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I'll document what appliances I'm using, the power source they use and how they work as I go.
I purchased a Kill-a-Watt meter, I wanted to get a better idea of the energy consumption of various electrical appliances I've been using. While I have done some of these tests by running an amp meter ahead of my power inverters, this seemed a much easier and quicker way to get that data. P3 International makes the Kill-a-Watt, they have a variety of different meters, but the basic model P4400 did everything I needed it to, and it was less than $20 shipping included from Newegg.com.
| Device | Instant Watts | Per Batch | Notes |
| 47" Visio HD TV | 75 average | .4 Watts Off. Back light sensor set to medium. | |
| LG BluRay Player | 12 | .3 Watts Off / Power used in net link mode. | |
| TV & BluRay | 79 | Watching BluRay movie. | |
| Home Theater | 145 | TV, BluRay and Sound System. | |
| Microwave | 1614 | 81 (3 min.) | 1 Watt in standby mode. |
| 2 Slice Toaster | 843 | 43 | |
| Washing Machine | 500 to 600 | 260 W-hrs/load | Older Kenmore full size top loader. |
| Laptop PC | 24 - 48 | 24 watts on internet/48 watts gaming. 1.5 Watts off w/battery charged. | |
| Desktop PC/monitor | 110 | Includes modem & router. 11 Watts with PC off. | |
| Internet Modem | 4.4 | ||
| Router | 4.1 | ||
| 4' Shop Light | 45-55 | ||
| Vacuum | 1030 | 110 W-hrs | Average quick vacuum job. Riccar 4812 upright. |
| Lathe | 930 | Light load. | |
| Coffee Maker | 980 | 90/160 W-hrs | Batch used 90 Watts to brew, 160 Watts total keeping pot hot for 1 hour. |
| 4" Table Top Fan | 20.6 | ||
| 9" Osc. Fan | 31/36/42 | Best AC fan I have in terms of moving air vs. power useage. | |
| 20" Box Fan | 60/94/190 | Worthless fan, such a poor design it's hard to tell what side the air flow is from. Power hungry too. | |
| 20" DC Box Fan | 13 | Converted Fan Blade to use on a 24 v. DC motor running at 12v. Best air flow vs. power of all my fans. | |
| Small Fridg/Freezer | 95 | 819 Whr/day | Only opened twice during 17 hour test. Room temp 73 degrees. |
| Palm Sander | 60 | Under normal load. | |
| Bench Drill Press | 110-170 | 110 no load, 170 loaded. | |
| Presto Multi Cooker | 1180 | 1240 Watts unil warmed up. | |
| 4" Angle Grinder | 280 | Under normal load. (Makita) | |
| 5 qt. Crock Pot | 88, 128, 210 | Keep warm, medium, high. | |
| 8,000 BTU Air Cond. | 700-715 | 710 Watts average on medium fan. |
Radio/Stereo:
I have 2 stereo systems, one goes with a surround sound system with my home theater, the other is stand alone for radio, CD's, PC sound, etc. Both of these run on 120 volt ac only. For the home theater system I'll have to power an inverter anyway, so I'll still use that sound system as is. I usually don't use the home theater for more than a movie or two a week, so the power requirements aren't that great.
I don't want to run my inverter just to listen to the radio, so I pulled out my old boom box I use in my shop. It's probably 20 years old, but still sounds good. Unfortunately it's either battery or 120 volt ac powered. But, the battery pack uses 8) D cells, which is 12 volts. So I soldered a new set of wires directly to the battery terminals, the wire is the plug end of an old extension cord, so I already had a plug on the end. Now I can plug the radio into any of my 12 volt outlets throughout the house.
The radio draws only .15 amps, or about 2 watts at normal volume levels. This is much less than running an inverter as the inverter alone uses about 8 Watts.
Here's the old boom box that's been converted to use external 12 volt power.
It was as simple as soldering 2 wires. I did cut a hole in the battery compartment door to allow the cord to exit. I also added a couple of wire ties inside the compartment to prevent stress on the solder connections.