The inverter producing 500 watts of energy could run different types of equipment.
Quick Answer
small refrigerators, tablets, cellphones, cameras, laptops, repair tools, game consoles, small TV, DVD players, and many household appliances.
You can use the inverter up to 80% of its capacity.
What are the electric items that run on 500 watts power inverters?
The following is the list of the items you can power with the 500 watts of inverters.
1) LED Bulbs
2) Small size hand electric tools
3) Laptop
4) Charge the Phone Battery
5) Small size Electric Fans
6) Portable Size Fridge
7) Mobile Radio
8) SLR Cameras
9) Small-screen TV
10) Small appliances used in the kitchen
Most of the above-listed electronic items consume 500 watts or less than that power to run the appliances.
It is advisable to check the watts each appliance requires to run before connecting them to the 500 watts inverter.
Modern inverters require 20% buffer energy to compensate for the energy function connected to the device.
Therefore, you have 80% of the energy left to power your electronic devices. If you connect the device that draws more power than the inverter can produce, the connected electronic device may not work seamlessly.
You will have trouble using the device which may cause damage to the appliance due to less energy supply.
How many amps does a 500w inverter use?
The 500-watt inverter would draw 50 amps. The 50 amps of power is sufficient enough to run the small refrigerator, tablets, cell phones, digital cameras, and many more.
How to find the inverter size to run the equipment?
Choosing an inverter is a challenging task. The power inverter is going to decide the energy efficiency of the system. It is essential to find the power requirement of the equipment.
It is also important that you not overload your equipment or even the inverter with more electricity supply. It may cause damage to the electrical equipment.
The inverter will have an upper capacity for power generation. When the inverter is connected, it will draw the power to 80% of capacity.
Connect the device after calculating the watts it draws. The electronic device should not consume more than 80% of the power from the inverter.
All the electronic equipment consumes more power when if you power them up at the beginning.
The power consumption has to be managed, and your equipment will stop in the middle of the process.
How to decide the size of the inverter I need?
The inverter must deal with two important needs, Peak or surge power & normal or typical power. We will discuss these in detail below.
Surge:
The surge is the maximum power generated by the inverter.
When you start an electronic appliance such as a refrigerator, the power consumption of these devices surges to its maximum capacity in the initial few seconds.
It is usually for a short period but may stop the inverter if the device cannot handle the extra surge in time.
Similarly, when you run the electronic motors. The need is higher at the beginning.
As the motor reaches its maximum capacity, the electrical charge stabilizes and will no longer require more energy. The devices such as pumps the compressor also need a surge power supply.
Typical power:
The typical power is the normal power consumption every electronic requires to run the basic functions.
When the power is applied to the electronics, the steady flow of the power is moved to the equipment, making it run smoothly. The typical power is always less than the surge power.
Once the early surge proceeds, the next step of the power use in the equipment is the typical power that powers the equipment until it is on.
How much power is sufficient for the inverters?
The right type of inverter depends on what equipment you have connected to it. Every electronic equipment is required sufficient watts to run the device.
Based on the watts requirement, you can choose the inverter capacity.
The information on the watts is generally printed on the device. Check the watts information, compare it with the inverter output, and then connect it with the inverter.
If you connect the high watts equipment to the inverter with fewer watts could not support the device.
You have to ensure that you provide bear minimum wattage to the device to run smoothly. If the inverter cannot produce a sufficient amount of energy, the device will soon run out, and it will not work longer.
Therefore, you should always add 20% to 30% extra power to the inverter to compensate for the growing demand for the energy of the connected equipment.
While buying the inverter, calculate the watts requirement and add 20% extra energy on top of it.
What size of inverter should you buy for your household equipment?
Firstly, you have to decide the type of equipment you are going to run on the inverter. Each device’s energy requirement and total watts would determine the inverter capacity.
The size of the inverter will differ based on the conversion of the energy, the efficiency of the inverter, and the total output the inverter can produce at a given time.
When you plug the device, the inverter should draw a sufficient amount of energy from the inverter to run the device smoothly.
If the inverter is connected to multiple devices, it should draw energy at a must higher rate to produce a sufficient voltage to power the device.
Once you know the watts requirement, the next step is to decide the inverter capacity and efficiency.
Check the inverter manufacturer’s details to understand the maximum capacity of the inverter. Always choose the inverter up to the 80% total capacity of the requirement of your device.
For example, your requirement is 800 watts, and then you should have the inverter that generates the power to up to 1000 to 1200 watts.
The extra watts would be needed when you start the new equipment time.
When you connect the refrigerator to the inverter, the early few seconds would be the surge period where the inverter may draw 1000 watts, which is 200 watts extra to start the compressor.
If your inverter has the upper limit of 800 watts, then the compressor will not get started, and you will see the refrigerator is not working on the inverter.
What are the devices you can connect to the inverter and their watts requirement?
1) Laptop – 90 Watts
2) Light bulb – 100 Watts
3) LCD television – 250 Watts
4) Printer – 50 Watts
Subtotal – 490 Watts
You can list down the equipment you are going to run on the inverter. Mention the watts as well and calculate them at the end of the list.
The total of the watts will give you information about the watts requirement of your devices. Once you have the baseline figure, the next step is finding the right inverter for your equipment.
Some inverters found in the market may have specific requirements for the device connected to them.
You may not be able to run the TV or the heavy equipment even if the inverter meets the demand of the watts.
While purchasing the inverter, check the manufacturing details. Consult with the inverter manufacturer to ensure that the inverter supports all the equipment you have listed.
Add 20 to 30 per cent extra on top of the total voltage of the inverter. The inverter has to be decided based on the upper limit the invert can handle.
The large-size inverters may require more energy supply than the normal equipment.
Eng. Matthew Joseph Nandirio is the Founder of walkingsolar.
After graduating from the University of Houston in 2002, matt started working as a Solar Electrical Engineer for several multi-national solar energy companies.
He has a wide range of experiences including solar system requirement analysis, planning, maintaining, debugging and even solar device development through research.
He now shares his 20 years of expertise through his articles on the walkingsolar website.
Further, he is also the author of two books on Solar Technology, “Solar Power for Villages” and “DIY Solar System for Dummies”.
