A 300 W inverter can run a lot of devices, but it depends on the type of device. Inverters step up DC power from a battery (typically 12 or 24 volts) to AC power that is what you get from the grid. Knowing what a 300 watt inverter runs and how much energy it uses is going to help you decide if it will work for your application. This article answers that question.
A 300 watt power inverter can provide you with the ability to turn your car into a mobile power station…but how much power can it really run? I’ve seen enough electronics fail due to low voltage and under-powered inverters that I want to give you real information about what a 300 watt power inverter can do.
What Will A 300 Watt Power Inverter Run
We’ve created a comprehensive inverter size chart to help you select the correct inverter to power your appliances.
The need for an inverter size chart first became apparent when researching our DIY solar generator build.
Solar generators can be designed from the smallest sizes for short camping trips, to large off-grid power systems for a boat or house. Consequently, the size of the inverter varies greatly.
We discovered that the majority of inverters are sized from 300 Watts up to over 3000 Watts.
In this article, you’ll be guided through the different inverter sizes. Additionally, you’ll learn what appliances you can power and how you can select the right inverter size according to your power needs.
It’s always recommended that you choose a pure sine wave inverter.
This type of inverter delivers high-quality electricity similar to your utility company, this way none of your appliances run the risk of being damaged. We explained all of this in our recent article – What is a pure sine wave inverter.
When it comes to sizing your inverter, you always need to check the wattage of your appliances and make sure that the total wattage of your appliances fits into the inverter’s max power output.
What Are The Two Types of Power Loads?
Resistive load: LED lights, TV, mobile phones etc. Resistive loads will only use their rated power.
Inductive load: Electric fans, water pumps, power tools, refridgerators, air conditioners etc. Inductive loads may use up to 40% more than their rated power.
For more information about the different types of load, have a look at this comprehensive article.
We created a formula below which helps you know what size inverter you need based on the appliances you want to power:
Inverter size (Watt) = Total sum of all appliances power (Watt)*1.4
So let’s put this formula into practice.
These are the appliances you want to run:
Laptop: 150W
LED lights: 7W
Small fridge: 75W
TV: 150W
Phone/Tablet/Drone: 50W
Now add up all the different wattages.
150 + 7 + 75 + 150 + 50 = 432W
432 X 1.4 = 604,8
This means in order to power the above appliances at the same time you will need a minimum inverter size of 600 watts.
Remember the x1.4 is to add extra security in case any of your appliances are inductive loads.
Inverter Size Chart
We have summarized the appliances that inverters can run depending on their rated maximum power from 300W to 3000W.
(Please note that you will need to use our above formula to figure out how many appliances each inverter size can run simultaneously.)
LED lights (7W) Phone/Tablet (30W) Drone/Camera (40W) Laptop (60 -150W) Electric Fan (80W) TV (150W) Medium size Refrigerator/Freezer (150W) RV water pump (100W) Power tools (1000W) Micro wave oven (1000W) Hair dryer (1000W) Vacuum cleaner (1000W) Air conditioning unit (1500W) 300W + + + + +
500W + + + + + + +
700W + + + + + + + +
1000W + + + + + + + +
1500W + + + + + + + + +
2000W + + + + + + + + + + + +
3000W + + + + + + + + + + + + +
What Will A 300W Inverter Run?
Size: 7.483.933.23in
Weight: 1.76lb
Best for emergency use, charging USB devices in a car
What can this inverter run?
Phone/Tablet/Drone 50W
Laptop 150W
LED lights 7W
Electric fan 80W
Cooler 60W
A 300W inverter will run all of your small electronic devices such as phones, tablets, drones, laptops at the same time. It can also power an electric fan while you’re working on your computer. Compact but powerful, It will even run a cooler.
What will A 500W inverter run?
Size: 8.74 x 6.38 x 2.68 in
Weight: 2.2lbs
Best for small DIY solar generator, RVs and camping
What can this inverter run?
Phone/Tablet/Drone 50W
Laptop 150W
LED lights (5*5W) 25W
Water circulation pump 100W
Electric fan 80W
Small refrigerator/freezer 75W
A 500W inverter will do a great job at powering your USB devices and laptop, together with LED lights, a water circulation pump, and an electric fan. On top of that, it will easily run a small refrigerator/freezer.
What Will A 700W Inverter Run?
Size: 11.75 x 7.38 x 3.32 in
Weight: 5.3lbs
Best for camper van, boat, camping trip
What can this inverter run?
Phone/Tablet/Drone 50W
Laptop 150W
LED lights (5*5W) 25W
Water circulation pump 100W
Electric fan 80W
Small refrigerator/freezer 60W
TV 150W
A 700W inverter will have no problem running basic appliances, such as TV, DVD player, satellite receiver, LED lights, and small refrigerator/freezer. This is the inverter of choice for a short camping trip.
What Will A 1000W Inverter Run?
Size: 10.5 * 5.9 * 3.7 in
Weight: 4.2 lbs
Best for medium size DIY solar generator, camping trips and RVs
What can this inverter run?
Phone/Tablet/Drone 50W
Gaming console 150W
Laptop 150W
LED lights 25W
Water circulation pump 100W
Electric fan 100W
Medium size refrigerator/freezer 100W
TV 150W
A 1000W inverter works great in combination with lithium batteries (up to 1kWh). It will run smoothly multiple basic appliances at the same time, such as refrigerator, TV, projector, video games, printer, small stereo equipment.
What Will A 1500W Inverter Run?
Size: 14.49 x 7.99 x 3.9 inches
Weight: 8.69 lbs
Best for solar systems in RVs, boat and camping
What can this inverter run?
Phone/Tablet/Drone 50W
Laptop 150W
LED lights (5*5W) 25W
Water circulation pump 100W
TV 150W
Electric fan 100W
Large size refrigerator/freezer 200W
Deep well pump 0.75Hp 560W
A 1500W inverter is powerful enough to cover most of your needs during an off-grid trip. Aside from all of your electronic devices (phones, tablets, cameras, etc) and basic appliances (LED lights, electric fans, and TVs), it’ll run a large fridge and a 0.75Hp water pump all at the same time.
What Will A 2000W Inverter Run?
Size: 14.56 x 6.49 x 3.35 in
Weight: 11.86 lbs
Best for field work, power outage, small off-grid cabins
What can this inverter run?
Phone/Tablet/Drone 50W
Laptop 150W
LED lights 25W
Electric fan 100W
Large refrigerator/freezer 200W
Deep well pump 1Hp 750W
Power tools 1200W
A 2000-watt inverter is a reliable source of continuous power for your most demanding equipment, such as power tools (driller, grinder, jigsaws, etc.). In addition, it can be a lifesaver in case of a power outage—2000 watts is enough to run all of your basic domestic appliances, including a large fridge/freezer.
What Will A 3000W Inverter Run?
Size: 19.53 x 10.31 x 5.43 in
Weight: 15.37 lbs
Best for off-grid cabins, aircon units
What can this inverter run?
Phone/Tablet/Drone 50W
Laptop 150W
LED lights 25W
Electric fan 100W
Medium size refrigerator/freezer 100W
Deep well pump 0.5HP 375W
AC Unit 1.5HP 1250W
TV 150W
Kitchen equipment 500W
A 3000W inverter can run all the electric equipment in an off-grid cabin. It’s even powerful enough to run a 1HP AC unit together with a refrigerator, TV, electric fan, led lights, and kitchen equipment.
Real Life Experience – What Will A 3500W Inverter Run?
In this part, I would like to relate my personal experience (as part of a family of 4) living Off-the-grid with a 3500W solar inverter. To power our house, we rely 100% on an off-grid solar system.
Our 3500W solar inverter – inverter size chart.
Our 3500W solar inverter
Based on our experience the 3500W inverter can easily run these appliances at the same time:
Pressure pump (1Hp) 750W
Deep well pump (2Hp) 1400W
Medium size refrigerator/freezer 100W
Electric fan 80W
Led lights (6 pcs*5W) 30W
Gaming Laptop 250W
Phone/Tablet/Drone 60W
Wifi Router 15W
Personal refrigerator/freezer – inverter size chart.
Refrigerator/freezer (100W)
Personal pressure pump – inverter size chart.
