Oh man, I love a slice of toast in the morning! It’s my go-to breakfast, especially when I’ve got a busy day planned.
It’s also an easy breakfast when out in an RV or off-grid adventure.
All you need is a loaf of bread, a toaster, and electricity.
And the only way you’re going to run your toaster with AC electricity is with an inverter.
You’ll need to be careful about the inverter you use as toasters can use a lot of power. This is because they use the electricity to fire up the heating element.
So together we’ll go through what size inverter you need to run a toaster, how many watts your toaster uses, and look at the best power inverters to make breakfast a success!
What Size Inverter for a Toaster?
You will need an inverter with at least a 1500 watt capacity, if not 2000 watts to run most toasters.
Of course, each toaster uses a different amount of power depending on its size. For example, a 2 slice toaster will use less power than a 4 slice toaster.
On average, you can expect a toaster to use between 800 – 1600 watts. But it could also be even more than this!
To know what size inverter you need, you need to find out how many watts your toaster uses and add 20%. You’ll use an inverter with more wattage than your toaster as they are not 100% efficient. So adding 20% gives you a little extra power.
For example, if your toaster is 1200 watts you’ll need a 1500 watt inverter. To add 20%, multiply your toaster watts by 1.2. So 1200 x 1.2 = 1440W. (1500W is the closest inverter size.)
Personally, I’d go for even more power with a 2000W inverter so you won’t overwork your equipment plus have the capacity to run other small electronics at the same time.
How Many Watts is My Toaster?
So you’re probably now wondering how many watts your toaster uses.
Well, it should be pretty easy to find out by checking the user manual. You should see the power details in the technical specification like this:
Plus you can always contact the manufacturer for this information.
Personally, I like to use a wattmeter. It’s an awesome little device you can attach to any appliance in order to get a live power reading. Ideal if you’re using an inverter regularly!
As you can see in the example above, you could expect a toaster to use something like 800 to 1600 watts. In addition, bigger toasters could use even more power.
Does a Toaster Need Pure Sine Wave?
Technically speaking a toaster is a resistive load, which means it doesn’t need a pure sine wave inverter to run. You could happily run a toaster using a cheaper modified sine wave inverter.
That being said, pure sine wave inverters tend to be more efficient, losing less energy during the DC to AC conversion. Plus they are quieter to operate with low harmonic distortion and buzzing sound.
Either option will work great for what you need. Personally, I’m always happy to spend a little more on pure sine wave inverters so you’re never limited on what you can power.
How Long Will an Inverter Run a Toaster?
One final thing you might be wondering is how many batteries you need for a toaster and how long the inverter will run.
Well, this comes down to two things – toaster power and battery capacity. Remember, your inverter won’t always be drawing maximum load. For example, a 2000W inverter might only be running a toaster drawing 1200W.
It’s can be a little complicated to work out the run time so here’s a neat formula to use with 12V systems:
(10 x battery capacity in Ah) divided by toaster wattage = runtime
So let’s say we have a 1200W toaster and a 100Ah battery (12V).
(10 x 100Ah) ÷ 1200W = 0.83 hours (50 minutes)
A 1200W toaster would run for 50 minutes on a 100Ah battery.
Just remember you won’t run a toaster for 50 minutes at a time, more like 5 minutes. So you could use your toaster 10 times with this battery capacity.
Final Thoughts on Inverter Size for Toasters
So when using an inverter to run a toaster it’s all about power!
You need to ensure your inverter has 20% more wattage capacity than your toaster uses.
It’s that simple. So just multiply your toaster watts by 1.2 to get your answer.
You should expect to need at least a 1500 watt or even a 2000 watt power inverter for a toaster. Plus, you can happily use a cheaper modified sine wave option.
Thanks for reading and happy toastin’.
