If you are taking the step of living a more green lifestyle and converting your home over to alternative energy, here’s some handy information about installing a 12v inverter in your home.  Installing a 12 volt inverter for your home doesn’t need to be and overwhelming task.  They can be quite simple if you follow a few simple steps.  Here are some tips to help you longer way.

1. The farther away the inverter is going to be from the battery bank, the larger the wire gauge needs to be.  Low voltage DC power doesn’t travel very well through long wires.  The longer the wire, the more resistance there is in the wire and the less power actually ends up flowing through the wire.  For example, if you chose to only use 12 gauge wire, and you have a wire length of around 20 or more feet, there might actually only be 11 volts of power that make it to the inverter.  This isn’t a very efficient way of using your alternative energy.  The solution is to use heavy gauge wire for long spans.  Your power inverter should come with a chart in the instruction manual that shows you how large of wire gauge that should be used for your particular application.
2. It’s important to install a fuse between the positive terminal on the battery and the positive terminal on the power inverter.  This will protect the sensitive circuitry in the power inverter in the event that there is an electrical problem. 
3. Never install a power inverter directly over your battery bank.  When lead acid batteries are charging, they produce hydrogen gas.  Not only is this very explosive, it’s also very corrosive to their power inverters sensitive electronic circuitry. 
4. Make sure that you mount the inverter somewhere where it will be protected from the elements.  You don’t want the rain getting on the inverter and you don’t want it being exposed to direct sunlight.
5. Install the power inverter in an area where it will get adequate ventilation.  Power inverters have cooling vents on either end of an and cooling fans that run to keep the circuitry cool.  If the inverter is installed in an area without adequate ventilation, the inverter could possibly overheat which is harmful to the circuitry as well.
6. It’s a good idea to use soldered terminals to connect the wires to the batteries and the power inverter.  This will ensure a solid connection point and good current flow through the wires

Follow these few simple tips and your power inverter installation should go well.

One Response to “Installing A 12 Volt Inverter In Your Home”

1. Silent Generator says:

   July 29, 2010 at 11:13 pm

   I have been researching about standby generator solutions for my home but have just found out about the DC battery to AC option provided by these inverters. Definitely a viable choice for me but i need to work out the numbers first. This article is really helpful and will help me in my decision. Thanks!