Fan and inverter

Has anyone ever ran a box fan on an inverter overnight? I wasn't sure if the truck battery would last that long. The fan is 100 watts.

Also, the inverter is a modified sine inverter, not true sine. Would that hurt the fan over the long hall?

Wife said that she isn't going camping without a fan during the summer.

 

I know I can run an electric blanket on low off an inverter all night. I bet you could run your fan no problem.

Pretty easy test. Do the experiment in your driveway to see if it does work. Please report results.

 

Yeah, but I don't want to run my battery all the way down either. That isn't good for the battery

 

Then get a deep cycle batter to dedicate for your camping? If you are taking a fan and inverter, the battery isn't gonna be that big of a deal.

I hear you, I want to be somewhat comfortable and get a decent nights sleep.

 

100w * 10 hours = 1000 Wh

1000Wh / .85 efficiency = 1176 Wh

1176 Wh / 12V = 98 Ah

I think a group 24 battery is like 100Ah.

If my lunch math is right, you might want to bring jumper cables.

 

So I have 165 reserve on my battery. The equates to 68.75 amp hours. If my fan takes 100 watts, I am not sure how to convert that into hours it will last.

 

Home Depot has these little clip on fans that run off a USB, I ran one on a cell phone charge battery all night.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/3-Watt-6-in-USB-Desktop-Clip-Fan-with-Adaptor-DC6-1A/302923541

 

Thats awesome and would be enough for me, but unfortunately, it isn't enough wind for her

 

I wouldn't risk draining my starting battery by trying to power an inverter for an extended period. Plus, if stock, the battery in your truck isn't a deep cycle and its life will be significantly reduced by repeated deep discharges.

Most inverters have a built in safety feature that will trigger an audible alarm when the battery voltage drops low enough to damage something. If you have a second vehicle or some other source for a battery (lawn mower?), rob that temporarily to prove the concept. Then, if this is something you plan to do a lot of, go buy a deep cycle marine battery ($150+/-) and a decent smart battery charger (You should have one of these anyway). Power your inverter off this battery and then recharge it the next day from with the charger hooked to the 110 outlet in the Tacoma as you drive around.

Fantastic Fan is a big player in the RV market and makes a standalone 12V fan for around $100 that is large enough to be an option and this would be more efficient than the box fan and 110 inverter.

 

Saw this the other day and thought of your post. Looks to have decent reviews from a web search. Also runs on 110v
https://www.homedepot.com/p/RIDGID-18-Volt-Hybrid-Fan-Tool-Only-R860720B/205907844

You'd need to source a battery (or two) and a charger but $150 or so should cover everything.

 

I would not run an electric motor device on a modified sine wave inverter. The square wave form will burn up the AC motor. Get a big PC fan on Ebay....

Electric blankets (and other inductive loads) don't really care what the AC wave form is. Electronic devices like radios, TVs, laptops usually all have ac-dc power supplies built into them, so they too are usually immune to wave shape.