Inverters

Because of the growth of solar and other alternative energy solutions, there's been a lot of innovation in the DC power to 120V AC inverter industry.  I wanted a combo inverter / charger which converts 12V DC into 120V AC when you're travelling and not plugged in, and when plugged in to normal household current, it will convert 120V AC to 12V DC and charge the battery system. These modern electronically controlled inverters automatically sense if you're plugged in or not and will transfer over nearly instantly.  And they protect your battery bank with over / under voltage sensing 

Pure vs. Modified Sine

You will come across "Pure" versus "Modified" sine wave inverters when shopping.  Modified sine wave inverters have gotten much better in recent years and they cost quite a bit less, but one of the reasons they cost less is that they are not quite a perfect sine wave AC cycle like you would have with household current.  For some applications this is just fine, but for sensitive electronics and other types of applications they are not.  In applications where modified sine wave inverters are not suited for, they heat up and certain electronics don't function.  When I hear heat and functional problems, I hear inefficiency and from my dreaming about amps post that is the last thing I want.  So I narrowed my search to pure sine wave inverters.

There's quite a range of prices in the pure sine wave inverter field.  The best ones with the highest efficiency in the 2-3K Watt size were anywhere from $1200-$2400.   You can find very cheap ones on eBay for $500 but I would stay clear of those like the plague.   Do your research and I found both the Inverter Store and Inverters R Us to be good dealers who responded well to support and sales questions. 

As I was estimating my appliance power draw, unless I turn everything on it once at full blast, I really should be able to get by with a 2000 W inverter.  But that leaves little margin, I also happened to find a good deal on a 3000 W inverter with solar charge controller on eBay, in case I want to add solar panels later.  In talking with dealers I came across the Aims brand which seemed to be a decent compromise on quality and affordability, and is an established brand.  My GearBox inverter is an Aims 3000 Watt Low Frequency Pure Sine Solar Inverter Charger.  Amazon also has a similar one without the Solar Controller.