# cfl lights on modified sine wave inverter



## stampee (Jan 31, 2013)

Hello Everyone: I am new to solar and using inverters in general.
I plan to run all of my lights and small appliances from a solar grid I am building. I have read my small inverters manual and it says do not use fluorescent lights. Yet in other places I read where people are using them fine. I have done alot of google searching but cannot find much information on this issue.
As a test I tried a 13W CFL on my 400 watt inverter and it lit up fine, and drew 1 amp from the 12V battery. So I guess that is okay. Will I do damage to my inverter? The internal fan did not even come on.
I know I should use 12V lighting, but I really do not wish to convert my entire home at this time. Especially when I am just getting into this.
By the way, I have a 1500W MSW inverter in the mail, so the 400 watt one is just for testing at this time.
I also checked wattage and a 75W incandescent drew 6 amps from the battery, so wattage checks out and the 13W CFL certainly was using less power from the battery. Thank you to anyone for some advice.
-Stampee


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## Gray Wolf (Jan 25, 2013)

We ran cf bulbs just fine on our old inverter. "Modified" sign wave may not run mixers, microwave, blenders very well. We had no problems with computer or tv but some do. Laser printers also probably will have problems. 1500 watts may not be quite enough for toaster, hairdryer, toaster oven, curling iron, waffle iron, etc, etc. Most of these will tax a 1,500 watt inverter. Inverters usually can surge over their rating but only for short periods. We live totally off grid and do just fine.


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## Rick (May 10, 2002)

If you will be using the inverter anyway, CFL or LED on 120 volt, on Mod Sine is fine. 

Mine always use less than rated power.

My dewalt 14.4 batts charge fine, laptop charger gets pretty warm but not unsafe feeling and charges fine. Inkjet Printer - fine.

Cheap box fan acted funny.


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## stampee (Jan 31, 2013)

Thank you both very much for answering. I am in the process of building dual 70 watt(mfg claimed) 36 cell solar panels, in case you were curious, then plan on adding more panels as money prevails. I will use the cfl's I have already now then and see how they go and ad more if things work out.
I guess I cannot go tottaly off the grid, I use an arc welder and heavy machinery to often in my shop  But plan to get as many small items off the grid as possible.
-stampee


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## Gray Wolf (Jan 25, 2013)

Panels are getting cheaper. I'd shop it a bit before building them. We run on 8 panels at 235 watts each. I run generator to power 220 welders, saws, and other heavy loads in my shop. Time it to charge batteries, do laundry etc at the same time. I find that I seldom run saws, welders for more than an hour or two and the rest of the time is head scratching and setup. 220 inverters and the BIG battery bank to run them are overkill for a house running on 120.


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## stampee (Jan 31, 2013)

Gray_wolf: Thank you. I did shop around for panel prices, I found some for around $1 a watt, but then the shipping doubled that price, so I went the build my own route. I like the idea of a generator to run my shop tools and washer. That is a good way to go.
-Stampee


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## Gray Wolf (Jan 25, 2013)

Don't know where you are but you might check ebay, craigslist etc to see if anybody is selling old panels in your area. They last a LONG time and people, like us, sell the old ones when we upgrade our system. I sold our 12 year old ones locally for less than $1.00 a watt.


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