Who's running an inverter and why

[the evil twin]

1,000 watts in my 'van.
Used it once to charge CB radio batteries because the CB mains charger does it in 1/10 the time the ciggy plug adapters will.
Once upon a time I used to carry a 300 watt in my Patrol but never used it so don't bother anymore.

Inverters are extremely inefficient, no biggee if you have the power to spare but if you are running close to capacity they are not that user friendly

[TPC]

I charge the laptop, camera batteries and drill battery with mine.

[4bye4]

I charge the laptop, camera batteries and drill battery with mine.

What size Tony

[Throbbinhood]

gopro you can charge via ciggy. I don't use rechargeable batteries for my torches though i've thought about getting a head torch that charges off USB

You can, but I've got 3 go pro batteries, plus the go pro itself, so it's easier for me to just connect a powerboard and charge them all at once.

The real benefit for me is the electric blanket though.. It is almost the best camping mod I've done, it has made a world of difference to my comfort (and more importantly the missus). Love waking up in the morning feeling fresh, when everyone else is grumpy because they froze their asses off (moreso when they tease me for being soft the night before for using an elec blanket). The look on their faces is all the satisfaction I need.
I hate the restriction of sleeping bags, and the large pack up of foam mattresses, and I hate having to 'rug up' for bed. Packs up small, just have to take an extension lead with me, and a normal home blanket.
Plus having power in the tent means I can charge phones or whatever else I want in there.

[Winnie]

Do you find the electric blanket kills your battery much?

[Wizard52]

Most efficient way for laptops is a DC adopter for car from Jaycay or similar.
Just plug into 12volt and it comes with various sized plugs for different laptops and selects correct voltage- normally about 19volts.
Used it quite a bit when I was still working as mortgage broker when sitting on beach at Fraser on holidays but still needed to keep in contact each day. Now it is great when travelling to keep laptop charged.

[TPC]

What size Tony

I currently just have a 300w one that works ok unless I want to charge two things at once which is annoying.
I am planning on buying a larger one, possibly 1500w before my next trip.

[Throbbinhood]

Do you find the electric blanket kills your battery much?

I've been doing it for about a year now with no issues. I've got a 70ish ah lead acid starter battery as my second battery (it was second hand and I expected I'd kill it), but so far it's been working well.

I normally check the voltage in the morning, and it sits between 11.8-12v (Queen size electric blanket, both sides on for about 8-10 hours on low setting, with 30min on high to get the bed temp up). This usually also has my camp lights/rear LED reverse lights and radio's if I've got them going, and haven't had any issues so far. Been doing this for about a year, with no issues so far.
I generally drive when I'm away, so it has a chance to charge back up, and always gets put on a charger at home before/after trips.

I did a test at home, just to see how long i could theoretically run it. On low setting, got 3 x 8 hour nights on low, plus 3 x 30min warm ups, battery was down to 11.3v (this was with no driving/charging in between) - which I know is lower than I should go but that was a year ago and it's still working perfectly.
All this said, I don't run a fridge or anything, if I did I'd upgrade to a 120ah or similar, but for the moment this suits my needs fine. And always warm

[Getaboutabit]

I use a 300watt to charge my touch screen used for explore oz
The inverter is switched on and off from the dash so it's not
charging all the time

[threedogs]

You know everyone will run out and buy an electric blanket to take away.
Why not use a 12v blanket??

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/HEATED-CA...QAAOSwdpxUXWkg