We installed a 2000 Watt Prosine 2.0 inverter charger that is capable of driving most 110V household tools and equipment like the microwave and even the air conditioner, although we seldom used it for that due to the high draw on the batteries.
As a very rough rule of thumb, 10 Amps at 110 Volts out of the inverter will draw about 100 Amps from the 12 Volt batteries.
This is a very smart inverter charger. The shorepower runs through the Prosine and it will switch automatically, without a glitch from shorepower to inverter if the power fails and back again when shore power is restored.
It also has a built in, multi-stage battery charger, capable of charging the battery bank from shore power at 105 Amps.
The battery charger is also very smart and can be programmed for the type of battery (AGM/Flooded/gel, etc) and charge the batteries in preprogrammed stages such as Bulk, Absorption and Float and it can also be programmed to do an equalization charge, from time to time, which is recommended by manufactureres of lead-acid batteries. During equalization, the current is capped at 16 amps and the battery voltage is allowed to climb to as high as 18 Volts to overcharge the cells, get rid of sulfates and equalize the charge in each cell. I normally remove the battery caps and monitor the fluid level during this process.
The remote panel also provides good feedback on the LCD display of the real time status of the equipment in each stage of operation.
Howard [ Just Imagine ] 01-Jan-2008Low current requirements
We also had a small 150W inverter for running a laptop or 110V flourescent light. We found this more efficient than firing up the big 2000W inverter, which draws a little overhead current even when sitting idle.
Howard [ Just Imagine ] 01-Jan-2008
Prosine Installation (Technical)