Wondering what are the advantages and disadvantages of a pure sine wave inverter?
That’s a reasonable question and important to understand if you’re in the market for a new inverter.
If you’re researching this, then you’ve probably already discovered the two types of inverter – modified and pure sine wave. Here’s a handy guide on that subject.
In this article, we’re going to concentrate on the pros and cons of pure sine wave. Once you’ve read the information below you will better be able to decide whether pure sine wave is right for you.
So let’s get cracking.
Advantages of Pure Sine Wave Inverters
There are 5 main benefits of a pure sine wave power inverter, let’s go through them.
Same Current as Electric Grid
The wave of pure sine wave replicates the similar to the smooth waveform you get with mains electricity. That means you’ll see no real difference between hooking up to these inverters and plugging them into a wall socket at home.
Of course, this is a fabulous bonus allowing you to run almost any home appliance in an off-grid setting. All you have to do is a plugin.
Consistent Flow of Current
As mentioned above, delivers a consistent current to your devices. This is achieved by moving the voltage up and down in a smooth uninterrupted fashion. So when you plot the movement of electrons on a graph is creates a wave.
Why is this so good? Well, modified sine wave actually steps up and steps down the voltage in a square fashion that creates a staircase on a chart. This leads to an inconsistent current and drops in electricity output. You can see the difference below:
Run Sensitive Devices
Thanks to the smooth current pictures above you can power more ‘sensitive devices’. You’ll hear that wording a lot when discussing pure sine wave but what does that actually mean. What are these sensitive devices?
Well, it’s anything that needs a steady consistent flow of clean electricity. For example, appliances using an AC motor will work best with pure sine wave. This is because they create a rotating field in the stator and only when the power is pure sine wave will it be able to rotate smoothly. Adding to this, sensitive devices like CPAP machines are recommended to use pure sine wave, many manufacturers warn that anything else will damage the equipment.
With pure sine wave, that won’t be a problem. Here’s a list of devices that need pure sine wave:
- Medical equipment like oxygen and CPAP machines
- Motorized equipment such as power tools and blenders
- Refrigerators, microwaves, and compressors
- LED TVs, monitors and laser printers
On the other hand, you shouldn’t need pure sine wave for devices that can live with potential inconsistencies in current and sharp steps in voltage. For example, battery-powered devices like phones and tablets plus older electronics like tube TVs, desk lamps, oil diffusers, or table fans.
Minimize Risk to Devices
The smooth electricity also helps to avoid damage to your high-end electronics by avoiding potential power losses. Once again the last thing you want for your gaming computer or oxygen machine is a surge or fall in power.
Adding to this, using a modified sine wave inverter with AC motors that you find in refrigerators and microwaves can produce an excess of waste heat which risks damages to your equipment.
Quieter performance
Simply put, a pure sine wave is cooler, cleaner, and quieter!
The waves created produce very little noise. Have you ever heard a buzzing coming from your electronics? Quite often these are simple overtones for the electrons waves, an unintentional noise. You’ll likely get some buzzing from the modified sine wave whereas a pure sine wave is quiet.
Disadvantages of a Pure Sine Wave Inverter
With all the ticks in the pro column above you might be thinking about what the cons of a pure sine wave inverter are? There are a few for you to consider.
Cost
The main disadvantage of pure sine wave inverters is the price. They are more expensive, so if you don’t really need one then save yourself some cash.
To give you an idea of the prices, a 1000 watt pure sine wave inverter will cost you more than $160 whereas a similar modified sine wave inverter can cost less than $70. This price difference only increases as you go up in power sizes too, so can’t be hundreds of dollars more expensive!
Energy Usage Efficiency
Due to the more complex oscillation technology to create the smooth wave, a pure sine wave inverter uses more electricity. They need more electricity to run their internal processes.
This reduced efficiency compared to modified sine wave means it will use your battery power more quickly, which is particularly problematic if you have limited supply when you’re off-grid.
That being said, while a pure sine wave inverter uses more power to run its internal system and might use more electricity when drawing no load. A modified sine wave inverter can actually be less efficient overall when running appliances due to smaller waves. This is especially true for appliances with motors such as refrigerators which leads to the appliance using around 20% more power as the motor will run hotter.
Weight
Finally, the last disadvantage of pure sine wave inverters is the weight. This is because of the added and more complex technology which is used to deliver the clean output of electricity.
To give you an idea of the weight difference the average 1000w pure sine inverter is 6lbs (2.7kg) whereas a 1000w modified sine inverter is just 4lbs (1.8kg). That’s quite a difference if you are using it in a portable scenario!
Do You Really Need a Pure Sine Wave Inverter?
So there you have it, all the advantages and disadvantages of a pure sine wave (PSW) inverter.
Now it’s time to consider whether you need PSW or modified sine wave will do. You can literally save yourself hundreds of dollars if you don’t need such a smooth power supply.
But saving money is not the most important factor. In reality, it’s all about when appliances you are looking to run.
If you have sensitive devices including LED TVs, compressors, refrigerators, microwaves, oxygen machines, CPAP, AC motors, and more you’ll need a pure sine wave inverter.
Without it, you won’t be able to run these devices efficiently and even risk irreparable damage.
That damage and the need to buy another inverter will cost you more in the long run!
I hope you’ve enjoyed reading this article about the advantages and disadvantages of pure sine wave inverters.
