I have something that takes 120w that I want to plug in. I also have an inverter with a lighter plug. My Prius lighter sockets are 10A. According to my calculations, 120 at 12V = 10A? Will this work or am I cutting it too close and blow a fuse?
Check out below and comments. Basically sounds like at the 120W level you should be OK with lighter socket attachment but you need to make sure wires up to the power level.
If the device needs 120 watts at 120VAC, then the inverter will be drawing significantly more than 120 watts DC from the socket because it is not 100% efficient. So you may have problems.
Sorry to confuse. Believe your amps calc is correct. From what I can see, for most cars, about 120W load is about the max from the lighter socket and above that you want to connect the lead wires directly to the 12v battery. I do not know if Prius lighter sockets are lower fuse rating than typical other cars.
It is still possible that the device may work, but we simply don't have enough detail about what it is or how it is used. At 120W label rating, you are in the gray area where 'it depends'.
