Quote:
Originally Posted by Ray,IN
The vast majority of televisions run on 12VDC, just inside the case is a tiny converter to convert from 120VAC to 12VDC.
You buy an RV-specific 12V TV and pay dearly for the 12V jack in the case.
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An important consideration is as always what the wattage draw of the tv is. That is the nice part of doing the conversion to use 12vdc directly it does make the TV use a fair less wattage, in this case -11 watts with just the tv compared to running off 120 vac. The 80 watt inverter we were using to change 12vdc to 120vac uses about 20 watts as well that is lost to heat, so the wattage saved by converting the tv is about the equivalent of a -30 watts of power draw. More power than the TV alone just to step the power up to 120 and then have the TV transform it back to 12vdc.
This conversion eliminates two conversion steps that use power and now the TV does not even need ventilation and can have the back sealed like a tablet because it does not heat up at all except for the extremely small amount of heat that a 24 inch screen led backlighting creates the other component heat loss in the guts of the tv is miniscule when running only on 12 vdc and not having the 120 AC circuit working creating excess heat at all.
We watch the tv mostly at night so we can also crank down the led back lighting and then the TV absolutely sips power, no more than a large dimly lit flat panel LED laptop screen.
Why LED TVs that run off 12 volts are much more expensive is a question of demand most likely. With the recent run on up on the numbers of people living off grid and even living in trailers and RVs I have no doubt that the demand for off grid 12volt LED screens will drastically increase. Surprised that it has not happened quite yet. I also use our RV tv as a second laptop screen when we have internet access in remote places which is getting surprisingly common in many places.
We do not want to put the dollars to hook up star link or RV tv satellite dish like my sister does for remote work access where she lives up north but I might slip a sim chip in my laptop this year so that I can access the web site that I administer and work doing recordings of the guitars that my brother builds.
I will be updating this site this year and it would be nice to do it while camping off grid where there is time to enjoy the work and record his hand made classical and steel string guitars in special places where the camping pictures will fit the music I record.
As it was I had to use someone else music to accompany the video I did of the construction of guitars for my brothers site. This year I hope to record much more of his instruments for use on the web instead of using snippets from existing old recordings.
Every off grid watt that I save gives me a little more to use with my recording gear and music software interfaces to create web pages with music. Just hope that this fire season comes to an end here on Vancouver Island and the West Coast soon as it has been the worst in history and has kept us from getting away from the 24/7 bedlam of cars, trucks and emergency sirens that is the city where we live. I can scarcely record at night here in Victoria without an obligato of sirens and heavy trucks and cars going by and fouling up the recording mix.
Nothing more special than recording outdoors with good equipment even if the odd bird song or quiet banter of the bush injects some sounds into the mix. Several place where we camp have really nice natural hillside canyon reverb if I amplify very slightly and use two mics, far better than creating the sound artificially with software. Some places one can record while camping in the bush can sound absolutely incredible, with things like the distant sounds of waves and seagulls and eagles getting into the mix!
Little known fact about today's cheap televisions!
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