12V-120V INVERTERS???? Do they drain your battery themselves?

[Boeing]

Guys,
I have a small solar panel charging a deep cycle 12V battery. I does a GREAT job providing lights throughout my building. I recently bought a diesel generator for AC but it is SOOOO noisy.
I got a HARBOR FREIGHT :confused3: flyer with INVERTERS on sale. Hmmmm.....if I got a 200 watt it would charge my cell phone, walkie talkie's etc.... But IF I got a 800 Watt unit it could power my drill.
Here's my question....if I got the 800W (or 1,000W) and only used it to charge my cell phone am I burning up lots of WATTAGE thereby draining my battery just by turning on this inverter. OR does it only "drain" what is actually being USED.....ie drill vs. phone charger?
I'm sure that many of you know inverters or electronic theory and can advise me.
Thanks, Rob

 

[SPYDERLK]

There is a very small drain with any inverter when off. It is capacitor leakage/inconsequential. When ON however there is a no load drain of around an Amp on a 1KW inverter. Turn OFF when not in use.
larry

 

[Boeing]

OK, Larry, thanks. When I turn ON a 1,000W inverter and charge a miniscule phone or walkie talkie.....am I DRAWING 1,000WATTS?
Same question using a 200W inverter....
Does a little inverter take much less out of my battery when doing very little "inverting" (is that a word?):anyone:

 

[SPYDERLK]

No. You are pulling the quiescent ON draw ... call it an amp plus about 110% of whatever VI [wattage] is going out to your phone charger. So 12V x 1A = 12W lost up front plus 1.1 x load W is the total used. So powering a 12W load will require an additional 1.1A from the batt ... your effeciency is less than 50%. But powering a bigger load will be more efficient -- up to near 90% because the quiescent draw becomes a smaller and smaller portion of the total use.
Yes.To max efficiency, powering small loads will be best done with a small inverter since their quiescent draw will be smaller.
larry

 

[BobRip]

If you are charging a cell phone, it would be more efficient to get a car cell phone charger. A 1000 watt inverter will pull at least one amp and probably a lot more when not loaded. It can be significant depending on your battery size. A smaller inverter would have a lower no load current.

 

[Artisan]

Boeing what flavor lights you runnin'? Anything in particular?

 

[terraformer]

Although your question was addressed great, consider that if you purchase an inverter get bigger than a 200. If you want to run an electric drill or something along those lines you won't have enough. I started with a 300w and it ran a drill or soldering gun but the temperature fan was always cutting on. I picked up an 800 and was much more satisfied. I have a deep cell battery and a 60w solar panel setup.

 

[Boeing]

I always planned on getting electricity up on the property so I wired the building with 14-2 wire and standard switch boxes, and keyless light fixtures. I was pretty naieve then so I went to an RV place and bought 50 watt screw-in incandescent bulbs. With 5 bulbs running my battery only lasted about 3 hours. I talked to an alternative energy store who told me about LED bulbs and flourescent bulbs. The LEDS only draw about 6WATTS to equal 50 incandescent but......they were about $26 each WOW.
Sooo, I checked on the screw in flourescent bulbs. The 15 WATT equals a 50 incandescent and was only about $5.50 so I replaced all the incandescents with Florescents and have had wonderful bright light ever since. I've run them for 3 hours with no dimming or flicker.
NOW.....I will admit that I installed them in APRIL....and it has not gotten cold yet...that COULD be an issue. we'll see.

 

[weedpharma]

I have used solar on my weekend farm for around 15yrs. It uses 2x32W panels and a huge battery bank (UPS at work had batteries replaced so I grabbed lots). I started with a 600W modified square wave inverter. This worked well for the caravan lights and TV. It however would not run a drill as the load while in use, overloaded the inverter.

Motors starting, take a multiple of the rated power so the inverter needs to have a margin of a few times the rated power. My fridge that draws 150W running, trips the 600W inverter when starting. I have now upgraded to a 2.5kW pure sinewave inverter to run everything though I only run much less.

Weedpharma

 

[Boeing]

WEEDPHARMA.....you only have TWO 32W panels.....and can keep multiple batteries charged and run a refridgerator???
How many batteries are we talking here? I was under the impression that it takes at LEAST a 100W panel to run stuff and preferably more......