power issues...is there any way to power house hold items without power inverters?

ive seen pimp my ride do an episode before and they hooked up a lava lamp without a inverter nor a generator. how did they hook it up? i am wanting to hook up a space heater in one of my projects and it requires 1500watts and power inverters cost way to much

 

Use large solar panels mounted across the hood and roof of the vehicle.

 

Maybe it was TV magic. I've seen inverters pretty cheap with a coupon from Harbor Frieght... as long as you don't max them out, you should be okay.

 

The heat in a lava lamp comes from a light bulb -- all they did was change it to a 12 volt halogen.

If all you need is heat try the seat-warmers out of some late-model.
They must run off DC, but you may need to run several to get to your 1500 watts, and 12-volt fans are easy to come by.

If you have to run an AC motor off an inverter, get one that's double the rated wattage on the motor to account for surge at startup.

Inverters suck, they run hot, waste a lot of juice and break down a lot, unless you spend a bunch for overkill.

 

Lava lamps only use a 40W clear appliance bulb. They likely replaced the 120V bulb with an equivalent 12V bulb... If you don't want an inverter, you'll have to get a DC heater.

 

I always strap a generator to my roof so I can run a AC unit and my flat screen TV.

 

I bought a 12 volt DC heater, and installed a separate fused socket to plug it into. And another for an electric seat cushion, but haven't used either yet.

I use inverters to charge my phone and for other small accessories. My daughter got me a bigger one from Costco, but I haven't used it yet.

 

An interesting point is that if you have a device that uses a wall-wart plug, as long as the outputted DC voltage is 12V or lower, you CAN run those items directly off a car's electrical system.

 

I just bought an inverter for my work Jeep, and, I didn't notice it at the time, but it has a 5V USB port right on it! Sorta neat, anything that can be charged off a computer (like almost all cell phones anymore, MP3 players, etc.) can use it's USB cable and plug straight into the inverter; put a USB hub in there and you can charge 1/2 dozen things all at the same time, while leaving your 120VAC outlets unused. Really nice for my work car, I have a gazillion electrical devices all running at the same time.

 

alot of home appliances ( tv's, radios, ect.) actually run off 12volt DC. they just comvert 110v AC down to 12v DC by using an internal transformer. if you're electronically inclined you can disassemble the case of the appliance and bypass the transformer

 

Traditional, period correct panels. I hear dryer sheets increase the effectual power by 50%. Read it on the internet.

 

Youll have to excuse the language, but I dont know any other way to put it, but running a 1500watt space heater off 12 VDC power is moronic.

If you want heat, get a heater core and run antifreeze from the cooling system through it.

 

Your average every day alternator puts out 120v 6.5 amps rectified to 12v 65amps.

 

have you considered a coal furnace?

 

That was you?

 

a heater, like this?

http://www.southernrods.com/categories/heating-and-cooling/heaters/products/product-867.html

 

Hell, get yourself a late model one! Damn cars require so much juice to run computers and such... The one in my Navagator is 150 friggin' amps! Probably for the air suspension, but it sure made building a hell of a stereo in it easy. I was shocked when I found that out (not to mention the price, I'm used to the 70ish amp everything-Ford alternator for like $70. Sucker was just shy of 400 ).

 

good_ol_boy,
I love the right rear damage from pulling over on someone because he totally blocked his vision to the right...even in the rt. rear-view mirror due to the air conditioner. His solution?.....a BIGGER right hand turn signal so they'll see him coming next time!

 

In that episode, the guy specifically says that the bulb and socket in the lava lamp were swapped to a 12V.

 

Power is power. If you are getting 1500 watts from 120 volts AC that is being produced by an inverter hooked up to your car's electrical system, then your alternator is still putting out the 125 amps that 440roadrunner mentioned. In fact it will be putting out a little more because of the losses inside the inverter.

Why don't you just grab the waste heat from the engine? Like plumb in a hot water line? Your motor is going to be running anyway unless you were planning on using submarine or forklift batteries. There is a reason why automakesrs use hot water heater cores!!

For the record, purely resistive loads (like incandescent bulbs or resistor heating elements) do not care if they are powered with DC or AC. Power is power, though. So if you need 1200 watts that is either 100 amps at 12 volts or 10 amps at 120 volts. Or 1 amp at 1200 volts, which is why the power company uses high voltage to move power from the generating station to your home. Higher voltage for the same power means less current, in turn requiring smaller gauge wires.

 

Hell I was trying to make a joke. And some dumb ass really did it go figure.