You could use a space heater to keep your room warm during those cold, chilly winter nights or an electric blanket.
If you don’t have access to a 120V outlet (or the power is out), can you run the electric blanket safely?
If so, what size of inverter (watts) do you need?
Also, what battery capacity (Ah) should you use?
Read on to find the answers to these questions and more!
Can You Use an Electric Blanket on Inverter?
Yes. If the inverter requires a standard 120V service and you are in an RV or out camping where there is no 120V, you can connect it to a pure sinewave inverter provided that it can handle the blanket’s power draw watts.
Note: If it is a modified sinewave inverter you have, do not connect your electric blanket as there is a high chance that it will be damaged!
12V Electric Blanket Version
If you’ve got a 12V version instead of the 120V AC version, then you can plug (with the recommended connecting cable) into the cigarette lighter socket of your car or RV to keep warm. No inverter is required.
*Note, make sure the cigarette lighter socket can handle the estimated 9.5 amp current drawn from the battery.
Use a backup battery or start the engine from time to time so that the battery is not drained flat!
How Much Power an Electric Blanket Uses
This can vary from one blanket model to another, its size, and possibly the heating level selected – yes some blankets may have as many as 10 heating modes!
As a rough guide, a 30 x 64-inch electric blanket can draw as much as 100-150 watts at 110V, 60Hz.
Note: Always check the power consumption (watts) information for your blanket.
Keep in mind that an electric blanket cycles on and off to maintain the set temperature and even then there’s a thermostat so the actual power draw can be considerably lower.
Will a 400 Watt Inverter Run an Electric Blanket?
It depends on the electric blanket’s power consumption. Its draw should be less than what the inverter can draw.
So, yes, for instance, a 400-watt pure sine-wave inverter will run an electric blanket with an estimated power consumption of 100-150 watts.
Recommended Inverter Size
You may need to power other appliances such as lighting, a laptop, or TV at the same time as the electric blanket is running, so it is always advisable to get a larger capacity inverter.
A 1,000-watt inverter should be able to power the inverter and several other low-power appliances – a few lights, TV, and laptop at the same time.
Recommended Battery Size (Ah)
What size of battery (Ah) depends on the combined power draw of connected appliances and for how long they’ll run (hours).
As a rough guide, a fully charged 200 Ah AGM or 100 Ah LiFeP04 should be able to supply enough power to run the 115-watt blanket for over 10 hours.
Note, actual power draw and runtime depend on the usage patterns of the blanket – settings used and how often
Related Questions
How Many Amps Does an Electric Blanket Uses?
This will vary from one make to another, so always check the power specifications section in your user manual first but as a rough guide, at full power, the amp draw of a 115-watt electric blanket plugged into the inverter is about 1 amp.
12V DC version
A 115-watt blanket draws about 9.5 amps from the 12V battery at full power.
Closing Thoughts
To power an electric blanket using an inverter, use a pure sine wave inverter. Choose an inverter capacity (watts) that can supply the electric blanket (watts) and any other appliances that you may want to run at the same time.
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