Review on 1200W Pure Sine Wave Inverter With AC Charger, DC 12V To AC 120V Output - Off Grid Inverter For Lithium, Sealed, AGM, Gel, And Flooded Batteries By Ampinvt by David Turner

I live in an area with common power outages in the winter months, and decided to obtain UPS systems for the areas to be protected. Unfortunately, UPS systems typically have a 7 ampere-hour twelve volt battery that only supports 84 watt-hours, which, in my case, wipes out the UPS capacity in one or two hours. So I looked for a better solution. I found a 100 ampere-hour twelve volt Lithium Iron Phosphate (LiFePo4) at a reasonable price, then I looked for a grid tied charger/inverter. Well, good luck, folks, the charger/inverters tend to do just that, charge and invert (one or the other) without having an option that switches automatically from grid to battery and back again. But this cool unit does so, and does it gracefully. It provides a true sine wave in inverter mode, and gives you the option of several types of batteries for your backup. I have one of these in my "network room" so my internet doesn't go down for a day or more, and another one in a closet behind my refrigerator to protect the fridge for at least twelve hours.It is Heavy, and it would be good to have another pair of hands to mark the mounting screws locations, and you need to plan the battery location at the same time. Two power cables come with the unit to connect to the battery, but they are fairly short, so don't mount the unit too high unless you buy new cables or put your battery on a shelf. And as far as the grid connection is concerned, I bought a disposal replacement cable and hooked it up PRIOR to mounting the unit on the wall. Otherwise, it is quite impossible to do, with the tightening screws facing rearward.I tested my installation several times by unplugging the grid cable from the nearby wall socket, and each time the sine wave continued smoothly, and I never had a hiccup out of my network equipment nor out of my refrigerator. It runs fairly quietly but continuously, and stays cool.My alternative to setting up a couple of these units was a whole house backup system that would have cost at least $10k, even before the extensive rewiring of my power panels. Instead, I spent only a couple of thousand with a lot of DIY effort, and I have lights, fridge, and network support for one or two days. Very nice. And to extend the support time, I have only to add another battery to extend the support time.UPDATE: As another reviewer, Richard, said, these inverters do indeed have the neutral and line switched on the 120VAC socket. Since the manufacturer doesn't see fit to correct this serious error, DO NOT USE THE SOCKET! Do what I had to do, and wire your AC load to the terminals provided. Otherwise you are in violation of the National Electrical Code if you connect one of these inverters to the grid! I knocked off a star because of the useless AC socket; in all other ways the inverters work perfectly.