What Can A 800 watt Inverter Run?

In this guide learn everything about the 800W inverter, what it can power, what size battery will be suitable with 800w, and much more

In short, an 800W inverter can run AC appliances that consume up to 800W of AC watts like computers, TV, bulbs, fridge, & Ceiling

I’m assuming that you have a battery that can provide 800 watts of DC power. Based on this let’s see what appliances you can run on it

Intorduction to Inverter capacity & surge wattage

A solar inverter is a device that converts the DC current coming from the batteries into AC current so you can run your household appliances

The size of the inverter determines how many watts of AC output it can provide at its full capacity. from an 800W inverter, you can draw 800 watts of AC power from your batteries per hour

During the conversion (from DC to AC) there will be a power loss unfortunately, most of the inverters available in the market right now are 85% efficient which means an inverter will draw 230 DC watts from the battery in order to run 200W AC appliance

so an 800W inverter running at its full capacity with an 85% efficiency rate will draw 920 DC watts from the battery

This will help to figure out what size battery will be suitable with your 800W inverter and how long a battery will last with an 800W inverter

What is the surge wattage of the inverter? Surge wattage is a boost of initial power to run the appliance like a fridge & most of the motor based appliances need surge wattage

So if you have an 800W inverter it will most probably have a 1600W of surge wattage to start your appliance which lasts for a few seconds

Last but not least, the inverters come in different input voltages 12,24,48v so most of them will adjust automatically according to the voltage of the battery but for some, you’ll manually have to select and also choose the inverter voltage size according to your battery voltage

Now let’s calculate what appliances you can run with your 800W inverter

Video – Testing Pure sine wave VS Modifed sine wave inverter

What will a 800w inverter run?

in simple words, you can run the fridge, laptop or computer, LED bulbs, TV, and other appliances which require a maximum of 800W of AC power

The secret here is to calculate a total load of your AC appliances and if it’s under 800W then you’re good to go but if it’s above 800W then the inverter may run the load for a few seconds but will turn itself off after a few seconds

Here’s a list of AC appliances that you can run with an 800W inverter

  • Computer (300W)
  • Laptop (60W)
  • Ceiling Fan (90W)
  • Coffee maker (800W)
  • Electric blanket (200W)
  • Fidge (100W)
  • Laser printer
  • Microwave (600-1200W)

These are some appliances with up to 800 watts of input which you can run with an 800W inverter

If you’re looking to run multiple appliances with your inverter. Add up the wattage of appliances together but make sure that your total wattage should be under 800 watts

For example, you can run 8 100W of AC appliances together with an 800w solar inverter

if you’re thinking about buying one then I would recommend you go with Renogy 1000W pure sine wave. You’ll get this at the same price as 800W inverters available

Can an 800w inverter run a fridge?

The fridge is famous because of their surge wattage and now latest technology refrigerators consume 100W of AC power and multiply the wattage capacity by 3-4 times 100×4 = 400 watts

so a 100W fridge will maximum need a 400W of surge to get started which an 800w inverter can easily handle

there are mostly two types of inverters available pure sine wave and modified sine wave, pure sine wave inverters give a smooth output so you’ll need a pure sine wave inverter to run your sensitive appliances like the fridge

so yes, an 800W inverter can run a fridge but how long it can power the fridge will depend on the battery size

Watch this video on how you can calculate the size of the inverter for your fridge

Video – How to size inverter for fridge?

Will an 800 watt inverter run a microwave?

Microwave consumes about 600-1200 AC watts depending on the size, so a small size microwave will consume 600W which you can run on an 800W inverter

large size microwaves consume more than 800 watts so an 800w inverter would not be enough to run the microwave

How many amps is a 800 watt inverter?

The inverter will convert the 12 DC volts coming from the battery to 120 AC volts to run your AC appliances which require 120 volts

to calculate the amps from an inverter use this formula Amps = watts/volts

I’m assuming if you’re running your 800W solar inverter at its full capacity it will draw A amps (800/120 = 6.6)

The amp rating will change according to output load for example with 400W AC output load your inverter will draw 3.3 amp output

the inverter will draw only 12 volts from the battery which means it’ll draw 66.6 amps from the battery (12×66.6 = 800 Watts)

12v 800w inverter will draw 66.6 amps from the battery and give an output of 6.6 amps to run your 120V appliance running on its full capacity

What size wire cable for 800W inverter?

Use the right size wiring for your inverter 12v inverter will draw 66.6 amps which means you’ll need a thicker wire through which you can transfer this much current but a thinner wire will cause power loss or it can damage the wiring or even appliance

Here’s a chart to give you an idea

Inverter SizeDistance B/W battery & inverter (<3 ft)Distance B/W battery & inverter (3-6 ft)Distance B/W battery & inverter (6-10 ft)
400 watts8 AWG6 AWG4 AWG
800 watts6 AWG4 AWG2 AWG
1000 watts4 AWG 2 AWG1/0 AWG
1500 watts2 AWG1 AWG3/0 AWG
2000 watts1/0 AWG 2/0 AWG 250 AWG
3000 watts3/0 AWG 4/0 AWG500 AWG
4000 watts3/0 AWG 4/0 AWG500 AWG
5000 watts3/0 AWG 4/0 AWG500 AWG
6000 watts3/0 AWG 4/0 AWG500 AWG
What size wire for the inverter?

Above the values of wire is measured in AWG / kcmil

Video – How to install inverter with battery?

How long will a battery last with 800w inverter?

Size of battery and AC output load will determine how long will your battery last with an inverter

First of all, calculate the battery capacity from Ah to watts Watts = Ah x volts

(Ah*battery volts) * 0.85 = AC watts

let’s take a 12v 100Ah lithium battery as an example 100×12 = 1200 watts now multiply this number with 0.85 for a 15% efficient inverter 1200 * 0.85 = 1020 AC watts

800/1020 = 1.2 hours

12v 100Ah battery will last 1.2 hours with an 800W inverter running at its full capacity which will fully drain the battery from 100-0%

if you have a lead-acid or AGM battery cut the lasting time by half because of the 50% DOD limit

i hope this guide was helpful to you, have any queries Contact US thank you!

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Chris Tsitouris is a renewable energy professional with 10+ years of experience as Director of Engineering at Solar Spectrum, previously working as Project Manager at SunPower and Energy Analyst at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. As a thought leader, Chris has authored numerous articles and research papers.

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