What Is a Car Power Inverter?
Contractors, salespeople, and anyone who is on the road much can understand the benefits of having a car power inverter. Your car battery supplies power for the electrical accessories of your car; however, it is in what is known as DC or direct current. All other electrical appliances such as computers, power tools, and televisions are run on AC, or alternating current. A car power inverter is a device that plugs into your car's DC electrical system and converts the power to AC so you can use other electrical appliances in your car.
Power inverters come in a variety of sizes. Some versions simply involve plugging a cord into the cigarette lighter in the car, while permanent units are mounted in the engine compartment of the vehicle and connected directly to the battery. Most people are familiar with the cigarette lighter style car power inverter, as they are relatively inexpensive and easy to use. Many smaller appliances, such as laptop computers, DVD players, and small televisions, will run off of this style of inverter. Larger, under-the-hood inverters are mounted near the battery of a vehicle and are designed for much larger products, such as circular saws, drills, and flood lights.
Some car power inverters are very elaborate, and include numerous outlets; others are quite simple, with just a single electric outlet or USB port. The versatility of the types of car power inverter allows them to be used for a variety of jobs. Many families install a temporary car power inverter to power a TV or DVD player for their children, for example, as they head out on cross-country road trips. Some police cruisers have permanent power inverters installed so that laptops can be run for an entire shift without concern for battery life.
It is important to choose a car power inverter that fits the needs of the user, and the electrical demands that will be placed on it. Using a small inverter to run equipment that requires a lot of power will make it difficult to run the accessories, as most inverters have fuses that will trip over a certain voltage. To purchase the correct size inverter, the user should add up the maximum voltage for each accessory he or she plans on running simultaneously on the inverter, and then adding 10% to that number. An inverter that can handle this voltage should work without tripping the fuse while appliances are running.
Written by Nathaniel P. Miller
