How to choose a car inverter, conversion efficiency is an important indicator

The on-board inverter is a device that converts 12V or 24V DC power generated by the car battery into 220V or 110V AC power, which is the same as the grid power supply of household appliances. With a car inverter, you can connect a cigarette lighter or car battery to run electronics, appliances or various tools, greatly expanding the range of in-car entertainment and work. How to choose the right inverter for your car? So, let's move on.

How to choose a car inverter？
1. Which power rating is the best choice for an on-board inverter?

According to the required load range, almost all automotive electrical products are marked with the required power. For example, the car refrigerator is marked with 150W, and the suitable inverter power should be above 150W. If multiple electrical loads are used in the car at the same time, we need to add all the power of the loads and select the on-board inverter with a power greater than the total power.

2. Which car inverter is better, modified sine wave or pure sine wave?

The pure sine wave inverter can provide the same high-quality AC power as the grid power supply and drive any type of load, but it has higher technical requirements and cost requirements. However, modified sine wave inverters can meet most of our electrical needs with high efficiency, low noise and a good price. Therefore, the modified sine wave vehicle inverter is the mainstream product on the market. By the way, modified sine wave power inverters should avoid inductive loads. Generally speaking, inductive load refers to high-power electrical products produced by the principle of electromagnetic induction, such as motors, compressors, etc., whose starting current is much larger than the required current (about 5-7 times) to maintain normal operation. In short, if you need a high current starting electrical equipment.

3. What is continuous power? What is peak power?

The power marked on the vehicle inverter includes continuous power and peak power. Among them, the continuous power refers to the actual power of the on-board inverter, also known as the rated power, and the peak power refers to the starting power that the inverter can provide in an instant to start the load electrical equipment. Therefore, when purchasing a car inverter, you should pay attention to what the continuous power of the car inverter is, so as not to damage the equipment.

4. Conversion efficiency of vehicle inverter

As a very important indicator of the on-board inverter, the higher the conversion efficiency, the longer the battery life and the less heat generated by the on-board inverter. Conversion efficiency is the ratio of output watts to input watts, and the closer this number is to 1, the more efficient it is. Generally speaking, the efficiency of the inverter is above 80%-90%, that is, the input is 100W and the output is 80W-90W, so the power consumed by the inverter itself is close to 10W-20W. Conversion efficiency can be divided into no-load and full-load. Under no-load conditions, the components in the inverter operate at minimum power, typically up to 90%. However, it can be considered a good inverter with a conversion efficiency of up to 85% at full load. Therefore, the car owner can simply judge the conversion efficiency from the heat of the inverter under high-power load.

 

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