On (08 May 96) Roy J. Tellason wrote to Robert Sayre...
 RS> I believe that you can use an inverter for short periods.  It
 RS> would be better to use 12 volt devices, though. I can think of
 RS> very few items that are not available in a 12 volt version.
 RJ> Computer hardware...  
Ours is all DC, except one of the monitors, which we run off a
small inverter. Granted, we are the exception...  
And I don't know where that "short periods" came from up there. Many
RE homes use inverters _continuously_.
 RS> Inverters waste some energy.
 RJ> Efficiencies for them is typically 90% and up,  unless you
 RJ> _need_ a sinewave for some reason,  so it doesn't amount to
 RJ> all that much.
The new Trace sine wave inverters have efficiency ratings in the
mid-90s.
 RS> I believe that the larger ones waste more than the smaller
 RS> ones do.
 RJ> What are you basing this on?  I don't recall having heard
 RJ> anything to this effect before.
I would tend to say overall the opposite is probably true, but it
depends on how big the load is. Each inverter's efficiency curve is
going to be different, and running a small load on a big inverter
will tend to be inefficient, as I understand it.
                        Ian
... Taglines are made by fools like me, but only God can make a tree.         
 
... "You wouldn't weld the hood of your car shut, would you sonny?" - Alaskan
battery guy, when asked what he thought about sealed batteries
--- PPoint 1.96
---------------