Power inverters are an integral part of camping or long travels. You and your friends will always require extra power to charge your modern gadgets. This is not a luxury anymore but a necessity.
For an on-demand and uninterrupted power supply during travels, camping, and during power outages, a 300 watt power inverter is a great balance between power and portability. They are perfect for laptops, smartphones, tablets, emergency lights, weather stations, and many other small appliances.
There are a ton of different types and qualities of 300 watt inverters. Some are fabulous for modern gadgets while just the updates of their previous version. The price and features on offer is mind-boggling. It can become a minefield when deciding which product to buy!
What Can a 300 Watt Inverter Run?
Wondering what you can power with a 300 watt power inverter? Well, you can charge all your portable devices such as phones, laptops, and tablets. Plus you can even run some small home appliances such as LED TVs, fans, and games consoles. One benefit of these inverters is that you can purchase them with pure sine wave output which allows you to run more sensitive devices.
To give you some idea of what you can run I have created a list of devices and average wattage:
| Appliance | Average Watts |
| Smartphone | 5 |
| Tablet | 10 |
| Portable Games Console | 5-10 |
| Digital Camera | 10-20 |
| Laptop | 30-60 |
| Small Fan | 25-40 |
| Mini-Fridge | 40-60 |
| LED Lighting | 10-30 |
| PS5 | 70 – 200 |
| 60 Watt Light Blub | 60 (duh…) |
| 32 inch TV | 50-100 |
Education: Choosing a 300 Watt Inverter
What can 300 watts power?
There’s is a never end list of appliances you could run with 300 watts of power. Generally speaking, these will be portable devices or small home appliances including phones, portable games consoles, wireless headphones, laptops, LED lights, DVD players, mini-fridges, fans, and TVs.
If you want to know what devices you can power simply check the wattage rating of your device. To run multiple appliances simultaneously, add up the total wattage of all your devices to make sure it is less than 300 watts.
For example, a mini-fridge may draw 40 watts, a phone 6 watts, and LED lights 10 watts. That’s a total of 56 watts, so they would all be able to draw power at the same time.
Outlets
All inverters come with a number of different outlets, everything we’ve reviewed on the list above comes with a decent choice including AC 3 pin plugs and USB ports. Decide on how many and which electronics you need to run in order to decide on the outlets you need.
For example, if the whole family will want to charge phones then something with 3 or 4 USB ports will be ideal. If you want to run 2 AC appliances then you’ll need 2 AC outlets. Simple, but important!
Durability
Durability is always a factor I consider in any product I buy. The last thing you want is the item to break forcing you to buy another one. It’s even more important if you are going to be relying on your unit regularly. Look for design features like aluminum casing to protect your inverter in the long run.
Adding to this, you should check the manufacturer warranty, 1 year is the minimum to expect to protect you from faults or failures. The top brand often go further with 2 or 3 year warranties which are signs of a high quality product.
Safety
As with all electronics, safety is vital. Using poorly built, unreputable brands could result in damage to your devices plus present a fire risk! All the products reviewed above include important protections including guards against short circuits, power overloads, voltage fluctuations, and overheating. Adding to this, the best 300 watt power inverters have smart and silent cooling fans for optimal performance.
Installation
One final factor to consider is the ease of installation. Does your chosen product arrive with everything you need to get started? For example, a handy feature is the ability to plug straight into your cigarette lighter or quick alligator clips to connect to your battery.
Price
So how much does a 300W inverter cost?
Well, prices are pretty reasonable and you can buy a decent unit for between $30 and $60. To be honest, you should think twice about purchasing anything cheaper than this as it is likely to be low quality and not up to the task. For around $40 you can get a high quality device that even offers pure sine wave power to use in your car. There’s also not much point is spending more than $60, this is overkill and you can get a higher-powered inverter for this cost.
Pros and Cons of a 300 Watt Inverter
Still not sure if a 300 watt power inverter is right for you? Let’s go through all the advantages and disadvantages.
| Pros | Cons |
| Small and portable | Not massive capacity for large appliances |
| Perfect to use in cars | Too small for solar panel systems |
| Enough power to run lots of devices | Often restricted to car use |
| Pure sine wave options available | Require a battery to use |
| Can run home appliances like fans and TVs |
FAQ About 300 Watt Power Inverter
How many amps do a 300 watt power inverter use?
Usually, in a normal car, the output is 15 amps maximum. A 300 watt inverter might pull more. Therefore, please check the specification and instructions regarding the amps before plugging in the inverter. This can damage your fuse.
Can I charge multiple devices simultaneously?
Yes, you can. But, the total watt requirement should not be more than 300 watts. Also, check the amp specification before using all the ports simultaneously.
What are smart fans in a 300 watt power inverter?
Inverters can heat up quickly. Therefore, to keep them cool fans are used. Smart fans are the fans that turn on automatically depending upon the temperature of the inverter. They start only if the temperature rises above a set limit and shut off automatically when the temperature is brought down.
Can I charge a car battery with a 300 watt power inverter?
No, inverters are designed to draw power from a battery not charge them. You will need a battery charger to charge your car battery.
Can a 300W inverter run a small fan?
Yes you should easily be able to run a small fan. A device like a 9 inch fan only requires about 30-50 watts.
Will a 300W inverter run a fridge?
You will struggle to run a large home fridge with 300 watts. The inverter will not be able to cope with spikes in power and continuous heavy loads. You could run a mini-fridge that requires much less power.
Final Words On 300 Watt Power Inverters
Well, that was quite a journey, hopefully, made better by your ideal 300 watt inverter!
If you’ve read this far you can consider yourself an expert on the subject after researching the best 300 watt power inverter and the features to consider.
When making your final decision you can’t go far wrong with the list of product reviews above to find a product to fit your needs.
Thanks for reading.
