How to choose between sine wave and modified sine wave inverters

Anyone looking for inverters come across pure sine wave and modified sine wave inverters. If you too are one of these people, you will want to know what the difference between the two is, and which is better for you. Read on, and you’ll get your answers.

You should know that inverters are devices that convert DC power to AC power through a switching operation. The inverter produces a type of AC current that is determined by whether it is a modified or true sine wave inverter.

Modified sine wave inverters

Modified sine waves are not true sine waves at all. They are just stepped waves that are not as smooth as a pure sine wave. Don’t think that this makes these inverters less efficient than true sine wave inverters.

In fact, these inverters help save energy by narrowing the waveform to run only a few small loads. They are also cheaper than pure sine wave inverters. However, they also do have their share of disadvantages.

For example, they create noise distortions like buzzing or even visual distortion in some televisions, radio and audio equipment, transformers and fluorescent lighting.

These inverters are not safe for use in equipment with inductive loads like the microwave. They are also not meant for varied speed motor appliances because some motors tend to run how upon drawing more current.

Pure sine wave inverters are a better option for these appliances. On the contrary, modified sine wave inverters are ideal for use on RVs or boats.

Pure sine wave inverters

True sine wave inverters produce a sine wave and are best for running motors, pumps and basically sensitive equipment that cannot accept modified sine wave.

Pure sine wave inverters do not produce any noise distortion, which is its benefit. So if you cannot stand noise distortion, pure sine wave inverters are a better choice for you.

It’s left to you to choose and use the right inverters for powering your equipment. It’s better to use the larger, modified sine wave inverters for most loads and the smaller, pure sine wave inverters for smaller loads like laptop and cell phone.