Question:
The main appliance I want to run at the house is a window Air conditioner. I
put a amp meter on it, and it draws about 1200 watts when it is running. I
don't know what the start up is. I am trying to determine what inverter
would I need to buy to tie into my grid that would work with this unit. In
other words, my grid should start the unit and run it, but I want something
that will off set my electric bill also. What inverter from the list below
will work with this airconditioner. (Or course other things are running
also, lights, computer, etc. .
I know the SW4024 will probably work, but of couse, it cost the most also.
Will any of the DR units work?
TRACE DR1524 24 VOLT DC TO 120 VOLT AC 1500 WATTS
TRACE DR2424 24 VOLT DC TO 120 VOLT AC 2400 WATTS
TRACE DR3624 24 VOLT DC TO 120 VOLT AC 3600 WATTS
TRACE SW4024 VOLT DC TO 120 VOLT AC 4000
Answer:
It all depends on the starting current. Most air conditioners have a
rating plate. Look for a locked rotor amps (LRA) rating. This is
the current the inverter will have to supply. The Trace SW4024
can handle a rating up to 80A (LRA plus any other loads at the
same time), and protect the inverter by going into fault mode
(may require depowering to reset).
I have used a Baldor current limiting soft starter and time delay
relays on the blower fans to run air conditioners on SW4024s.
I do not think that the soft start will work on the non-sinewave
DR inverters. A Trace engineer mentioned an Alen Bradley
soft start as his recommendation.
