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A pure sine wave inverter is the right choice for a modern caravan. It converts 12 V battery power to 240 V mains power with a waveform that matches the grid, so sensitive appliances run normally. Modified sine wave units cost less but can damage or refuse to run CPAP machines, induction cooktops and variable-speed motors. The harder question is what size you need.
- Waveform quality is measurable. Pure sine wave inverters publish total harmonic distortion, or THD, as a percentage. A low THD figure means the output is close to mains. Modified sine wave output is a stepped approximation and distorts far more.
- The battery is usually the real limit, not the inverter. A 3000 W inverter draws roughly 260 A from a 12 V bank at full load. If the battery management system caps continuous discharge below that, the system shuts down under load no matter how big the inverter is.
- Size on the appliances you run at once, plus surge. Motors and compressors draw well above their running wattage for the first second or two.
- An inverter uses power doing nothing. At roughly 0.5 to 1.5 A of standby draw, one left switched on costs about 12 to 36 Ah a day, which can exceed a caravan lighting load.
- The 240 V side is licensed work. Inverter installations in caravans fall under AS/NZS 3001.2:2022, and 240 V wiring must be done by a licensed electrician.
An inverter converts 12 V DC battery power into 240 V AC mains power at 50 Hz, the Australian mains frequency, so you can run household appliances away from a powered site. It is the device people mean when they search for a 12 V to 240 V inverter.
It does not make power. It takes what is already in the battery and changes its form, losing some as heat along the way. Everything an inverter runs comes out of the battery bank, which is why inverter sizing and battery sizing are the same conversation.
Most caravans run a 12V inverter. Some larger builds use a 24V pure sine wave inverter, which draws half the current for the same output. A 12V to 24V unit is a DC-to-DC converter rather than an inverter, because it does not produce mains power at all.
What it is not. A 240 V to 12 V unit is a power supply, not an inverter, and runs in the opposite direction. An inverter generator is a petrol generator that happens to use inverter electronics, which is a different product sharing the word.
An inverter also does not replace a charger. It consumes battery capacity, while a DC to DC charger, a solar controller and a mains charger put capacity back. Most touring setups need both sides.
A pure sine wave inverter is one that reproduces the smooth, curved waveform coming out of a mains socket. A modified sine wave inverter is an older design that produces a stepped, blocky approximation of that curve instead.
The electricity arrives at roughly the right voltage either way, but the shape of it is different, and some appliances care a great deal about the shape.
What is THD, or total harmonic distortion? Total harmonic distortion is the published measure of how far an inverter output departs from a clean sine wave, expressed as a percentage. The lower the figure, the closer the output is to mains.
Pure sine wave inverters publish a low THD figure. Modified sine wave units distort far more, and many do not publish a figure at all.
Check the published THD on any unit you are considering. A manufacturer that does not state it is telling you something.
The comparison is close to settled. Modified sine wave is legacy technology. It was a reasonable compromise when pure sine electronics were expensive, and that is no longer the case. For a modern caravan carrying anything with a circuit board in it, pure sine wave is the practical answer.
Medical devices and anything with electronic speed control are the real problems. The rest is mostly noise, heat and shortened life rather than outright failure.
| Appliance type | What happens on modified sine wave |
|---|---|
| CPAP and other mains-powered medical devices | May refuse to start, run incorrectly or be damaged. Check the requirement with the device manufacturer before relying on any inverter. |
| Induction cooktops and inverter microwaves | Commonly refuse to operate, or run at reduced output, because they rely on a clean waveform to time their switching. |
| Variable-speed and brushless motors | Run hot, run noisily or fail to regulate speed. Includes many modern power tools and appliance motors. |
| Transformers and older motors | Audible hum and buzz, and extra heat. Usually works, but runs less efficiently. |
| Laptop chargers, TVs and audio | Often work, but can introduce interference, buzzing in audio and radio noise. |
| Simple resistive loads such as kettles and heaters | Generally unaffected, because they do not care about waveform shape. |
A note for CPAP users. If someone in the van depends on a CPAP machine or a nebuliser, treat waveform as a requirement rather than a preference, and confirm what your specific device needs with its manufacturer or supplier. Do not rely on general advice, including this article, for a medical device.
Most caravans need between 1000 W and 2000 W. A 3000 W inverter is for running an induction cooktop or several heavy loads at once.
Work it out by adding up the 240 V appliances you will use at the same time, then allowing headroom for surge.
Below about 1000 W, the choice is simple. A 300W, 500W or 1000W pure sine wave inverter handles laptops, chargers, a TV and a CPAP machine without troubling the battery. The decision only gets difficult once cooking appliances are involved.
HiTech Power Solutions lists two standalone units in the Electrical range. One is a 2000W 12V Pure Sine Wave Power Inverter at \$812.20 + GST.
The other is the HiTech 2600W 12V Pure Sine Wave Power Inverter at \$932.72 + GST. Both prices and stock were checked on 13 October 2026.
Two numbers matter. Continuous rating is what the inverter sustains. Surge or peak rating is what it can supply for a few seconds while a motor or compressor starts. A fridge or a pump can draw well above its running wattage at that moment, and an inverter sized only on running watts will trip.
Work from the rating plate on each appliance rather than from memory. The figures below are typical and vary widely by model.
| Appliance | Typical running draw | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| LED lighting, phone and laptop charging | 10 to 150 W | Small loads, easily handled. |
| TV and satellite or networking gear | 30 to 150 W | Waveform quality matters more than wattage. |
| CPAP machine | Commonly under 100 W | Low draw, but confirm the waveform requirement. |
| Coffee machine with a pump | 800 to 1500 W | Short bursts, but a real surge at start-up. |
| Microwave | Rating plate often understates input draw | Check input watts, not cooking watts. |
| Electric kettle | 1800 to 2400 W | Resistive and brief, but near the top of most inverters. |
| Induction cooktop | 1400 W and up | Needs pure sine wave and a large bank. |
A kettle or induction cooktop generally needs a 2000 W inverter or larger. A microwave usually needs 2000 W too, once you account for the gap between its cooking output and its actual input draw.
A microwave labelled 800 W draws considerably more than 800 W from the battery.
Read the input wattage on the rating plate. Cooking watts and input watts are different numbers, and sizing on the wrong one is the most common mistake in this whole decision.
So what size inverter to run a microwave comes out at 2000 W for most units, and what size inverter for an induction cooktop is 2000 W or more depending on the element rating.
What size inverter to run a kettle and what size inverter to run a coffee machine land in the same bracket. Both are short, heavy draws that a 2000 W unit handles and a 1000 W unit will not.
More than most people expect, the limit is usually the battery management system rather than the capacity. A 2000 W inverter draws roughly 175 A from a 12 V bank at full load, and a 3000 W inverter roughly 260 A, once conversion losses are counted.
That is the figure that catches people out. Capacity in amp-hours tells you how long the bank lasts. The BMS continuous discharge rating tells you whether it can supply the current at all.
The arithmetic. Divide the inverter wattage by its efficiency, then by the battery voltage. The HiTech 2600 W unit states 90 per cent inverting efficiency, and on a 12 V system that works out near 90 A for every 1000 W of inverter rating.
| Inverter rating | Approximate draw at full load | Runtime on a 200 Ah bank | Runtime on a 300 Ah bank |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1000 W | About 90 A | About 2 hours | About 3 hours |
| 2000 W | About 175 A | About 1 hour | About 1.5 hours |
| 2600 W | About 225 A | About 48 minutes | About 72 minutes |
| 3000 W | About 260 A | About 41 minutes | About 62 minutes |
Runtimes assume the inverter is at full load and about 90 per cent of the bank is usable, which is a worst case. Real use is intermittent, so a 200 Ah bank running a mixed 600 W load lasts roughly three and a half hours rather than one.
Check the discharge rating before you pair them. A single 100 Ah lithium battery often cannot sustain the current a 3000 W inverter demands, because its BMS limits continuous discharge well below that. The inverter will shut down under load, and the battery will look faulty when it is doing exactly what it was designed to do.
That answers what size lithium battery for a 2000W inverter, and what size lithium battery for a 3000W inverter, in the way that matters. The test is not capacity alone but whether the bank can deliver the current. A 120Ah lithium battery faces the same question as a 100 Ah one.
Before buying, find the continuous discharge current on the battery specification and confirm it exceeds the inverter draw in the table above. If that figure is not published, ask for it.
HiTech lists LiFePO4 batteries at 100 Ah, 150 Ah, 200 Ah and 314 Ah, plus a 12 V battery voltage monitor and the TR16H battery capacity tester.
Watching voltage sag under load is a useful early signal. A bank that drops toward the inverter cutoff when the load comes on is at its limit, whatever its capacity label says. The guide to choosing a caravan lithium battery covers capacity selection in more detail.
Yes, and more than people expect. A typical inverter draws roughly 0.5 to 1.5 A simply being switched on, which is about 12 to 36 Ah over a day.
That can exceed everything your lighting uses. Switch the inverter off when nothing needs it, or fit a remote switch so turning it off does not mean opening a locker. An integrated system with monitoring makes the same problem visible.
Heavier cable and higher-rated protection than most people assume, and the sizing should be specified by the installer rather than estimated from a chart. At 175 A to 260 A, the DC side of an inverter is one of the highest-current circuits in a caravan.
Two things decide it: the full-load current from the table above, and the length of the cable run. Sizing on the appliance wattage instead of the inverter draw is a common and dangerous error.
Cable sizing and circuit protection for installations of this type are governed by AS/NZS 3000, the Australian and New Zealand Wiring Rules. Have an auto electrician or licensed electrician specify both for your layout, and ask them to confirm the protection rating at the battery end as well as at the inverter.
An inverter charger is a single unit that both converts battery power to 240 V and charges the battery from mains power, switching between the two automatically. A plain inverter only converts and needs a separate mains charger alongside it.
Most caravan units are a 12V inverter charger. Larger builds and marine systems sometimes run a 24V or 48V inverter charger instead, which changes the current figures but not the logic.
For a van that moves between powered sites and free camping, the combined unit removes a separate mains charger and the manual changeover that goes with it. For a van that is almost always off-grid, a plain inverter plus solar and vehicle charging may be the better spend.
HiTech lists a 3000 W pure sine wave inverter charger with 100 A charging, an automatic transfer switch and a remote LCD display.
It supports gel, flooded, AGM and lithium batteries, and was listed at \$1,480.00 + GST on 13 October 2026.
The integrated option. Where the whole system is being specified at once, POWERSYNC 3050 combines a 3000 W pure sine wave inverter charger with MPPT solar charging, DC-DC charging, centralised distribution and circuit protection in one pre-wired panel.
It supports lithium, AGM, gel and lead-acid depending on configuration. POWERSYNC 3680 pairs a 2600 W pure sine wave inverter with the HiTech Connect app for monitoring.
The argument for an integrated panel is not the inverter itself. It is that the inverter, the charging sources and the protection are specified together, which is where mismatched systems usually come undone.
The 240 V side must be done by a licensed electrician. The 12 V DC side is extra-low voltage and sits outside licensed electrical work, which is why the answer to this question is genuinely split rather than a simple yes or no.
Caravan electrical installations in Australia and New Zealand are covered by AS/NZS 3001.2:2022, the standard for connectable electrical installations. It governs how the 240 V side of an installation is arranged, including earthing and residual current protection. Your electrician confirms what applies to your van.
In Victoria, the electrical safety regulator is Energy Safe Victoria. Licensing requirements are set state by state, so confirm the position where the work is done.
Some inverters help here. The HiTech 2600 W unit lists a built-in safety switch with earth leakage detection, which is the kind of feature your electrician will want to know about when arranging the 240 V side. It does not remove the need for licensed work.
Why this matters commercially. A cheap inverter bought from a marketplace listing may carry no Regulatory Compliance Mark and no evidence of safety testing. An electrician is entitled to refuse to connect equipment they cannot verify, which turns a bargain into a cost.
Look for the standard on the product page. The HiTech 2600 W inverter lists approval to AS/NZS 4763:2011, the Australian and New Zealand standard for portable inverters, alongside CE and EMC. A listing that names no standard at all is the one to avoid.
Yes, with no change to the sizing logic. A motorhome, campervan, camper trailer or hybrid camper running 240 V appliances off a 12 V bank faces the same waveform question, the same current draw and the same battery discharge limit.
The practical difference is space and bank size. Smaller builds carry less battery, which lowers the realistic inverter ceiling well before the inverter itself becomes the constraint.
The figures that matter are continuous rating, surge rating, published THD and standby draw. Compare inverters on those rather than on price alone.
Then check the battery side before committing. The continuous discharge rating of the bank has to exceed the inverter draw, and that single check prevents the most expensive mistake on this page.
Choose pure sine wave, then size the system around the battery rather than the inverter. List the appliances you will run together, read their input ratings, and work out the DC draw from the table above.
Then check that the battery bank can supply that current continuously, and have a licensed electrician specify the cable, protection and 240 V arrangement. Getting the battery match right before purchase is what separates a system that works from one that trips out.
Have a question about HiTech’s inverter, battery or charging products? Visit the HiTech Power Solutions contact page to submit a product enquiry. The website states that enquiries receive a response within three business days. You can also explore the Electrical range to view available products.
At the same rating and waveform, they do much the same job, so compare published specifications rather than reputation. A Victron inverter charger, a Kings pure sine wave inverter, a Renogy inverter charger, a Projecta inverter and an Enerdrive inverter charger all appear in searches for this product.
The figures that separate them are continuous rating, surge rating and held duration, published THD, standby draw and whether charging is integrated. The best inverter for a caravan is the one whose continuous rating covers your simultaneous loads and whose draw your battery bank can actually sustain.
Not necessarily. Look for the Regulatory Compliance Mark and evidence the unit meets a recognised converter safety standard. Equipment without verifiable compliance may be refused by the electrician connecting it, and unverified converters are a genuine fire risk in an enclosed space.
Only with a large system. A rooftop air conditioner needs a high surge rating and a battery bank able to sustain several hundred amps for hours. Most caravan setups cannot support one overnight without a substantially larger lithium bank than people expect.
Usually 1000 W or less for sustained use. A 100 Ah bank can rarely supply the continuous current a 2000 W or 3000 W inverter demands, and its usable runtime at that draw is measured in minutes. Check the published continuous discharge rating first.
A modified sine wave inverter can damage some appliances. Variable-speed motors, induction cooktops and inverter microwaves may refuse to run or be damaged, and medical devices such as CPAP machines should not be run on one without manufacturer confirmation. Simple resistive loads like kettles are generally unaffected.
Yes. An inverter consumes battery capacity, and a DC-to-DC charger replaces it while you drive, so they do opposite jobs rather than overlapping ones. An inverter charger adds mains charging when you are on a powered site, but it still does not charge from the vehicle alternator.
$1,480.00 + GST
$932.72 + GST
$812.20 + GST
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