>  I was thinking of getting an inverter so that I could
> power up a space heater for those cold off-season 
> mornings & evenings.

Forget about using electric heat from a car battery (or alternator). It
won't work. Ohm's Law tells you that you are simply not going to get any
significant electrically generated heat when starting off with only 12 volts
and the limited amount of amperage provided by your alternator, unless you
have a veritable bank of batteries. Using an inverter to convert your 12
volts DC to 110 volts AC does not improve things, because it does not
actually increase the total available current.  The inverter cannot create
what isn't there; it merely converts direct current to a "quasi" square
wave. In fact it leaves you slightly less to work with than before, due to
the current drain of the inverter itself. There is no getting around this;
it simply will not work for space heating.  Unless you have a true 110 VAC
power source, your only heating options are fuel-derived (engine-heated
water or air, or a gasoline or propane furnace).

- Ron Salmon
  The Bus Depot, Inc.
  www.busdepot.com
  (215)  234-VWVW

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