Second Inverter for Dual Voltage

[alexcc]

Hi all,

Apologies if this is a silly question - I've been hanging around for a while on forums and haven't seen something like this done.

I'm looking at purchasing a boat in Europe next year. It will likely already have a factory inverter with the boat set up for 240V 50Hz AC and a standard 12V DC system.

I have a couple of important appliances that are either only available as 110V (I'm in North America) or available in Europe but cost 2-4x as much there.

Question: Would I be able to add a simple sine wave inverter (like this: shorturl.at/fqHOR) to the system that has outlets in it already? Then I can just use it when required for my one or two US appliances? I would probably put it around the galley and eventually wire it in permanently to the 12V DC system - giving me access to both 110V 60Hz AC for smaller appliances and 220V 50Hz throughout the boat?

[Dsanduril]

Short answer, yes - if you're OK dealing with the extra equipment and wiring.

Our own boat is Euro and we run three inverters; a large 230V/50Hz that came with the boat and is only turned on when we want to use major appliances (too much idle draw for our taste to leave it on all the time), a small 230V/50Hz/300W unit that stays on all the time because it runs our refrigeration (and has very low idle draw), and a 120V/60Hz unit that runs ocassionally to power some odds and ends that were easier to source in the US.

It all plays together fine but the wiring is a bit more complicated. If you have to buy multiple large inverters then cost (including installation) could quickly be greater than buying a couple of expensive appliances.

Lastly, unless very small the inverter should be installed near the batteries and AC wiring run to point of use. For a 12V to 120V inverter the current in the DC wires is 10x that in the AC wires (with losses closer to 11x).