on the houseboat, if your only running house lights, tv, dish, and a fan or 2, for a typical evening all other frig stove use propane, what size inverter could you get by with, reason Im asking is this boat has a rather small 1000 watt unit.

and I assume a second unit would not work together withthis unit thanks

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"Come OOON Back............

the 1000 should work fine. As you already have it, use it. Your biggest concern will probably be the batteries.

If you overload it it'll just shut down, and you can turn a few things off and start it up again.

Your biggest load is probably lights, IF they're 110v. They can add up pretty quickly. If 12v they're not connected to the inverter anyway. TV's don't take that much (depending on the TV). A "box" fan can take up to 200 watts. Read the labels on the back of the appliance for the max load; or get a "Kill-a-watt" and measure them yourself.

You're right, you can't run two together. But you could run two or more on DIFFERENT circuits.

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Willie
She's a tired old barge but she's paid for! http://s71.photobucket.com/alb...p;current=ef324993.pbw

Here's something to remember for future use.

Make a list of all the appliances you intend to run from the power inverter, and write down the wattage of each appliance. Highlight all the appliances that you may need to have running at the same time, and add up their wattages to determine the maximum combined wattage that your inverter will need to support. Add 20% to get the continuous rating required.
Continuous rating = maximum combined wattage + 20%.

For large appliances with motors, you will need to calculate a surge rating or a startup load. This allows for surges that occur during appliance start ups. Usually motor starts are 2x the wattage of the appliance and 3x if it is a large induction motor.
Start up load = (wattage of largest appliance x at least 2) and (wattage of largest induction motor x 3).

Just in case you may want/need to add appliances to the system in the future.

And Stmbtwle has the biggest point to really consider, the battery(s) total capacity in amp hours. Out here in CA I am using solar and propane. I have a genset for backup, but there is no dock power available yet. With a solar array, charger controller, and inverter, it is suggested you have double the storage of your max load. So.....if your combined max load is 250 amp hours, you should have a 500 amp hour storage bank. This is for solar, but is probably not a bad guideline for a bat/gen combo if you have the space.

Another key factor for battery banks that is often over looked or just misunderstood is 'Do NOT Mix Them'. IOW, when a battery in a 3 bat bank becomes unserviceable, you are best served by replacing the entire bank with identical batteries. Once you understand this it will absolutely help in your battery maintenance schedule and your due diligence in that area. Reason? For instance, on my houseboat I have a house bank of 8 6v, 220 amp golf cart batteries. When you change all of them out.....it gets expensive!

Edd

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Chance Favors The Prepared Mind!

Ill try and match the battries next spring other than a couple of wal mart dep cycles the rest are hodge bodge which lets us run 12 volt house lights, and water pumps, IM assuming the large 6 volt battries the golf carts use are most commonly used around here, then there are those who use the high end sealled ones.

I have noticed the inverter shut down the first time till i switched the fridge to propane.

If I still have your attention do you feel comfortable driffting after dark using solar lights on top as warning lights, we have cabin lights on to generally, i guess ineed to get in another boat and approach it to see for myself how visable Iam on a clear dark night

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"Come OOON Back............

Coastguard requirement is single 360degree white light visible (I believe) for 3 miles. Regardless of what you have and how visible it is, unless you have one clearly marked "USCG CERTIFIED" if Billie Joe Johhny Wayne Reddaneck plows you in his bass boat,,,,,,YOUR ARSE IS GONNA BE MUD!!!!!

Bob

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I carry a gun because it's too tiring carrying a cop.

When your inverter shuts down with the fridge it's simply telling you it can't carry that load. They're designed to do that, no harm done. As you have propane for the fridge I wouldn't upsize for that reason. IMO a smaller inverter will help protect your batteries by limiting the load you can put on them.

I have several solar lights just for decoration, to light up the flag, etc; but I STILL run the legal lights appropriate for the circumstances.

A row of solar lights around the upper decks would probably aid in keeping J. W. Redneck (and his boat) out of your bedroom, but don't mount them forward where they'd interfere with YOUR vision.

You'll note though that most solar lights don't last the night, so relying on them is not a good idea.

If I'm in a high traffic area I'll leave the 12v "porch lights" on all night, and also a light on each side to illuminate the side of the boat. I have enough battery capacity that they're not a concern.

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Willie
She's a tired old barge but she's paid for! http://s71.photobucket.com/alb...p;current=ef324993.pbw

Edited: 09/28/2007 at 07:50:16 AM by stmbtwle