The next important factor to consider when selecting an 12v inverter is how clean the power that the 12v inverter produces is.  What?  Power is power, isn’t it?  Well, not exactly.  Electricity can be be described as “dirty” or “clean”.  The terms used to distinguish between the quality of power that a specific 12v inverter produces are “square sine wave”, “modified sine wave”, and “pure sine wave”.

A square sine wave inverter produces very “dirty” or “noisy” electricity.  If you tried to operate a television or radio with this type of 12v inverter, you would see and hear a lot of static.  Some electrical devices may not even function or could be permanently damaged by this type of  12v inverter.

Modified sine wave power inverters attempt to simulate a pure sine wave 12v inverter.  The output power is cleaner than that of the later type.  Most mid-range power inverters fall into this category and this type will work fine for most devices.  Some very sensitive electrical devices may not function with this type of 12v inverter.  They might also be damaged by them.

The third type of 12V inverter is the pure sine wave inverter.  This type of power inverter produces the most clean and noise free electricity.  They are also the most expensive.  They are well suited for sensitive electrical devices. It’s generally recommended to use this type of inverter for computers, and other sensitive equipment.  We, however have been powering computers, televisions, satellite receivers, video games, and other similar devices on higher end modified sign wave inverters for many years.

I will note that when we only had an inexpensive modified sine wave inverter and we tried to watch a television that was connected to a TV antenna, you could see moving horizontal lines in the picture.  No matter how you adjusted the antenna, these wouldn’t go away.

I’m sure there are legitimate uses for pure sine wave inverters but we haven’t needed one for our specific needs.  You should operate inverters at your own risk should you choose to use the less expensive modified sine wave inverters on your sensitive equipment.  I’m simply relating what has worked for us.

As always, thank you for visiting my 12v inverter blog!