For a long time I have been a 12 volt man on board our trawler, the Patricia Ann. Twelve volt DC systems were always simple, not dangerous and served their purposes. But subsequent to a recent five-day cruise on our boat where we needed to constantly power up the generator to supply electricity to the 115 volt ac freezer to preserve temperatures, I started to think about some other options. We put over ninety hours on the genset in merely 5 days; time for another oil change!
So I started to contemplate adding an inverter to run the freezer. But what is an inverter anyway? An inverter is an electrical device that turns battery direct current (dc) power to alternating current (ac). But there are so many options from which to select, where do I start? When it comes to picking a power inverter for your yacht, the alternatives can be confusing. With a lot of choices on the market, it is important to comprehend what the variations are so that you can make the best selection for your particular boat use.
Your primary issue will be wattage. Inverters are sized by the wattage they can handle. Think about what items you will be running and the number of amps each item requires. You will need to also think about the number of them you will be running at once to determine what size inverter will be the best for your requirements. You do not want to overload your inverter by turning on many high wattage items at the same time. You will most likely notice that the cost of inverters increases with the quantity of wattage. You can find the wattage by looking at the manufacturer's sticker on the appliance. If only the amps are shown, use the formula (amps x 115 volts= wattage) to convert to watts.
The next matter will be whether you need to purchase a true sine wave inverter or a modified sine inverter. A true sine inverter is one that will give you a nice current much like you get from the power company. A modified sine inverter is to some extent less pure. The modified sine inverter was created as a more economical choice to the true sine inverter. You will discover that even though the pure sine inverter will provide the best electrical flow, it also will be the costliest. An 1800 watt modified sine inverter will cost you about 0.00.
Although the modified sine inverter is more affordable, it has its individual issues. For a good number of smaller devices, like a refrigerator or hair dryer, a modified sine inverter is going to be adequate. However, with some appliances like plasma televisions you might become aware of a lack of precision. In this case a true sine inverter might be a better solution to ensure that you can have a better quality output. It is additionally vital to bear in mind that a modified sine inverter can't be upgraded to a true sine inverter. You will need to make certain you are purchasing the right inverter for your boat's needs at the beginning.
It is a good idea to inquire about overload shut off indicators or switches on your inverter just in case you overload the inverter; many inverters contain them as standard equipment. You may also want to check to find out if the inverter has thermal and short circuit shut down to put a stop to those types of emergencies as well. Additionally, a few inverters contain built-in shut down features if the battery storage levels reach a specific low spot.
I opted to install a Xantrex 1800 watt modified sine inverter capable of 1000 watts of continuous load. This inverter contains a built-in transfer switch that transfers between shore and inverter power.
The last concern is the battery bank on board your yacht you are going to be drawing from. Your inverter is going to be pulling from this battery bank and you must be able to determine how long the inverter can function before a recharge must happen. Take a look at your battery to find the amp-hours for them. Amp-hours represent amps time hours. A battery bank of 2 8D batteries will have about 580 amp hours.
So I know that my freezer pulls 2 amps and runs for 20 minutes each hour which equals approximately 7 hours per 24 hours. So the total amp-hours the freezer will utilize per 24 hours are 14. So in essence we could operate the inverter for approximately 41 days without a recharge, but should we? It isn't good to run a battery all the way down to zero. Battery life is directly related to how deep the battery is cycled every time. If a boat battery is discharged to 50% each day, it will endure about twice as long as if it is cycled to 80% of full discharge each day. If cycled no more than ten percent of discharge, it will go on around 5 times as long as one cycled to fifty percent. This does NOT mean you can't go to 80% occasionally. It's just that you will need to have some idea of the loads. You need to plan on an average discharge of roughly 50% for the best storage vs price factor. In addition, there is an upper threshold - a battery that is continually cycled 5% or less will by and large not last as long as one cycled down 10%. This happens because at especially shallow cycles, the lead dioxide tends to develop on the positive plates. I prefer to cycle my batteries down 20% before recharging. Monitoring your batteries can be estimated but I prefer to utilize a Trimetric 2025 monitoring device. This electronic gadget permits me to monitor the battery banks amp-hours use precisely.
With a little careful planning, an inverter can make a boat trip a more pleasant event. After you select the inverter that is best for your yacht, make sure to get it properly installed. If you are not certain about working with electrical power, it will be best to have a specialist do the work for you. Then you can be underway way knowing that you have what you need to keep your boat running on enough power.
We took another four-day trip over the New Year holiday with our new inverter and I am happy to say we only used the generator 6 hours in 4 days. Life is good.
| Price : $62.88
