Powering a TV

[sailorboy1]

Btw one of the big pluses to going the small inverter and regular TV routes is that now you have a small inverter for powering small loads, like recharging the drill/vacuum batteries. Saves a lot of power.

[continuouswave]

A nice 300-Watt Inverter is the SureSine made by Morningstar:

https://www.morningstarcorp.com/products/suresine/

Regarding stand-by consumption: if you switch off the 12-Volts when the Inverter is not in use, the stand-by consumption is zero. Efficiency is greater than 90-percent. The unit is encapsulated so no worry about marine environment.

[noelex 77]

Originally Posted by continuouswave

A nice 300-Watt Inverter is the SureSine made by Morningstar:

https://www.morningstarcorp.com/products/suresine/

Regarding stand-by consumption: if you switch off the 12-Volts when the Inverter is not in use, the stand-by consumption is zero. Efficiency is greater than 90-percent. The unit is encapsulated so no worry about marine environment.

The self consumption when on is almost 0.5A.

[Pizzazz]

TVs powered directly by the mains (110V) are cheaper and have better picture quality than 12V TV. It is not only the much larger volume but you need the higher voltage to power the backlight anyway. Therefore, you are always better off with a regular TV vs. a 12V TV. Now, regarding the inverter, I had small sine wave inverter as well but at the end of the day it is not worth the hassle.

Most larger inverters can be configured to automatically go to standby (very little power consumption) if the main draw is less than 15-30W (i.e. the inverter will not switch on unless it sees a current draw bigger than 30W). This way you can leave the inverter on all the time and it will only switch when the TV is on. Self consumption is around 1.5A, but compared to the TV consumption of 4-6A it is not such a big loss.

Then you are left with the problem of charging smaller devices (phones, tablets, etc.) but you are always better off using a 12V to 5V USB converter vs. the inverter in this case.

SV Pizzazz

[Taniwha_Aotea]

if your looking for a cheap option in Australia try Kogan 12v tv and put a chrome cast on it to make a smart tv.
I use one for a tv and the other as a pc monitor - under $200 on special - image quality is great but sound is not so I use external speakers.

[AA3JY]

Originally Posted by continuouswave

A nice 300-Watt Inverter is the SureSine made by Morningstar:

https://www.morningstarcorp.com/products/suresine/.

Must be half descent ..made in Pa.! 😊

[continuouswave]

Originally Posted by noelex 77

The self consumption [of a MORNINGSTAR SURESINE] when on is almost 0.5A.

See the specification sheet:

https://2n1s7w3qw84d2ysnx3ia2bct-wpe...NG_R2_1_08.pdf

In OFF mode the Morningstar SURESINE idle current is 0.025-Ampere

Maybe MORNINGSTAR is just more honest than other manufacturers. They are selling into a profession user market.

As I already noted, if you shut off the 12-VDC when you are not watching television the idle current will be zero. The OP has 800-Ampere-hours available.

Originally Posted by AA3JY

Must be half descent--made in [Pennsylvania]

Yes, made in USA, as far as I know.

I have one. It is well made, rugged, works fine. It weighs 10-lbs.

[ohgary]

12v tv tend to be small and expensive, however if you look around you can find a tv with a wall wort that outputs 12v, skip the wall wart and power directly from 12v. Now your not going to find a 55 inch powered from 12v but a 32-40 inch can be found, Just takes some research.. Or better yet, get a PC monitor and use the HDMI to feed a tuner or other steaming device.

[Dsanduril]

The OP did say his minimum TV size was 40". The most efficient TV/display in that class is around 45W and typical is more like 55-60W.

At that power output the Morningstar is ~90-91% efficient (all-in, including the idle current). A typical DC-DC converter to 19V would be ~94% efficient. For a 60W TV we're quibbling over ~2W. Most DC-DC units I have seen have a no load current ~20-30mA, about third to half the Morningstar in its standby mode (55mA), but much less (20x) than its idle mode (450mA). If you turn them off when not in use then it doesn't matter, if you don't then the DC-DC will win (because I've seen too many ECO mode fails on inverters, something keeps them at high idle).

[sailorboy1]

Another not about using a 300w inverter

Mine after 6 months started to make a cooling fan squeal. So i starts spray lubing it, but finall got a replacement. That one made more noise the the first. Then one sail sailing across i got wondering if the little 2” computer fans i ordered for something else by mistake would fit. So opened up the first inverter and that what was in it. So replaced it and that was 6 months ago and it has been fine (that $30 inverter is now 2 years old has probably averaged 2-3 hours run time a day).

A large inverter may be efficient. But a 9% loss on a 2000w inverter is a lot of power waster to run a TV. Having one of these small units is the way to go.

[noelex 77]

Originally Posted by continuouswave

Maybe MORNINGSTAR is just more honest than other manufacturers. They are selling into a profession user market.

I would encourage people to measure the effects for themselves. The specifications for inverters, and for that matter, DC-DC converters does not always represent typical operating conditions and can be quite misleading. The effeciency for the power bricks that are supplied with appliances is another unknown.

The DC-DC converters are not expensive so a little experimentation is worthwhile. Hook the DC-DC converter up on temporary basis and measure the power savings. If they are not significant the experiment will cost little in time or money.

By carefully measuring the current you can also discover tricks that can save some power. For example, transferring a movie onto the computer’s SSD drive and avoiding a supplementary hard drive spinning can save a little power and if you have a slow computer the movie may even play better. Win win.

The goal with doing without a generator is not to turn off appliances or do without, but rather discovering ways of operating the same equipment more efficiently. Powering a TV or computer screen via a DC converter is perfect example. The equipment is, if anything, easier to use (just turn on the appliance rather than having to also turn on the inverter), works just as well, but uses less power, all for $10 in parts and a little time.

Small amounts of power on appliances that are used for long periods can have a more significant impact than is often appreciated. As an example consider a boat that runs a generator or main engine once a week to make up for a shortfall in solar power. If we a assume a 50 A gain into the batteries is possible with the battery charger or alternator and have a look at the savings of reducing power consuption by only 0.5A on an appliance such as a computer screen or TV that is used for three hours a day. The result is this would save 13 mins run time on the generator or main engine. It is not hard to see that with a few small savings such as this, the boat can become self sufficient without the generator.