by troubleScottie » Sun Jan 08, 2017 6:12 pm
Yes and no.
Inverters are inefficient (often only 80% efficient) and consume power even while not attached to a device drawing power. So going from 12V to 120V to 12V is a wasteful trip. The inverter is useful for items that have no equivalent 12VDC option or the extra/optional item.
They are limited in terms of power output. Often they cannot support high power items. Obviously you can pay for high power inverters. High resistance items eg heaters or devices that need "clean" AC eg motors are problematic. So heaters like coffee maker or motors like blenders can be issues. Then again, these items are problematic with batteries due to their power draw ( 10A @ 120V is 100A @ 12V ).
Many devices are available in 12V versions eg radio, TV, fans, frig/freezers, lights, usb ports, water pumps, computer. Thus are optimized to run at 12V. And therefore no need to have one device when you have AC power and one when you are living off battery power. When camping where AC is available, you can connect your converter/battery charger and run off it or at least start to recharge the battery. Many device eg TV and computers often have inverters in their power cords/bricks. You could plug directly into DC.
Lights can be incandescent or halogen or LED or several other types. Generally speaking LED is most efficient, whiter and apparently brighter with less heat. If you are going for a direct, exact replacement, you need to match up the lumens generated. Obviously 1156 is 12vdc. There are some LED bulbs that are socket compatible with their incandescent counterpart.
Last edited by
troubleScottie on Thu Jan 19, 2017 2:31 am, edited 1 time in total.
Michael Krolewski
Scottish Terrier Fancier