This tool helps you design your perfect RV electrical system by estimating battery and charging requirements, based on your daily power consumption. Enter your appliances, charging sources, and batteries to see your off-grid capabilities.

Understanding Power Terms

AC/DC: AC (Alternating Current) powers most household appliances and requires an inverter. DC (Direct Current) comes straight from your batteries and powers items such as LED lights, water pump, or a DC 12v refrigerator.

Watts: How much power a device uses when running. Like the "speed" of electricity consumption. An electric cook top might use 1000 watts, while LED lights use less than 10 watts.

Hours/Day: How many hours per day you actually run the device. A refrigerator runs 24 hours, but you might only use a microwave for 0.2 hours (12 minutes) per day.

Duty %: The percentage of time a device actually draws power. Most items are 100% because they are either ON or OFF. However, a refrigerator runs 24 hours but only draws power ~40% of that time due to cycling on/off.

Watt Hours (Wh): Total energy consumed per day. It's Watts × Hours × Duty%. This is what drains your battery. For example: a 12.8V battery at 100Ah = 1280Wh of storage, which could run a 1280 watt appliance for exactly one hour.