How many Amps does an RV Inverter Draw? Top Inverters

Finding out the total amps drawn from an inverter can be crucial and important due to many reasons. This can help you select the right inverter, batteries, wire gauges, and your RV equipment like lighting, fridge, oven, heating & cooling system, etc. Calculating the inverter’s amp output helps me a lot, so I will share with you and how you can use it to your advantage.

How many Amps does an RV Inverter Draw? The Amps output depends on the load running. A standard inverter can be 12V or 24V. All you need to do is divide the load wattage with the system voltage to find out the amps drawn. A 12V inverter rated for 2000W will deliver a peak amps output of 166 Amps (2000/12). A 24V inverter rated for 2000W will deliver a peak amps output of 83 Amps (2000/24).

Inverter of 2000 watts rating should draw 166 Amps to run load of 2000 watts but it draws more than that because of inefficiency of Inverter. Mostly Inverters are of 85% efficiency which means it will draw 200 Amps instead of 166 Amps. So formula changes as follows.

THE FORMULA FOR AMPS DRAWN BY AN RV INVERTER

Amps= Load in watts / (volts x 0.85)
Volts can be 12v , 24v, 48v as per system.
0.85 is 85% EFFICIENCY of inverter

I have made this cool calculator which can help you find it depending upon your load. efficiency of Inverter is 85%.

Automatic Amps Finder On Load.

How to select the right Inverter for your RV

Inverters are categorized on watts rating and system voltage. 1000 watts, 1500 watts, 2000 watts Inverters are easily available in market. You should look for pure sine wave and avoid modified sine inverter as it is not good for electronic devices and other appliances.

Calculating wattage for Inverter

To select the right inverter for your job you should know your load wattage.You can find appliances watts on google and add them up. And add 20% more to wattage calculation. Suppose your load is 1200 watts, multiple 1200 *0.20 which is 240. Now add 240+1200 which is equal to 1440 watts. Now you can choose inverter of 1500 watts.

12 volts or 24 volts for Inverter?

24v inverter is more efficient then 12v inverter. You need 2 batteries in series with 24v. While in 12v system is more budget friend you can have one battery. That battery can be charged by RV when engine is running. 12v is more budget friendly. You should use thick wires (2 gauge) with battery to inverter connection as more current is drawn which can heat up the wires and can catch fire. These wires usually comes with Inverter.

Wire gauge VS Amps withdrawn by RV Inverter

Using wire of low gauge for more current than wire’s rating can heat up the wire and catch fire. To avoid this we need to know how much current are we going to draw on average.
You should go for a 2 gauge wire because it supports up to 100 amps without any problem. Mostly this wire comes with the inverter.

Which battery should i buy for my inverter?

To buy battery for Inverter you have to keep these things in mind. Cost , Backup Load and type.

Battery Type

These are the common battery used for Inverters. If charging and discharging done right of batteries can be used for the maximum of their life cycles described on the inverters.

Lithium-Ion Battery
- Most Popular and highly expensive
- No Maintenance
- Highly Efficient
- Excellent life (5+ years)
Lead Acid Battery
- low maintenance required
- less efficient
- Fair life (2+ years)

Battery Required for your RV Inverter

Battery Cost

The Lithium-Ion battery is the best Science has to offer for now. but it is one of the expensive and we need to know our budget. and the cost of the battery.

Lead Acid Battery $100/kWh
Latium-Ion Battery $200/kWh

Load or Backup Time

The battery is purchased on the backup time you required when the power is out. There is an easy way to calculate it. the efficiency of the inverter varies from model to model. A high-end inverter can go as efficient as 95% and a low end can be 80% efficient.

Battery Amp per hour = (load in watts x Backup hours / 12 volts)

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