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Help with 2200W Pure Sine Inverter set-up

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Accessories and Modifications' started by MyBlackPriusCar, Jun 28, 2022.

  1. MyBlackPriusCar

    MyBlackPriusCar Junior Member

    Joined:
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    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius
    Model:
    Three
    Hi All,

    I’m looking to get a 2200W Pure Sine Wave Inverter installed on a Gen 3. I’m not certain this is the correct sizing but from what I gathered from reading past posts, 2200W should be sufficient to power the appliances I’m looking to run. Mainly, a n Instant Pot (1100W) and refrigerator would be the biggest power draw. This would be done while the car is running of course. I’m not savvy with it comes to electronics so would probably need to bring it to a shop for the install.

    Here are my questions-
    1. I heard an additional battery is needed to run an invertor with this size. What type of battery would this be? Again , the invertor will be used while the car is running.
    2. Any things like to keep in mind during the install . Any things to look out for when inspecting the shop work?

    thanks all
     
    #1 MyBlackPriusCar, Jun 28, 2022
  2. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    Location:
    Indiana, USA
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    IV
    You're not going to get that much power out of the car; the car's DC/DC converter is rated 120 amps, or around 1600 watts, and a minimum of around 400 of that is needed for the car itself, more depending on what accessories you have running.

    [​IMG]

    So you can think of a budget of around 1200 watts maximum for continuous use in READY. You can deficit-spend above that for short periods (longer if you add more battery), but the piper will have to be paid. I like to just plan to stay in the budget, so my inverter's rated 1000 watts. It can supply up to 2000 for brief peaks, so that matches it fairly well to the car.

    I have a 6 quart Instant Pot in the house, and one of the 3 quart units for road trips. :) The 3 quart unit is 700 watts, so fits easily in the power budget with plenty to spare.

    If you have on of the refrigerant-cycle fridges (not a thermoelectric one, those are way less efficient), its power consumption once it is cooled down and holding temperature will be low enough you don't have to think much about it in the budget. On my last road trip, weekend before last, the solar panel mod was enough to keep it cold the whole long-weekend with the car off, once I found a parking spot that wasn't too tree-lined. (While still running the solar vent, too!)
     
    #2 ChapmanF, Jun 29, 2022
    Last edited: Jun 29, 2022
  3. MyBlackPriusCar

    MyBlackPriusCar Junior Member

    Joined:
    Jun 28, 2022
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    Location:
    SoCal
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius
    Model:
    Three
    Thanks. I read that when sizing the inverter, figure that you will get about 50% of continuous power for what the voltage of the inverter is sized. So a 2200W inverter would allow for about 1100W of continuous power. Would you say this is incorrect info? I may have to buy a smaller instant pot similar to yours. An air fryer is probably not going to work either. If I can get away with a 1000W-1500W inverter I would go for it. It seems like a lot of people choose the 1000W inverter size, but I thought going for a larger rating would just allow me more flexibility. I’ve also thought about using a Jackery solar unit for power when not having the car running but that might be an option down the road.
     
    #3 MyBlackPriusCar, Jun 29, 2022
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