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Posted: 10/23/2016 7:36:06 AM EST
if I connect a power inverter, let's say 150 watt, to a deep cycle...

will it put out 150 watts no matter what? or, if I connect a 10 watt bulb does it only put out 10 watts?

I'm curious how it works since I'm pretty sure the battery is draining ANY time the inverters hooked up.
Link Posted: 10/23/2016 7:41:37 AM EST
[#1]
Quoted:
if I connect a power inverter, let's say 150 watt, to a deep cycle...

will it put out 150 watts no matter what? or, if I connect a 10 watt bulb does it only put out 10 watts?

I'm curious how it works since I'm pretty sure the battery is draining ANY time the inverters hooked up.
View Quote

Battery is draining based on load. The inverter will draw a little when unloaded and a lot when loaded.

ETA, want proof, measure heat dissipated from an unloaded inverter and then from loaded inverter. Heat is waste from innefciency.  The harder it works, the more heat it dissipates and the more energy it is consuming.
Link Posted: 10/23/2016 7:46:31 AM EST
[#2]
Discussion ForumsJump to Quoted PostQuote History
Quoted:

Battery is draining based on load. The inverter will draw a little when unloaded and a lot when loaded.
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Discussion ForumsJump to Quoted PostQuote History
Quoted:
Quoted:
if I connect a power inverter, let's say 150 watt, to a deep cycle...

will it put out 150 watts no matter what? or, if I connect a 10 watt bulb does it only put out 10 watts?

I'm curious how it works since I'm pretty sure the battery is draining ANY time the inverters hooked up.

Battery is draining based on load. The inverter will draw a little when unloaded and a lot when loaded.

will a 300 watt inverter drain the battery more unloaded than a 100 watt inverter does?

will a 300 watt inverter draw more with a 10 watt bulb than a 100 watt inverter with a 10 watt bulb?

I ask because I plan to use my boat batts during a power outage and have a 100 and a 300 watt inverter
Link Posted: 10/23/2016 7:58:26 AM EST
[#3]
Generally speaking, yes. There's no  free lunch. Bigger units also need active heat management which furthers demand.
Link Posted: 10/23/2016 8:05:45 AM EST
[#4]
----
Link Posted: 10/23/2016 7:46:32 PM EST
[#5]
Your best bet is to use DC low voltage lighting and any appliances that can be powered by DC directly from your battery. Inverters  are terribly innefcient. What do you plan on powering with a 100 or 300 watt inverter?
Link Posted: 10/23/2016 11:08:58 PM EST
[#6]
Discussion ForumsJump to Quoted PostQuote History
Quoted:
Your best bet is to use DC low voltage lighting and any appliances that can be powered by DC directly from your battery. Inverters  are terribly innefcient.
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Meh - Maybe.

It's not uncommon to see 90%+ efficiency in a modern inverter, especially when it is operating at 20-80 percent of its rated capacity.

Sizing the inverter for the anticipated load helps a lot in this regard.

In off-the-grid homes, powering loads with an inverter is often more efficient than operating them directly on 12VDC, due to much lower wiring losses at 120/240VAC - particularly if long wire runs are necessary.
Link Posted: 10/24/2016 2:43:29 AM EST
[#7]
I tried my living room lamp which is a 10 watt LED bulb for 5 hours tonight on the 100 watt inverter and it looks like it only used about 30% of the batt according to the charger. this is with a 101 Amp Hour battery.

I want to build a voltmeter into a battery box lid so I can stop running the batts before they get low enough to damage them. (this will also tell me when to swap to my backup batt for my trolling motor on the boat)
what's the absolute lowest voltage you can take a deep cycle down to before you do any damage?
Link Posted: 10/24/2016 3:27:41 AM EST
[#8]
you can take it down to 11.6 volts according to some sources but I don't like to go below 12.1 volts.
Link Posted: 10/24/2016 12:53:51 PM EST
[#9]
A good rule-of-thumb is to avoid frequently discharging the battery more than 80 percent (i.e., to the point where it has less than 20 percent of its charge remaining). The voltage where this point occurs will vary somewhat with battery type (AGM, gell-cell, flooded-cell, etc.), but is typically around 11.9 volts (with little or no DC load connected).

If you regulary discharge more than 80 percent, the battery's lifespan tends to be drastically reduced.
Link Posted: 10/24/2016 1:15:47 PM EST
[#10]
Do most folks using an inverter use any form of LVD or is it just a common sense "keep an eye on the voltage and turn it off before you damage your battery"?
Link Posted: 10/24/2016 3:43:54 PM EST
[#11]
Most inverters have a low-voltage shutoff feature, but it usually doen't activate until the battery is almost completely dead (10.5 volts or so).

So, keeping an eye on the battery voltage is a good idea.
Link Posted: 10/24/2016 3:50:53 PM EST
[#12]
I have been meaning to get down to Toschi Station to pick up some of these.
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