Let’s power down a bit from previous posts and look at some 1000w pure sine wave inverters. When running your home appliances, or for that matter any appliances, in your home (off grid or during a black-out), on your boat (lucky bastard). or in your RV. Powering stuff from an alternative power source like solar panels or batteries, you will usually be stuck with 12 Volt DC and how do you get this to square up with regular home voltage kit?
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This is where a pure sine wave inverter comes in. It not only gives you a clean, steady power source for powering sensitive electronics like computers, or important appliances like the fridge the beer is in, it also acts as a surge protector, making sure the only frying going on is whatever is cooking in the pan.
Pure Sine wave inverters also use slightly newer tech than the older modified square wave ones, and puts out cleaner, reliable 60Hz frequency power with almost zero interference and harmonic distortion (heavy metal fans may find they like that though ehehe).
Let’s look at some models that are available on the market at the present time.
Contents
Go Power! GP-ISW1000-12 1000W Pure Sine Wave Inverter
The Go Power! brand is well known to make top of the line stuff, so I am starting with this 1000w/12v pure sine wave inverter offering from them. Also, it says “industrial” on the hood, so it should be plenty sturdy and reliable for a 1000 watter, I would suspect. Why else would they put that on there?
Let’s see. You get 12 volt DC inputs, 1000w sine wave conversion, two GFCI outlets with AC power, efficient conversion and on/off/remote switch. You will need to buy a seperate remote for this though, if you want to switch it on or off from the leisure of your favourite comfy chair.
The outlets are solidly built and the unit is cooled by a fan. Being part of the manufacturers “Industrial” line, it seems almost everything on this pure sine wave unit is somewhat over-engineered. Great news for you the customer of course, with one caveat, the price tag.
The Go Power! (is that a Clarkson quote I wonder?) 1000 watt pure sine wave inverter is generally more expensive than any of the competition, being above the 300 dollar mark.
But, it seems it’s performance, reliability and durability is far above par. That makes the higher price tag fair in my book. Also, the company’s tech support generally gets back you. Also worth a couple bucks, IMHO. If in doubt, and money is not too tight, I would just go with this one. (P.S. check out the AIMS Inverter at the bottom of the post too though – ed.)
View the Go Power GP-ISW1000-12 Pure Sine Wave Inverter on Amazon.com
Renogy 1000W 12V Pure Sine Wave Inverter
Now, going down about 100 dollars in price, the competition to the Go Power! starts coming in. Is the Renogy 1000w pure sine wave inverter a worthy opponent though?
It features 12V DC input to AC output conversion (only one plug though), a power saving ECO mode that reduces battery draw when no load is detected on the inverter and a handy 5V USB charging port, and frequency switches.
Two high speed cooling fans cool the unit and surge power is rated at 2000 watts, with a near 90% efficiancy rating. The unit has LED indicators for under-and over-voltage, over-temperature and short circuit situations, for all of which it offers protection as well.
Over all, it is another decent unit from the Renogy brand, at an affordable price. It comes with it’s own remote, so no after market purchase is neccesary. It offers only the one AC outlet though, so could be a thing depending on your particular needs and setup.
There does seem to be some discussion about the cables it is shipped with.
View the Renogy 1000w Pure Sine Wave Inverter on Amazon.com
GoWISE Power 1000W 12V Pure Sine Wave Inverter with LCD Display
Very close in price to the Renogy (just under $200 at the moment) comes the GoWise Power 1000w pure sine wave inverter with a digital LCD display. This is a brand new model on the market, in a striking (shocking) green and black case. Looks the biz.
This unit gives 1000w continuous power with a 2000w surge rating, two household voltage AC outlets (from a 12v nominal DC input source), a 5V USB port, with a remote on/off power switch with 15ft of cable included in the asking price.
Onboard protection includes over- and under voltage protection, thermal and overload protection and a low voltage protection alarm. So, most bases are covered here. Cooling fans regulate the temperature and it has soft start, low interference tech and low total harmonic distortion, rated around 3% THD.
The ring terminal connectors offer decent connection points, though it does not list this as coming with supplied cables as far as I can tell. Minimum 2 AWG seems to be recommended for 1000w inverter use and this may mean that you will under certain conditions (mainly dependant on your 12V supply side I would think) have to purchase some suitable cables for it.
The digital LCD display on this 1000 watt pure sine wave inverter is a nice added feature. It displays dual color guages for monitoring both DC battery input and AC output. The inverter will ensure a nice stable AC source for use in cars and boats and RV’s, and when the power goes down at home if you’re able to hook it up at home.
Either way, for around 200 buckaroos, this is a solid 1000w pure sine wave inverter contender, with good protection built-in and otherwise solid, standard features. It does feature two AC outlets, which lifts it a bit above the one outlet Renogy model above.
This is a new model on the market though, with some upstyled looks from previous models, but I would hazard a guess that the insides are still pretty standard, with the addition of an LCD info display, which is a nice touch on this inverter.
It also comes with a 1-year straight warranty and after that lifetime support.
View the GoWise Power 1000w Pure Sine Wave Inverter on Amazon.com
AIMS POWER 1000W Pure Sine Wave Inverter
Okay, so of the bunch, the Go Power! 1000w inverter was my favourite, but the PWRI100012S model from manufacturer AIMS looks like it could be the top contender to the Go Power! unit I looked at first, coming in almost $100 below that unit too.
The unit features 1000w continuous output, with a peak power rating at 2000w. It has an ETL (to UL 458, CSA) listing, on/off/reset switch (remote optional), two AC power outlets and a USB outlet. The fan is thermally controlled and conversion effiency is around 90%. No load battery draw is around 1,4 DC.
It takes 12V battery power (actually 9.5 -ish to 16V-ish) on the input end, converting it to 120V AC power. Pure sine wave power that is, which is the very best for running anything with an electric motor inside. It has an above 90% efficiency rating, though of course YMMV.
Protection wise there are overload, over temperature and low battery voltage indicators and overload and AC output short circuit protection. There is also an internal blade fuse for protection. Soft start tech, with a compact and lightweight design and LED protection indicators round out the unit. There is also a dedicated ground terminal provided.
The unit puts out pure sine wave power, ideal to run electronics, power tools and household appliances, whether you’re outdoors in your RV, or at home during a power cut, using it as a backup system, or even the main system if you have a solar panel setup.
Overall, I think this AIMS unit is well worth considering, and it is my number two choice out of the inverters I feature in this post. Or, could be the number one choice, if you are a bit short cash-wise and don’t currently have the extra 100 bucks plus to spend on the Go Power! model.
Also, it seems the company’s tech support is US based, so a plus there, especially with the 2 year manufacturers warranty on the unit. Also that becomes Lifetime Tech support after that. There is an optional remote available for the unit, which is usually a handy thing to have. Pity it doesn’t ship with the unit as standard issue.
View the AIMS Power 1000 watt Pure Sine Wave Inverter at Amazon.com
Conclusion
For me, though all four 1000 watt pure sine wave inverters above are decent picks, I have to go with either the AIM POWER 1000 watt inverter or the GO POWER 1000 watt sine wave inverter. The AIM and GO POWER has US based support and it may make things easier if anything goes off the rails, so to speak. Shipping and stock issues may also be less, since this COVID thing caused stuff from overseas to be slightly dodgy on the availability scale.
Thanks for checking out my review. More power to you all!