Ours is largely a 12 volt household. When it comes right down to it, our large inverter doesn’t get much use, especially since we no longer access the Internet via satellite. For the last few years, we’ve used it even less thanks to a smaller inverter plugged into our cigarette outlets to power smaller AC loads (see 12 Volt Outlets).
Converting DC to AC is never very efficient; we lose electricity in the process. Larger inverters generally waste more electricity than smaller ones, so that little inverter allows us to power smaller AC appliances—mostly battery or device chargers—with lower loss. The smaller inverters also offer other advantages.
Inverters: the new Bestek on the left, old Portawattz on the right (Photo: Mark A. Zeiger).
