If you plan to be off-grid, possibly while camping or in your RV then you may still want to have your favorite cup of coffee, right?
Question is: If you have a Keurig coffee maker, can you run it off an inverter? And if so, what size of inverter should you connect it to?
This post provides helpful tips to help you select a suitable inverter capacity (watts) to use with your Keurig coffee maker and suggests what size of inverter you may use.
Can a Power Inverter Run a Coffee Maker
Yes, in addition to plugging the coffee maker into a wall outlet, you can run it off an appropriately sized inverter and battery.
What Size of Inverter to Run a Keurig Coffee Maker?
This depends on the power consumption (watts) of a particular Keurig model and if you plan to run other appliances at the same time as a Keurig.
Assuming it’s the Keurig only that you plan to run at any one time, for a coffee maker with a power consumption of up to 1,470 watts, you can use a 2000-watt modified or pure sinewave inverter or higher.
Tips to Select the Right Size of Inverter
1. Check the coffee maker’s power consumption first. You’ll usually be able to find this in the electrical specifications section of the inverter manual. Several manufacturers attach a label showing the current and power draw of the coffee maker.
To work out its power draw (watts), multiply the voltage by the current.
For example, if the voltage is 115V and the current shown is 12.78 amps, the power consumption is 115V x 12.78 amps = 1,470 watts.
2. Decide if you plan to run other appliances at the same time as the Keurig or not. You could choose to only run the coffee maker first with the other appliances off and then switch on the other appliances later to avoid overloading the inverter!
The inverter you use should be able to meet at least the coffee maker’s power draw, ideally higher especially if you plan to run other appliances at the same time.
3. Use the combined power draw of the appliances to decide on the inverter capacity. Personally, I run my power inverters at 80% of their maximum continuous power to be safe.
Some inverters are overrated or they can only able to sustain their maximum power capacity for a limited time. So, to be safe, I only limit the power draw to 80% of the inverter’s capacity.
Assuming your Keurig coffee maker has a rated power consumption of about 1,500 watts, use at least a 2,000-watt inverter (75% of the inverter capacity).
If you plan to power additional appliances at the same time then you’ll need to use a correspondingly higher power inverter depending on the combined power consumption of the additional appliances.
You may also be interested in this post: What will a 2000-watt inverter run?
Will a 1000-Watt Inverter Run a Coffee Maker?
The inverter can only reliably power a coffee maker with a power draw of less than 1,000 watts. I always aim to connect appliances with a maximum power draw of up to 80% of the inverter capacity, 800 watts in this case.
What Size of Battery (Ah)?
Battery capacity used by the coffee maker
The coffee maker uses up about 12Ah from a 12V battery bank.
The calculation
A 1,470-watt coffee maker draws about 122 – 145 amps of current from a 12V battery bank depending on inverter efficiency. To prepare a 5 min brew, the coffee maker draws about 12 Ah hour of battery capacity, calculated from 145 amps x (5 min/60).
Considering the large current draw of over 100 amps from the battery and that you’ll possibly use the battery capacity for other appliances, you can use a 200Ah, 12V battery, or larger capacity battery for your coffee maker.
Note: This is just one of the several possible battery capacities you can use.
Can you Use a Car Battery?
I do not advise that you use the car battery capacity to power a Keurig coffee maker that draws over a hundred amps. You risk getting stuck when you deeply discharge the starting battery.
And even if you were to do so, you’ll need to use a suitable-sized wire gauge from the battery to the inverter (not the cigarette lighter socket) to handle the large current draw.
Instead, you can power off the Keurig using:
- an inverter wired to a leisure battery, or
- even use a suitably sized portable solar generator instead.
Closing Thoughts
A Keurig coffee maker with a power consumption of 1,470 watts can be powered by a 2,000-watt modified sine wave or pure sine wave inverter or higher.
Ultimately the Inverter capacity you use depends on the coffee maker’s power consumption. Always check the coffee makers’ power consumption data to select a suitable inverter capacity.
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