I can't remember if I saw the information on here or elsewhere, but with
the weather turning colder and given our late departure to move south,
some thought was given to breaking out our electric blanket. The biggest
problem of course is that it won't function while on inverter power, so
we've used it while dockside or run the generator before we turn in,
running the heat a bit and using the blanket as a bed warmer and adding
blankets as it gets colder.

I found information about MSW-friendly blankets made by "Perfect-Fit"
and the admiral found one half off at our local Macy's. Not cheap, they
retail anywhere from $100-300. It does in fact operate fine on our
Freedom 30 MSW inverter. Last night was our 1st field trial, and it
worked well. The blanket operates on 18V from a power supply that plugs
into a 110v outlet. They're not as intense as a typical electric
blanket, but did a nice job of keeping us warm on a chilly night. I'm
estimating it added about 40-60 AH to our overnight consumption. Very
difficult to gauge since the blanket doesn't draw it's maximum current
all night long, but we'll have no trouble running the blanket all night
from our 1200 AH bank. Certainly better than running the genset all
night on those chilly ones, and nice to climb into a warm bed!  And
purchasing it will stack the odds towards a milder winter. Same with
digging out my winter Woolrich for this trip. <G>

I can only imagine the fodder I've just provided for Mr. Rudy.

--
Steve Sipe
Solo 4303 /"Maerin"/
Lying Deltaville

Steve, yes electric blankets are one of the reasons to consider a True Sine
Wave (TSW) inverter.  I reported many years ago on this list that I was
amazed to find that my 25 year-old Trace inverter would successfully power
several computers, a stereo, a TV and all sorts of so-called "digital"
devices, but it would NOT power our el-cheapo electric blanket.  It is a
Sunbeam model and needlessly employs digital design controls and that's the
source of the problem.  The older designs of electric blankets worked well
with MSW inverters, but not the newer models, made within the last 10 years
of so.

I keep waiting for my ancient Trace inverter to fail, so I can replace it
with a TSW model which will power our electric blankets.

Bob Peterson
"Lopaka Nane"
47' Lien Hwa CPMY
San Francisco