Ganado submitted a new resource: Solar Load Analysis Calculator2 - Solar Load Analysis Calculator 2 Read more about this resource...
I plugged a wattmeter into my inverter and then into a wall outlet with a double male cord. This fed half the breakers in my box. Turned everything off until the wattmeter read zero watts. I then went around turning on everything that ran on 110 one at a time and recorded the watts each light, fan, blower, etc drew. Then did the same with the other half of the panel. Ended up with a list of everything and the watts drawn. I was surprised that two identical bulbs and fans would vary as much as they did. Most drew slightly less than their rating. Tvs, DVDs, computers had to be unplugged to get to zero.
I would suggest, that you gain at least a minimal understanding of POWER FACTOR. BT... VA=I*E (ie VoltAmps) P is only 'pure', when VA * (Pf = Unity, 1) (ie PURELY resistive loads.) Especially when running a large inverter, you might run into some weird effects with harmonics and these new lightbulbs... not to mention motors and computer power supplies... Some engineers will tell you the truth... that, electricity is pure smoke, and if you let it out, it'll never work again... Power Factor Calculation and Correction
