The best Power Inverters: Reddit reviews

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Should have just spent a few extra dollars on a good power inverter on amazon, $10 more but will probably not burst into flames on the interstate at 88 mph. I mean some of the stuff at HF is great and cheap stuff, but I would not trust air compressors or power inverters from HF.

Huh, I have not tried anything like this, but my guess is that since both the 12 V battery and the traction battery provide DC, and a 120V outlet is AC, you would need an inverter. A quick amazon search gave me:

https://www.amazon.com/Foval-Power-Inverter-Converter-Charger/dp/B01H2XD2DY/ref=sr_1_5?dchild=1&keywords=12+Volt+Car+Adapter&qid=1622240169&sr=8-5

This would run off your Leaf's 12V car battery in ACC mode, though, not the traction battery. Since the Leaf doesn't have to turn over an engine, it's not as heavy duty as your typical ICE car battery. You might want to upgrade it to an AGM battery if you're going to do this.

Have you considered getting a mobile hot spot on your phone for one month? Unless you are using a ton of data, I get 10 gigs a month on Sprint for $9.99 and never use it all but I also don't work from it. Wouldn't work if you use heavy data for work. I use it quite a bit though. Also consider getting one of these if you have a car. You can charge it on the go or just work from your car. UT has campus wide free internet on their guest network if you want to work outside in the shade somewhere.

Edit: Wendy's on Far West has both wifi and outlets. Seldom busy now (at least looking in as going through drive thru) because of school being out. I've done some work there in the past and who needs coffee when you have Frosties and value double stacks?

You can use a 12v motorcycle etc battery, an inverter and a DC to 12v adapter to connect your CPAP. You might be able to get away with a power bank if it has enough power but you need to test whatever system you choose in advance to make sure the battery is sized correctly and will get you through the night or whether you need to go bigger or buy 2 batteries/power banks. We helped my grandpa set one of these up for his CPAP.

Inverter

DC to 12V adapter plug

Car Power Inverter is what you’re looking for. Example here:

https://www.amazon.com/Foval-Power-Inverter-Converter-Charger/dp/B074KWP2HJ/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=Car+Plugs&qid=1610325237&sr=8-3

I love my Spectra -- well as much as one can love a machine that sucks your nipples. I started pumping in the hospital with a Medela Symphony, and I get so much more milk with the Spectra.

I exclusively pumped for several weeks while LO was getting the hang of latching, so here are some tips:

I'd recommend getting a power invertor so you can pump in the car if you ever need to. I have this one from Amazon and it works great.

Prepare a "pump bag" to hold all your supplies -- hands-free bra (I have the Simple Wishes bra), pump, storage bags and bottles, permanent marker to label storage bags, a little container of olive oil to lube up my flanges (helps to prevent rubbing), small kitchen rags to wipe up milk, extra pump parts, etc. I use an LL Bean tote bag to transport everything.

In between pumps, I store all my pump parts in a gallon ziploc bag and stick it in the fridge so I don't have to wash them after every pump.

Any one with good reviews on Amazon, like this, should be fine.

The key is to check your instruction manual or the built-in pump's labeling to make sure the inverter has enough wattage. Multiply the listed amperage for the pump by the voltage (in America it will be 120) to get the estimated wattage.

I just looked mine up and it looks like mine would draw 105-ish watts, so I'd probably look for a 120-watt or 150-watt inverter to give myself a cushion. YMMV.

Have you shopped inverters? There are quite a number like this one which have regular outlets for plugging in your laptop charger, and also USB ports for charging your phone, etc.

The most common ones top out at 300W because that is the current limit of the cigarette lighter fuse. Ones with higher output need to be wired directly to the 12V battery, not plugged in to the lighter.

Do tell us what kind you get!

Get an inverter. They have ones that can plug into 12V outlets. Or, if you want to go a bit bigger, you can wire an inverter directly to the electrical in your vehicle. That’s not nearly as easy though.

I travel a lot for work, much of which is cross-country driving, and my inverter has saved me more than a few times.

Edit: Amazon link to what I’m talking about.

Power Inverter seems to be what would work best for you. Plug it into the cigarette lighter in your car and it can be used as normal plug. Here is the one that I own and am happy with. Bestek 300W Power Inverter.

This is what I'm referring to

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https://www.amazon.com/BESTEK-Inverter-Adapter-Converter-Charging/dp/B082MDRC64/

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There are two types of inverters. Pure Sine and Modified sine. The difference is basically that the electricity out of a pure sine is 'cleaner' than a modified (No, that's not the real way to explain it, but I'm giving the ELI5 version).

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Some appliances don't care about the signal being clean, some do. it also used to be that pure sine inverters were MUCH more expensive than modified, but the prices have really dropped.

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Something else to keep in mind with inverters is that they draw an INSANE amount of current on the DC side. It's approximately a 1-10 ratio. Your 2,000 watt inverter, if fully loaded, will draw 200 amps on DC. That's going to kill your marine battery in about 15 minutes, seriously.

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Though I have a 500 watt inverter, I'm keeping my loads under 200 watts. Chest freezer, lights, fans.. That's around 20 amps at 12v dc. I have 200 amp hours of batteries, so that's 4-8 hours. But I also have 380 watts of solar to bring it back up.

If they used a lithium chemistry (they didn't, it's almost definitely NiMH), you can get that in roughly 7lb. It would be utterly hilarious, but I do kinda want a HT that's based on an Ego battery.

I'm thinking a form factor like This thing, where the battery pack slides around it (Note: pictured with a 140Wh battery on it, I believe). On the bright side, the mid-size batteries are rated to peak somewhere around 1kW, so this thing could actually put out 400W of radiated power -- at least momentarily. The amplifiers would need some decent active cooling, and you'd be looking at a pretty low duty cycle.

This will get ya by.

BESTEK 300W Power Inverter DC 12V to 110V AC Car Inverter with 4.2A Dual USB Car Adapter https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004MDXS0U/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_EDJ71404VGNQA3XGPHPW

I personally prefer to hard line to the battery but this will do what you want.

I know that you can get an adapter that makes the car charger port into a wall port, I will try and find one

Edit: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004MDXS0U/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awdb_imm_t1_wKa4Fb29AB9JA this

I believe that the bit you need for this is an inverter, this is a gadget that turns the DC (battery type) power of the battery, into AC (wall outlet type) power so you can simply plug it in. there are ones of all sizes, the main spec is the wattage,

from what Google says, an inverter like this:

https://www.amazon.com/BESTEK-300Watt-Power-Inverter-Adapter/dp/B07KQ4Q2L5/

would probably be plenty for this sort of thing , and with a hefty battery to hook it to, anything else I would think that was needed would be basic stuff for making a box to hold the battery and inverter for it to be easier and safer to carry or whatever.

some of the time those inverters come with clamps that can be used to hook it straight to a battery. this specific one comes with the cigarette lighter adapter. but he should be able to make it work.

No problem. I haven't told my family and only told 3 close friends about my decision to Prius dwell due to the stigma, so I enjoy talking about this with whoever I can. I think this is the one I got: AMAZON LINK

I recommend a Prius v (wagon) as every little bit of extra room helps. :) But either way, with the amount of use and wear you will be putting on the car simply by living in it, I would recommend going used. The Prius is extremely reliable. I had the option to get an extended warranty for an extra $1200 on mine, but I talked to a trusted mechanic, and he told me there was no need. And in the off chance something does break, there are plenty of used Prius parts you can get for cheap.

Let me find my amazon order. It’s from a few years ago.
BESTEK 300W Power Inverter DC 12V to 110V AC Car Inverter with 4.2A Dual USB Car Adapter https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004MDXS0U/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_CPvkCbNZFPNGE

Something like this one is all you can run off the, um, powerpoint aka lighter. The lighter has a fuse that will blow above that amount of drain. (n.b. the fuses are found in a box under the hood and if you're going to fool with this stuff you might carry spare fuses and know how to change them.)

What you want is something like this one which needs to be connected directly to the 12V battery. That lives in the back, you know where? Any auto-electric outfit that does stereo installations and such, should be able to do a neat job of connecting it. You'd want to find a way to stabilize it so it doesn't ramble around the trunk when you hit the brakes. Velcro, duct tape, something.

And yes, the Prius 12V battery is a pitiful little thing that won't stand putting out 1000W for very long, unless the vehicle is in "run" mode, then it gets charged continually.

Inverters work fine with about 95% efficiency. I use these https://www.amazon.com/BESTEK-300W-Power-Inverter-Adapter/dp/B004MDXS0U/ref=redir_mobile_desktop?ie=UTF8&aaxitk=DQNHdSvdky8rEARnmkHMUg&hsa_cr_id=1517761370601&ref_=sbx_be_s_sparkle_mcd_asin_0 . Better are air/auto adapters (really DC to DC converters that provide 19VDC for your laptop directly rather than running through the inverter. Get good ones, not the third party Belkin or Kensington ones.

Thanks... I know nothing about electricity :)

Is this inverter + this panel on the right track?

Well for starters I can expand your options. A small inverter will let you plug your Crock Pot into your car so you can keep warm or finish cooking on the drive. At least where I am I can get free delivery overnight with Prime. I've bought a slew of these--my customers thing they're great and keep buying them from me; I just order a new one and it's on my doorstep when I get home. *grin*

Creamed spinach can be a side or a dip. Stuffed mushrooms. Pigs in a blanket (US style, not UK style). Deviled eggs. Scalloped potatoes (that's a lot of potatoes from you list). Roast Brussels sprouts. Stuffed figs (app). Sausage or any other kind of stuffing/dressing. Mac & cheese. Glazed carrots. Caesar salad with homemade croutons, homemade dressing and Parmesan shaved with a veg peeler. Cream of mushroom soup. Homemade cranberry sauce.

https://www.amazon.com/BESTEK-300W-Power-Inverter-Adapter/dp/B004MDXS0U/ref=asc_df_B004MDXS0U/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=198151843411&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=1997985294458763497&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvd...

Your link doesn’t work. It looks like you combine two websites into one link, and the first one doesn’t have a full URL. It shows up as “https://bestek300wpowerinverterdc12v...https//www.amazon.com/dp/B004MDXS0U?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share”, so one has to edit the HTML code to get to the correct Amazon page.

For what it's worth, I have 188 cm skis and they fit inside the car just fine with the back seat down. You can only fit 3 people in the car that way, and I'd recommend putting a tarp in the car for cleanliness and keeping the edges from cutting anything, but it's worked great for me.

Only real accessory I have is an inverter for the trunk since there's no AC plug: Amazon link

I'm using this inverter. Nothing crazy, just to charge laptops.

https://www.amazon.com/BESTEK-300W-Power-Inverter-Adapter/dp/B004MDXS0U/ref=sr\_1\_3?crid=3ZQVV0SDJEDU&keywords=inverter&qid=1664624086&qu=eyJxc2MiOiI3LjIzIiwicXNhIjoiNi42MiIsInFzcCI6IjUuOTcifQ%3D%3D&s=automotive&sprefix=invert...

I'm in the USA, I figured there was slight barrier - I've re-read your question several times. I guess what is confusing is why do you think a 120vac charger will not blow up when plugged into 230vac? The couple of Hikoki's that I found online are not multi-voltage but were only 120vac.

What you need is a 12vdc to 120vac inverter, they are common & cheap and available everywhere. You will need a model specific to the cord end cap on your chargers.

If your chargers are 14v at 2 amps then they will draw about 30 watts each, if they are 18v at 2 amps then they will need 40 watts each. either way a 40x3 = 120 watts x 15% = 140 watts total.

https://www.amazon.com/BESTEK-300W-Power-Inverter

u/nakriker u/somerandomgeologist you guys rock! After reading through your comments I looked into right direction. It helped me understand on a larger scale how problematic ebike battery charging is through solar (our camp does not have public electricity).
With the complexity and prices ranking up, I'm definitely skipping electrifying my wife and I this year.
Found this great lifo 12v50a battery , that I hope we can connect 100w solar panel to. Then a converter like this should take care of battery charging (48v 1.7a charger). We have one camp mate with a popping knee, so all this hassle is to accommodate her. My main concern are many inverter's reviews have "almost caught fire" and "runs hot". And those aren't even playa conditions.

Alas, thank you guys for your input. It helped!

The simple answer is to buy a a 12 volt DC inverter. Like this one... https://www.amazon.com/BESTEK-Inverter-Converter-Charger-Listed/dp/B07JJSW48V/ref=sr_1_12?crid=24Y1JVDWIST8C&keywords=dc+inverter&qid=1658607093&sprefix=dc+inve%2Caps%2C156&sr=8-12

You would want an auto inverter. Something like this.

For the car, you just need two beach towels at the front passenger seat, along with a power inverter and some clamps.

Plug the inverter into the car, then plug your computer and your interface into that for power. There! No more fans from your laptop ruining records and making it sound like it's ready to take flight.

Arrange two beach towels: one to cover your passenger window (just crack it, hang an inch of excess out the window, then close it back up), and one towel from the top corner of the windshield to the headrest of the driver's seat. I like beach towels because they're large and heavy.

Affix the mic to a small desktop mount/stand, but put it upside down and wedge the base of it between the roof and the sun visor. Secure with clamps. The interface can go on the floor or on the dashboard, and laptop obviously in lap.

This should provide you a pretty decent recording space, but it definitely favors new cars over older ones with less insulation properties. This exact setup has been used for an actual paid job recorded from the road and it passed muster.