Inverter Usage

[casual]

My New to me boat came with an inverter.I,need to clean up the wiring as it is askewed.I,have cruised for 30 plus years without an inverter,am I,missing something by not having one?What does one use them for other than the obious toasters blenders TV ect.
Thanks for the input

[sailvayu]

How someone uses an inverter depends on the person and their lifestyle. These days of cell phones Ipads and such I think the biggest use is to recharge stuff. it seems everything these days needs recharging from your phone to hand held GPS or VHF. Some do like to watch TV and have blenders as well. I do not use mine a lot at sea but there is always someone onboard that needs to recharge a cell phone. Look at the "must have" power uses in your home and that should give you clews to how you will use the AC while away from the dock.

[pierrrre]

I use mine for a TV, laptop and charging my Blackberry. That is about it.

[gts1544]

CASUAL, Anything that requires 110V / 60 Hz power that has a wattage requirement at or below your inverter nominal rating. Most inverters do have a momentary surge capacity known as PEAK wattage than can be sustained for short periods. gts1544

[noelex 77]

The more you can run from 12v the better in terms of power use, but thigs like charging cordless drills are difficult to do without AC power.
If guests bring phones computers etc these can also be charged, but long term you are better getting 12v adapters.

Unfortunatly running high demand appliances like toasters needs a big inverter, a big battery bank, and a means of replacing the power drawn from the battery.
Note you need all three requirements, which not many small boats have. Just a big inverter is not enough.

We don't use ours much
A stick blender
Charging camera batteries
Sewing machine
Running some power tools like corded drill, angle grinder, Dremel
Soldering iron

[barnakiel]

In our ship:

- to run/chare the netbook/(earlier - laptops),
- to run cabin lights (optional),
- to run/charge small devices that ask for 110/220 input.

A big one can supply for power tools, but our inverters are but 100-150 Watts.

Cheers,
b.

[Dockhead]

On my boat:

Toaster
Microwave
Nespresso Machine
Kettle
Tv/dvd
Drill
Various Chargefs
Dremel Tool
Even Washer/dryer, but only with the engine running.

[capttman]

Hey I'm cruising not camping.. I use my inverter for 110 volts run anything you run at home.. Oh yeah this is home!!!