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Please take time to read the information below as produced by Sterling Power products
OK, relax; we’re not suggesting you go to electronic design school to learn all the latest technology! This is about optimising the potential of your on board electrical systems and ensuring you get the best solution to suit your needs and budget.
The ‘all in one’ solution offered by a combi product appears an attractive solution; just screw it to the bulkhead, connect a few wires and that’s your electrical system done – off to the pub! For some this is fine, especially where space restriction and such simplicity are top of the agenda. But in reality it is not the holy grail of solutions that it might seem and there are a number of issues to consider.
The purpose of this article is to set things out clearly so that you can make your own judgment as to what suits you best.
There are 4 key issues that are the ‘Achilles’ Heel’ of the combi solution;
1. Redundancy – its great to have it all in one box from an installation and space point of view but if it goes wrong you loose everything.
2. High quiescent current (what is consumed by the unit just to operate) – a little know fact is that a quasi-sine switch mode
inverter uses less than an amp to run where a sinewave combi might use as much as 9 amps depending on the model, manufacturer and technology employed. This difference may seem of little consequence when you consider the power needed to run, say, a hair dryer or microwave where it is less than 1 percent. But compared to the consumption of a fridge and then it is substantial. Think about how long a fridge is running compared to a hair dryer! This can mean your batteries running flat in a matter of hours even though you may have next to nothing switched on. Beware, the true quiescent load o...