Inverter recommendation for 100aH deep cycle battery?

[wahoowad]

I have an Ionic 100aH LiFePO4 battery for my boat trolling motor but would also like to use this battery for some portable power when camping. This battery has a max discharge current of 100A so conceivably I can get 1200W out of it, although I would never pull anywhere near that much. I'm thinking maybe a 500 - 750w inverter? I really don't have any high drain appliances - at different times/trips I might be powering an inflatable air mattress pump, sometimes some lights, recharging devices, maybe running a mobile Starlink. So not a lot of watts but thought I'd get something capable of running a home fridge during a power outage. What's that - 400W continuous, 700W surge?

Any recommendations on a decent make/model that has held up for you?

 

[freak4life]

There are a lot of good quality inverters, if you are going to be charging electronics be sure it is a pure sine wave type.

 

[K12]

I have an Ionic 100aH LiFePO4 battery for my boat trolling motor but would also like to use this battery for some portable power when camping. This battery has a max discharge current of 100A so conceivably I can get 1200W out of it, although I would never pull anywhere near that much. I'm thinking maybe a 500 - 750w inverter? I really don't have any high drain appliances - at different times/trips I might be powering an inflatable air mattress pump, sometimes some lights, recharging devices, maybe running a mobile Starlink. So not a lot of watts but thought I'd get something capable of running a home fridge during a power outage. What's that - 400W continuous, 700W surge?

Any recommendations on a decent make/model that has held up for you?

I am a little Bias towards Victron, I have beem running my victron inverter (and many other components) for about 2 years now and have had 0 issues with them. I know redarc is very good as well. You are going to soend money if you want the least amount of wasted energy. Hopefully you have a way to charge on the go like a portable solar panel. Inverters will have a constant draw on top of the inefficiency going from dc - ac. would recommend trying to get everything off of 12v to run direct off the battery. You can find 12v > USB chargers and 12v air pumps pretty easy that will be more power efficient than an inverter.

As for the fridge i think 100ah for that is going to drop pretty quick, if you dont open the fridge it keeps the air. Youll have to figure out the ah pull of the compressor when it kicks on and figure out what is needed to keep that going (as far as inverter output).

 

[smritte]

Another vote for Victron. Most of this technology was perfected in motor homes and travel trailers years ago. Victron has been there for decades. Inverters and DC-DC converters also. Their prices reflect the actual market where the others jumped on the overland band wagon and charge more for the same thing.

 

[grubworm]

i bought a modified sine wave 3000w inverter from harbor freight over 10 years ago and moved it into our teardrop about 4 years ago and it still works fine. the pure sine wave inverters are the way to go now and the prices are lower than they were when they first hit the market. i would go with a 2000w inverter and that way you can power larger items if you ever need to in the future. i go 12v on everything and have the inverter for items that i cant get in 12v, like the wife's hair dryer and my water pik. i also like the higher capacity inverter for "just in case"...
renogy has a 2000w pure sine wave inverter for $260. it is cheaper than victron, but i cant attest to quality of either. i just think its better to drop a few extra bucks and get a higher capacity unit...2000w will run an induction burner, a hair dryer and possibly things in the future that arent thought about right now. i know from experience that everytime i bought something...i always end up having to get the bigger size.

 

[Dave in AZ]

i bought a modified sine wave 3000w inverter from harbor freight over 10 years ago and moved it into our teardrop about 4 years ago and it still works fine. the pure sine wave inverters are the way to go now and the prices are lower than they were when they first hit the market. i would go with a 2000w inverter and that way you can power larger items if you ever need to in the future. i go 12v on everything and have the inverter for items that i cant get in 12v, like the wife's hair dryer and my water pik. i also like the higher capacity inverter for "just in case"...
renogy has a 2000w pure sine wave inverter for $260. it is cheaper than victron, but i cant attest to quality of either. i just think its better to drop a few extra bucks and get a higher capacity unit...2000w will run an induction burner, a hair dryer and possibly things in the future that arent thought about right now. i know from experience that everytime i bought something...i always end up having to get the bigger size.

Exactly. Your current battery won't run a 2000W inverter, but don't let a $200 battery be the limiting design factor for your system! For $200 you could buy a 2nd battery and push 2400W if needed.
IMO, the main items I want 120v for in a truck camper are an electric kettle, 1200-1400w usually unless really weak and crppy. And an induction burner, 1400-1800W is standard for anything not 1-star. Other possible items are a small 700W oitput microwave, which uses 1100W and needs a 1500W inverter to actually run.

 

[grubworm]

@wahoowad
hey...LiTime has a sale right now on batteries and accessories. they have a 3000w pure sine wave for $204 on their site and a 1000w pure sine wave for $90.
https://www.litime.com/products/litime-3000w-12v-pure-sine-wave-inverter

i have their 3000w pure sine inverter as well as their 20a charger, 60a MPPT controller and several of their batteries, including a 280ah lifepo4 that is really nice. LiTime seems to be a good quality brand and so far i like everything i have from them.

 

[Parker1313]

Another vote for Victron. They make the MultiPlus inverters/chargers in 500W, 800W and 1200W. https://www.victronenergy.com/upload/documents/Datasheet-MultiPlus-500-1200VA-120V-EN.pdf
I would also recommend the Orion XS DC to DC charger. Use this to charge from the truck to the house https://www.victronenergy.com/upload/documents/Datasheet-MultiPlus-500-1200VA-120V-EN.pdf and a SmartShunt IP65 to monitor the state of the battery. https://www.victronenergy.com/upload/documents/Datasheet-SmartShunt-IP65-EN.pdf
Let me know if you have anymore questions or want to purchase. My company is a Victron Distributor.

 

[grubworm]

the pure sine wave inverters are bigger and beefier. i have the LiTime pure sine inverter next to a modified sine inverter i got off amazon.
HUGE difference. you can definitely tell where the cost difference is...

 

[K12]

There is a difference between the pure sine inverters as well. although in general they are better than modified, a cheap pure sine will have 10-15% (sometimes more) less efficiency than a higher end one (victron, redarc). when you are looking at making you battery last as long as possible that efficiency adds up very fast

 

[wahoowad]

There is a difference between the pure sine inverters as well. although in general they are better than modified, a cheap pure sine will have 10-15% (sometimes more) less efficiency than a higher end one (victron, redarc). when you are looking at making you battery last as long as possible that efficiency adds up very fast

What is the efficiency rating to look for to separate out higher end from less efficient ones?

 

[K12]

There is a difference between the pure sine inverters as well. although in general they are better than modified, a cheap pure sine will have 10-15% (sometimes more) less efficiency than a higher end one (victron, redarc). when you are looking at making you battery last as long as possible that efficiency adds up very fast

What is the efficiency rating to look for to separate out higher end from less efficient ones?

the victron I have now is around 94%. The one i had before that came in my HQ19 was around 86-87%. Being that there is no real testing standard for it it can be hard to get legitimate numbers. The two I know of for sure i was able to di the math of draw of the inverter and what was being oulled feom the battery. You also have the constant draw from inverters, for my victron its a constant draw of 10wh, since i have it hooked up to the cerbo and homeassistant so it is always talking an dcommunicating. The last inverter was 25wh constant draw and did not have anywhere near the monitoring capabilities of the victron

 

[grubworm]

There is a difference between the pure sine inverters as well. although in general they are better than modified, a cheap pure sine will have 10-15% (sometimes more) less efficiency than a higher end one (victron, redarc). when you are looking at making you battery last as long as possible that efficiency adds up very fast

yeah, i read up on victron and they do seem to have way better specs. i went with the LiTime brand since i am only using it for emergency and intermittant use...but if i was total offgrid and using an inverter full time, i would certainly go with a victron, no doubt. glad i read this thread since i didnt give victrom much notice in the past