P.G. (Tas) replied:

G'day. You are going to need some serious battery power if you want to run a 1,000watt inverter. Some quick calculations tell me you are going to draw upto about 85 amp/hours. Thats less than 1 hours use with a fully charged N70 size (75a/h) deep cycle battery! If you get a bigger battery you will have to strengthen the front springs, because they aren't light items! I have a 400watt unit and find that does most of what I need and gives the second battery a reasonable life between charges. I use the inverter to charge the mobile phone, video battery, power the laptop, recharge the battery drill and so on. It might pay to add up your actual reqirements (240V/amps=watts) and be brutal about what you really need and what you really need running at the same time! Remember 60watts @ 240v=0.25amp/hours, at 12volt this same 60watt load = 5amp/hours! Hope this helps. Cheers!

Bob replied:

Swogger

I use a 300w model from Dick Smith for the same things that PG does. No problems at all until it was pinched from the vehicle recently. If you need more power than that you really should be looking at alternative ways of powering your gear (12 volt direct or gas) or getting lower power appliances.

Ross replied:

Swogger, one issue is that the cheaper inverters will output a "modified" sine wave, usually square wave rather than a smooth sine wave that you get out of the mains. Some appliances dont like this, and depending on what you are running you may need to pay more for a pure sine wave inverter. I was looking at buying a Piccollo 400 watt unit for about $450, but may end up with a cheaper Dick Sm alternative if I can convince myself it will do the job. Main thing I am worried about is a laptop computer. Maybe someone can comment on appliances that have trouble with some inverters?? Regards Ross

Mark replied:

A good explanation of Pure Sine wave vs Modified sine wave can be found at http://www.reidtechnology.co.nz/sinewave.html

Michael replied:

Another thing to be aware of is possible radio interference. I bought a cheap inverter (150 watts max) from Radio Parts, to run a 240V radio/casette/CD unit, and found out that it generates unacceptable RF interference (possibly due to the modified sine wave?). It's fine for playing a tape or a CD, but if I want to listen to the radio I have to run the unit from its own batteries. Don't know how far the interference carries - whether confined to unit attached to inverter, or if it radiates, in which case it could be annoying to others camped nearby. Also don't know if the interference would affect laptops etc.

ggg replied:

for a weekend i could not understand why you would need that many watts you can run a house hold fridge and freezer on that many watts i would do a recount on your electricals you are taking 1000 watts = 4.15 amps at 240 volt and 1000 watts = 83 amps an hr at 12volt so even with 200 amp hr deep cycle battery you would only 2 and a half hrs use id look at a 4 stroke generator get them cheap in trading post