RV and Caravan Inverters.
If you are planning on using your RV or Caravan for freedom camping or at an NZMCA site, you will not have access to mains power. If you wish to run any electrical equipment it will either have to be 12 volt, USB powered or you will require an inverter to convert the 12 volt battery voltage to 230 volt AC mains.
Additionaly to run 230 volt equipment you will require adequate battery capacity and it is a good idea to supplement this with Solar Panels.
Pure sine-wave or Modified sine-wave inverters?
There are two types of inverters: Pure sine-wave and Modified sine-wave.
To the non-technical person they may not realise there is any difference, apart from the cost the differences are quite significant.
Pure sine wave inverters
Pure sine-wave inverters create a very clean output and are ideal for use with electronic devices. You will need a pure sine wave inverter for sensitive equipment, newer TV’s, compact fluorescent light bulbs, and appliances with AC motors (microwaves and refrigerators).
Power companies provide 230 volt AC pure sine wave power and as such if you are grid-tied to mains power you will always require a Pure sine-wave inverter.
Modified sine wave inverters
Modified sine wave inverters on the other hand are a lot cheaper to make as they are not as complex in their design. Their output is a square wave that comprises a lot of harmonic components and so can be very harmful to expensive electronics. They are OK for running electrical devices that do not have any microprocessors such as phone chargers and simple appliances like power tools, light bulbs, heater elements and electric motors. They will however get hotter and use more power than if the device were run on a pure sine wave inverter.
At Ultraflex RV Electrics we only stock Pure Sine-wave inverters from YHI – Neuton Power and Powertrain. See our store for details.
