Kelton,

I think you may have missed the fact that the original poster said that he
has no space for a generator. I don't think anyone can disagree with your
point that 120 v appliances are generally better than 12v appliances as far
as performance goes. My only point was that if you use an inverter to
convert from DC to AC, You are throwing a lot of power away which would
cause you to run your batteries down a lot quicker.

Is a 1500 watt AC hair dryer better than a 12V DC hair dryer? Of course it
is, but in this situation the 12V unit will still get the job done (maybe in
5 minutes rather than 2) and it will be more efficient.
"Kelton Joyner" wrote in message
. ..
DC watts are equal to AC watts! A hair dryer requires about 1200 watts
to produce enough heat to dry your hair. 1200 W at 120 VAC = 10 amps.
1200 W at 12V = 12.5 VDC = 96 amps. How big is your battery? A pair of
Trojan J305H 6V batteries have a 20 Ahr rating of 335 Ahrs and weigh 97
lbs each. The 75 Ahr rating is 117 MINUTES. Then the battery is
COMPLETELY discharged (10.5V).
My SSB radio requires 30 amps transmitting. With the other loads in the
boat ( fans, lights etc.) the load approaches 50 amps. I limit transmit
time to 10 minutes in order not to have to run the engine to recharge
the battery ( I still have to run the engine twice a day to recharge)
I have tried 12 volt blenders. They use about 125 watts or 10 amps. They
don't work very well for making frozen drinks with ice cubes. A good
120v blender uses about 720 watts or 6 amps.
So getting 12 volt appliances is not an answer. If you want a lot of
"convenience" toys, get a generator.

Kelton
s/v Isle Escape

Frank Taylor, Jr. wrote:
Wow,

Some of you guys are really getting into the complexity of this problem
but
there may be a much simpler solution. I think we all agree that it is
rather inefficient to use an inverter to convert DC power to AC power.
Why
not just convert your AC appliances to DC?

No, I don't mean, pull them apart and get out the soldering iron and
spare
parts from the heathkits you had when you were a kid. Just go to the
travel
shop at your local truck stop. You'll see that there are all types of
12
volt appliances available from blenders to electric blankets and yes,
even
hair dryers. Some of these appliances are starting to also show up in
boating stores as well. If you do a web search, you can find some too.

Of course, I don't think you'll find a 12 volt AC unit. You'll may
still
need a generator if you want to stay cool.

good luck


"John Tretick" wrote in message
...

Hello Group,
+
I have a 24" Bayliner Cierra 2001 and I am interested in using AC when
not
at port. No place to install a generator, so I'm thinking an invertor

with

a batterstore. Possibly increasing my batteries to 3 and wiring in GFI
circiut to power mixers, inflators , hairdriers, etc.. when I'm
anchored.
Northern tools sells a sealed Marine invertor for 399 its 3000/1500W
which
works for my purposes.. doubt it would run the AC..
but I guess I'd have to get a larger on for that..

Has anyone installed this redundant power source defore? I'm curious
how
long you can run on it without depleting one battery..
Actually thinking about installing a third battery for this purpose.

Thaks,

John