# Thinking about getting rid of inverters and going with a 12 volt system



## catalekid (Jan 23, 2011)

I currently run a television/ DVD, interior lights and a fan off a simple solar, battery and inverter system. 

Switching to an all 12 volt system and bypassing the inverter is something I am considering, mostly to get rid of the inverter noise.

What are your thoughts?


----------



## Gary in ohio (May 11, 2002)

If you load will support 12v then why loose the power in converting the voltage. Depending on your needs TV, DVD and lights can be found in 12v varieties. I would suggest LED and not incandescent lamps for your lighting.

My solar power system is mainly for use with my ham radio and computer gear and it all runs off 12v and works fine.


----------



## ET1 SS (Oct 22, 2005)

In our town there are four homes on Solar Power. One of those homes has been on solar power since the 1980s, and they only use 12vdc. All of his home appliances were sourced as 12vdc appliances.

His battery bank is made of car batteries too. He gets them from a junk yard for the $10 core charge. They are all wired in parallel.

It is a very cheap and reliable system.


----------



## catalekid (Jan 23, 2011)

Thanks for the input guys ....................... it is time for a new TV so no better time to do this than right now. Anybody have a suggested TV brand? I want about a 32" size, lcd is more energy efficient than plasma I believe. My current 37" lcd TV (110 volt) pulls 86 watts.


----------



## Offgrid48 (Jul 28, 2016)

catalekid said:


> Thanks for the input guys ....................... it is time for a new TV so no better time to do this than right now. Anybody have a suggested TV brand? I want about a 32" size, lcd is more energy efficient than plasma I believe. My current 37" lcd TV (110 volt) pulls 86 watts.


You'll spend more converting everything to 12V than just getting a quieter inverter.


----------



## catalekid (Jan 23, 2011)

I am already buying another TV after this one wet belly up. 12V seems to be not much more.


----------



## Skamp (Apr 26, 2014)

Best do some home work on wire sizing. A TV pulling that wattage 12v could need up to 10 gauge wire being only 10 feet from source.


----------



## ET1 SS (Oct 22, 2005)

One option to consider is that even after you wire your house for 12vdc, you could still pick-up a dozen small inverters. Use one inverter specifically for each appliance.

Our eldest son drives long-haul trucks, he has found that truck stops keep a wide selection of small inverters for pretty cheap prices.


----------



## In The Woods (Apr 27, 2017)

When we were off grid we did everything except electronics on 12v. This was before LED lights were around so we used 12v flourescents.

The only thing we used an inverter for was the TV and satellite dish. There are a lot more choices in TV’s when looking at standard ones. And now these newer LED TV’s use very little power.

My inverters never made any appreciable noise. Maybe look into a better inverter? I don’t know why an inverter would be noisy unless it is being stressed and the fan constantly runs at high speed. But even then it shouldn’t be that noisy.


----------



## catalekid (Jan 23, 2011)

I have two Xantrex inverters ........... 1500 watts each ............one is pure sine wave ............................ they are definitely not cheapos. I hate the noise when the fans come on. The only electronic I will run is an LCD TV and DVD player .................... everything else is four 60 watt lcd bulbs, one 4 ft double florescent fixture and one three speed fan. The TV I was running pulled 86 watts and I do not run any light all of the time. I use oil lamps for most of my evening lighting.


----------



## Rick (May 10, 2002)

catalekid said:


> I have two Xantrex inverters ........... 1500 watts each ............one is pure sine wave ............................ they are definitely not cheapos. I hate the noise when the fans come on. The only electronic I will run is an LCD TV and DVD player .................... everything else is four 60 watt lcd bulbs, one 4 ft double florescent fixture and one three speed fan. The TV I was running pulled 86 watts and I do not run any light all of the time. I use oil lamps for most of my evening lighting.


We have a Visio 24 inch smart tv. It uses roughly 25 watts. I don't use it much, but it work well after 3 years or so. Occaisionally the brightness dims a bit and returns. I assume this is due to my modified sine inverters.

Can you relocate the inverter, using thicker cable from the batteries?


----------



## Steve_S (Feb 25, 2015)

I have a buddy who's an "RV Nut" and he has gotten some stuff from here: https://www.12volt-travel.com/  I dunno myself what the story is on this company but seems they have many 12V solutions including TV's. I'm sure that anything on that site is readily available through E-Bay or Amazon too and maybe for less too.

Most inverter's are not that noisy unless they are being pushed to the edge (max capacity) and the fan(s) are working OT to keep it cool. Maybe you should have a revisit on your loads and see if you have enough battery bank to run what you have and that the inverter is not too undersized. Cotek makes decent inverters, well priced, might be worth looking into. Readily available from many solar suppliers. REF: http://cotek.ca/?cotekproducttax=pure-sine-wave-power-inverters


----------



## Murby (May 24, 2016)

12 volts DC sucks. If you go that route, you might want to think about investing in a copper mine because you're going to need a lot of it.

I would suggest getting quality inverters or adding filters and ferrite rings to your lines to reduce the noise.

Go look at the price for a 12 volt freezer. Normal 120v freezer is $300, going to a 12v system is around $1200


----------

