On a whim this afternoon, I decided to check out the inverter selection at Canadian Tire. The first thing that popped up was a 1000W pure wave model down from $299.99 to $199.99!!! I don’t know about the prices for inverters in the US, but I knew this was a crazy good deal in Canada! I immediately hopped in the truck to go pick one up at the store in Saint-Bruno.
There, I decided to go into the mall for dinner first figuring that there was no way that three inverters would be gone between the time I found the sale online and the time I actually got to the store.
Ha ha ha ha ha. They sold the last one 10 minutes before I got there!!!! The clerk made a few calls and finally found one in Greenfield Park, where they agreed to hold one for me for 45 minutes only, just enough time to get there.
If that isn’t proof that this was a good deal, I don’t know what is! The Saint-Bruno clerk couldn’t figure out why people wanted that one and not the much cheaper modified wave model. Without going into all the gobbledigook, I explained that a pure sine wave inverter is better for running electronics like TVs and computers.
I made it to Greenfield Park in time and opened the box to see if I needed anything else. Yup, wiring. I went to the automotive counter and asked where to find such a thing, which turned out to be right behind where I was standing in line for 10 minutes, but way down near the floor. Now that I’m home, I realise that I was sold the wrong stuff even though the lady seemed to know what she was talking about as it does not have both positive and negative cables in it. *sighs*
But, hey, all is not lost! The last time I priced pure sine wave inverters they were so far out of my price range I couldn’t imagine ever getting one. Now, I not only have one, but it’s a 1000W model, so I should be able to run my office and the crock pot at the same time.
Now, I’m off to research batteries because there might have been some changes in the last four years, at least based on some of the comments I’ve been getting in the last couple of days. If I haven’t responded to your comment about batteries, it’s only because I’m doing my own research. I’ll do a post about batteries once I’m satisfied that I know what I need to know.
So glad you got your treasure. It helps to be able to recognize treasure when you see it.
Linda, this is a good example of the difference between an impulse buy and a delayed planned purchase!
Awesomeness²!
I think J paid $150 for his 1500Watt off eBay. Wish I would have known you wanted one – he sold his a while back.
Was it a pure sine wave model?
Yes, it was.
Great deal on the converter!
OOPS! “Inverter”
I don’t understand why you would need one. What’s the advantage?
Geri, an inverter takes the 12V power from my house batteries and converts it to the 120V power needed to run such things as the computer, a TV, and small kitchen appliances.
The only other ways to get that 120V power is from shore power (plugging the motorhome into an outlet) or by running the generator.
I want to reduce my dependence on RV parks and also cut down on the cost of accommodation. My generator doesn’t work and even when it did, I hated running it. It’s loud, disturbs the neighbours, and uses a lot of gas.
So that brings me back to my batteries, which are capable of providing me all the power I need thanks to a solar panel.
To recap, sun gives me free power, batteries store power, inverter lets me use power, and wattage of inverter and battery capacity determine what I can run and for how long.
Thanks Rae,I just bought a solar panel because I also don’t like running a generator(even if I could get the sucker started!) I don’t use electric appliances but I do bring my laptop & it would be great to be able to recharge the battery or operate with out it. I am very conservative with lights etc because I usually don’t have services. It turned cold on one of our campouts this spring & my husband didn’t understand what a drain on the battery the furnace is & drained the battery. He has arthritis so being cold is not good. I will check out the inverter. I won’t be having the solar panel installed till next year & wondered what else I should get to go with it.
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