Electric blanket on inverter

[WOMD]

Why run it off an inverter when the circuit in the blanket turns it back into DC. So you're losing more power going from DC to AC back to DC.

Granted I wouldn't run one over night unless it was on a low setting and I had 3 good sized deep cycle batteries to feed it. I do however, recommend going with a 12 volt heated blanket instead of converting back and forth. It isn't much power lost, but every bit helps, especially when it comes to starting up the TV in the morning.

[oatmeal]

If you have a pure sine wave inverter, any electric blanket should work fine.

If you have a modified sine wave (MSW) inverter, newer electric blankets won't work because the controller will burn up. Same thing with "heated throws."

The problem with the 12-volt electric blankets is that they are too small to use as a blanket on a bed. (I have one.) I have heard good reports on 12-volt mattress warmers, but I want a blanket not a mattress warmer, so I didn't investigate further.

We currently have an electric blanket that is at least 15 years old, and it works on the MSW inverter. It seems to have lost some of its oomph over the years of using it on the inverter (we fulltime), but it still works. We turn it on before going to bed, and unless it's going to be below about 55 in the RV overnight (like if we're not running the heater), we don't leave it running all night. And even if it does run all night, if it's on a very low setting, it cycles on and off. I don't know what the battery usage would be--we have six so I've never even thought about it.

I wouldn't even try it with a blanket or throw that's less than 10 years old--probably more. If you have an old one that might be a candidate, take a look at the controller. If it's mechanical, and not electronic, it might work. Like if it has real buttons that get pushed down and stay down for the settings (like three buttons--it it has 10 settings or something, it's probably electronic). Or a real dial that spins and not just something that looks like a dial but you actually press on the round dial-looking thing to set it. Or a switch that looks like an arrow that you point at what setting you want (I had that on a very old heating pad that worked on the MSW inverter for years, but has now spazzed out and works only on the lowest setting.)

Dunner, if your heating pad is as ancient is you say it is, it will probably work. But if it doesn't and you burn it up, do not despair because I found a heating pad that will work on a MSW inverter. It's by SoftHeat and the one I got is 12x24--a perfect size for foot warming. I saw it in a store and thought the controller looked mechanical enough to take a risk, and it works perfectly. It has an auto-off "feature" but other than that, I'm very happy with it. This photo shows a the controller on my heating pad. Note that it's an actual slider; mine has three heat settings where the slider clicks into place. That's going to be the key to getting a controller that works on the MSW inverter.

http://www.kaz.com/images/productsho...961af03c79.jpg

And imorton, I don't know about pulsing being hard on the inverter. We have a big solar array--big enough that we wanted to siphon off extra power when the batteries are full, and hooked up the electric water heater to the inverter. It's kind of complicated, but the water heater pulses on and off several times a second (cued by the voltage of the batteries). We've been doing this for years and the MSW inverter that the RV manufacturer installed is still working fine.

To be honest, I kind of want it to fail because that would spur me to buy a pure sine wave inverter and be done with the hassles. But so far, abuse via microwave, water heater, and electric blankets have failed to kill it.

[clyon51]

Our 2 Jack Russells both put out 102 degrees continuously. No inverter, just some Alpo once in a while

[YC1]

As mentioned, your mileage may vary. Our electric blanket won't run on our inverter. Our lap blankets will but the controls get very hot and we have let the smoke out of two of them. When and if our inverter dies we will replace it with a pure sine wave version.

[Dunner]

Originally Posted by oatmeal

Dunner, if your heating pad is as ancient is you say it is, it will probably work. But if it doesn't and you burn it up, do not despair because I found a heating pad that will work on a MSW inverter. It's by SoftHeat and the one I got is 12x24--a perfect size for foot warming. I saw it in a store and thought the controller looked mechanical enough to take a risk, and it works perfectly. It has an auto-off "feature" but other than that, I'm very happy with it. This photo shows a the controller on my heating pad. Note that it's an actual slider; mine has three heat settings where the slider clicks into place. That's going to be the key to getting a controller that works on the MSW inverter.

It's 11x15", 30 speed, 35 Watt, with 3 Thermostat Safety Controls, which I have no idea what they are. Laying across the bottom of the pad is the moisture resistant cover.



Dated box cover.



An excerpt from the Guarantee.



Old enough? Don't know how long my parents had it, but I can remember it being around forever. Haven't tried in on my MSW inverter, but from what I'm reading, it should work. I haven't looked, but I'm guessing the control is a bi-metal dohicky.

[RedWing Nut]

We ruined the controllers on our electric blankets with a Magnum 2000 inverter that used modified sine-wave.

[okmunky]

Dunner,

Casco products still exists in Bridgeport CT. Casco Products Corp - Bridgeport, CT (Connecticut) | (203) 922-3200

They might pay big $ for your working antique if they have a company Museum.

[Dunner]

Yeah, but I might end up with one that won't work/like MSW.

I meant to search, but got CRS(even had a hard time remembering CRS).

[EngineerMike]

We use an electric blanket off a Xantrex RS2000 psw inverter, low setting for sleeping, high for warming the bed. We have 600ah of house batt's, never had a problem.

[okmunky]

Ok, so what will MSW kill and what is safe to run? I tried Google, but ended up back where I started. I have a 300 watt plug in MSM inverter.

[Dunner]

Don't go anywhere Barb. Gonna go see if my fossil of a heating pad works on my 600 watt MSW inverter.

[38 Special]

Originally Posted by okmunky

Ok, so what will MSW kill and what is safe to run? I tried Google, but ended up back where I started. I have a 300 watt plug in MSM inverter.

Anything with electronics. I have lost two coffee pots. Now the coffee maker only has an on off switch. Also lost an electric alarm clock. My new alarm clock seems to work okay on MSW, but it runs a little fast and I have to set it every once and a while.

Laptops are not effected as the cord charges the battery and does not power it directly. TV's seem to do fine.

[Dunner]

My old relic of a heating pad works fine on MSW.

[bluepill]

Jim - If you want to stay with the 120 volt blanket, and it does have an electronic control, you might consider a small PSW inverter. 300 to 600 watts would be more than adequate, and would probably be more efficient than your larger unit - i.e. efficiency as a function of actual amps drawn. (90% efficiency from a 2000 watt inverter would draw 4 times more current than the same % efficiency in a 500 watt unit.) A larger inverter running at a small percent of maximum rating is also usually less efficient than a smaller unit running at a larger percent of it's maximum.


Amazon lists a well-reviewed 600 watt "Power Bright" PSW unit for $163. From the reviews, it looks like the smaller units do not hold up well. Lots of stories of releasing the factory-installed magic smoke.


Might be worth a "buy-and-try" test. I'd love to see the actual amp. numbers from both the small and large inverter.