An appliance says 0.7kW on the back, is this average or peak power consumption?

I'm normally good with electronics etc but this has always puzzled me. I want to put an appliance that says 700w on the back in my car, and i do not know if that would mean average or peak, so i need to know whether it is or not to buy the relevant (500w rms, 800w peak/ 1000w rms 1500w peak) inverter to use in my car.





It is 240v, australian.





Any simple answer? I notice normally, the back of a household appliance only has one power usage statistic so what would it be?|||I think this would be peak power. You need to know how much power the unit is drawing when it is one, not averaged over a period of time when it is cycling on and off. The information is important when you are connecting it, regardless if it is in your house on in your car. You need to know the max power draw, not some average, so you can make sure the wires and circuit breakers can handle it.|||Depends on what kind of appliance it is. Could you let me know what it is?





Cheers, Jon.|||Typically it is the average power. With something like an electric iron, it is the average power consumed when the thermostat is on.|||That would be 'average' power consumption of the unit. If not too pricy, there is a peak surge when first turned on, so I would recommend the 1500W. peak inverter!!!