck and killed the truck motor.

 

[Doofy]

Good info Will. I would have the vehicle running at an increased idle and usually no longer than an hour or so. True that a generator is the way to go...maybe next year. That inverter sure runs an electric chainsaw nicely.

 

[shadetree]

An inverter isn't good at powering things that have to be on a lot.

Don't know about that. I just worked on a travel trailer that was operating off the inverter only. Battery was completely out of the unit. He was running lights, tv, computer, fridge, etc. It would also operate the room motors. And, the funny thing is, this unit has been under water. That is why I was working on it, the inverter fed a bank of circuit breakers, and several of them had rusted. I looked down in the inverter, and it was corroded all to hell, had dirt from the floodwater, just a general mess, but was still humming along.

I asked the owner if he thought this was a good idea, and he says he always runs the thing off the inverter. The only time he puts a battery in it is to charge it.shady

 

[Will]

He's plugging it in to the AC?