Recomendation for 12V to 120AC inverter

Re: Recomendation for 12V to 120AC inverter

When looking at the MorningStar inverter, also look at some of its features. A "search mode" (low power standby, checks for >6 watt AC loads once a second) and a remote off switch (just connect a 12 volt signal wire to a simple on/off switch--no heavy switches that can carry a 100 amps required).

Our host has a couple other brands of lower power inverters:

Samlex Sine Wave Inverters (lower cost inverters)
Exeltech Sine Wave Inverters (higher reliability)

Look at your expected continuous load and the efficiency of your inverter at that load. Larger TSW inverters can draw 10-30 watts or more, just to power the internal inverter electronics. So, larger inverters do not make sense powering smaller loads.

Also, the whole MSW / TSW (modified square wave vs true sine wave) inverter question. If you can justify it--a TSW inverter (typically more expensive and less efficient than MSW) is really worth it. Many smaller devices (electronics, battery chargers, cell chargers, dvd/laptop computer adapters, etc.) can overheat when powered by a MSW inverter.

Who knows, maybe 80% of your devices will work find and 10% will fail early on an MSW inverter. If you are in the middle of nowhere and you don't want to play around with reliability issues, get a TSW inverter--at least a smaller one to power your more critical loads.

A couple of FAQs:

All About Inverters
Choosing an inverter for water pumping

Of course there are lots of other brands and models out there--the above inverters are a suggested starting point for your research (offered by our host, NAWS).

-Bill