What is an inverter for, and which one do I need?

If you want to dry your hair, iron, or even blend in your car, you'll need an inverter. With an inverter, you can convert your car's cigarette lighter voltage to a standard 230V outlet, allowing you to easily use any household appliance in your car. So, you can even use your hairdryer. :)

With inverters, we don’t have to give up on using our 230V devices, whether in our car or while camping. An inverter is an electrical converter that transforms direct current (DC) into alternating current (AC), so by connecting it to our car, we get a regular 230V socket.

How to choose?

Voltage

For use in vehicles, it can be said that cars require a 12-volt inverter, while trucks and buses need a 24-volt inverter.

If you're not using it in a car, we recommend our AGM batteries as a power source: AGM batteries.

Difference Between Modified and Pure Sine Inverters

Modified sine wave inverters are cheaper and lighter, but they are not suitable for operating all devices, whereas pure sine wave inverters are. Modified inverters produce a trapezoidal, square, or triangular waveform, unlike sine waves. For phone chargers, laptops, basic heating elements, and lights, a modified sine inverter is sufficient.

For machines with variable motor speeds, it’s better to choose an inverter that produces a pure sine wave, and the same goes for refrigerators, heaters, and pumps. Pure sine wave inverters can operate any appliance that works on a 230V network.

Power

One important thing to note is that the cigarette lighter connector can only be used for smaller consumers, typically up to 150-180 watts. For this reason, manufacturers do not include such cables for inverters above 500 watts. Above this power, the inverter needs to be connected to the battery.

For ohmic consumers (e.g., heating elements, heaters), it’s easy to determine the required inverter power. You add up the total power of the consumers (e.g., 2000W water heater + 1000W heater = 3000W) and buy a 3000W inverter.

Most consumers are not ohmic, but inductive (motor-driven) or capacitive. For such consumers, the inverter needs to be oversized compared to the consumer, but unfortunately, the oversizing cannot be calculated and we have to rely on experience. For example, a refrigerator compressor with a nominal power of 80W will not start with a 600W inverter; an inverter over 1000W is required.

You can find our inverters here: OUR INVERTERS

If you have any further questions, feel free to contact our customer service via chat, email, or phone. :)