Calculator | Sizing a 12 Volt Battery to a Load
Do you have a 12v device you need to power but don't know what 12-volt battery you need? For those running a continuous 12-volt load, an adequately sized deep-cycle battery is a must.
This calculator is designed to provide an appropriately sized AH (Amp Hours) rated battery without excessively discharging the battery below 50%.
So, if you know how much power your application takes to run and how long you would like to run it. Then plug those figures into the calculator, and we will give you our recommended AH rating you need to look for!
Remember, if you use a power inverter, you must first convert the AC Amps to DC Amps before using this calculator.
Walkthrough
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The first Field to enter information into is labeled “Load Size”. This is typically found on the device you are running; for light bulbs it will be in watts and you need divide by the voltage you are running in-typically 12 volts. Other DC devices should be rated in amperage. (Note* if you are running AC devices, you will need to figure out the DC amperage using our AC to DC calculator). For our example we are running a 12 volt 15 amp swamp cooler. |
 Example |
The second field is labeled “Load Duration”, which is completely up to the user. If you want your load to run for 5 hours, put 5 as in our example shown here. |
 Example |
The third field, “Temperature Adjustment”, is for adjusting the calculations for extreme temperatures. For our example, it is above 85 deg. F, so check the box. (Note** if you are using Gel batteries in temperatures below 0 deg F, and above -60 Deg F, there is no need to check the box.) |
 Example |
The fourth field is to adjust for the age of the battery being considered. Since the greatest usage of the calculator is to figure out what battery to buy, usually the box will be left unchecked, as in our example, but it is there in case the batteries available are older. |
 Example |
The next three fields are for selecting what battery type you are going to use. Choose from Gel, AGM, and Flooded. For our example we select the AGM Battery. |
 Example |
The final Field is where the calculator waves its magic wand and tells you what you need. This number is rounded to the nearest whole number, and will tell you what battery Amp Hour rating to look for in the selected battery type. |
| For our example, our 15 amp swamp cooler will run safely for 5 hours with a 180AH, rated at 20Hours, AGM battery. For a little more detail on the math check out our Math Behind the Magic article. | |
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Alan
Hi, great tool. Just wondering if there is a difference if on the size of the battery being recommended if using lithium batteries?Reply • Rated article 5 • December 28, 2022 at 2:20 pm-
TECH
When it comes to lithium, it really depends on the manufacturer as some allow you to take them down 100%, such as our BSLBatt brand batteries, while others only allow 70%. Our calculator is designed for a 50% depth of discharge, so you can multiply the number and do the math for your specific lithium battery brand. Keep in mind that you might want to give yourselves a slight reserve if your lithium allows 100% depth of dishcharge as the BMS may trigger the cutoff early in high amp draw situations.Reply • Rated article 5 • January 23, 2023 at 1:09 pm
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Joseph
Hey, great little calculator tool. I just need a rechargeable agm battery to hook up to an electric scissors jack that puts out maximum 13 amps. I'm only looking to run it a few times per day for less than 2 minutes each use. Weight is an issue. Can I go lower than the 36 ah battery your calculator suggests. Like maybe a 12 to 15 ah battery without it dying, if not, how low can I go without having to worry about the battery dying from taking 13 amps???Reply • Rated article 5 • November 15, 2021 at 5:37 am-
BatteryStuff Tech
Joseph, you want to be careful going too small as the battery may not stay within the recommended voltage range for the application. Keep in mind the calculator is only calculating what may work mathematically in a given situation. However, manufacturers suggest certain batteries because of the load being applied to the battery. It the battery you are using is too small it may not be able to hold under load at the desired voltage for the application to work. Realistically, I would suggest looking at the battery's specification sheet as most will have a Constant Current Discharge Characteristics chart to let you know how the battery will handle under load.Reply • Rated article 5 • November 22, 2021 at 7:11 am
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Pat Regulski
I have three gel 100amp batteries in my motor home with a 120 watt solar panel connected while it is stationary and my amp meter is showing the batteries are 14.4 charged is this okReply • Rated article 5 • November 12, 2021 at 5:32 pm-
BatteryStuff Tech
I would suggest looking at the side of your batteries as it most likely states the acceptable charging voltage range. It might be fine, but it might not as some gel batteries only like to see a maximum voltage of 14.2.Reply • Rated article 5 • November 22, 2021 at 6:53 am
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Jack
Steve I’m running two 1.25 amp underwater lights I’m trying to power them off of 18650 batteries each battery has 2000mah how many cells will I need to run for at least 2 hrsReply • Rated article 5 • June 14, 2020 at 10:24 am-
BatteryStuff Tech
This calculator is for sizing a 12v lead acid battery to an amp load. Unfortunately, our calculators are designed for lead acid batteries. I would suggest contacting a supplier for your 18650 batteries, and see if they have a calculator for your particular battery.Reply • Rated article 5 • June 15, 2020 at 2:19 pm
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Steve
I have a 7" portable tv with a 10watt max power consumption. According to the calculate and conversions I put in, it's telling me I need a 18Ahr battery to run the tv 8 hrs a day safely. So if I get a 35Ahr battery that should be more than sufficiant for me to run the tv 8hrs a day plus, considering all the conditions are correct.......am in reading this correctly?Reply • Rated article 5 • April 12, 2020 at 3:03 am-
BatteryStuff Tech
If this is a 12v 10 watt device then you would basically be getting an additional day by going to a 35 AH battery.Reply • Rated article 5 • April 13, 2020 at 9:51 am
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Ray Haws
I have a 1000 watt inverter I have a 5amp load 115votts. what size battery do I need to run 7 hours?Reply • June 10, 2016 at 8:43 am-
BatteryStuff Tech
First you have to run your AC amp draw through our Calculator | AC to DC amperage conversion run through an Inverter. That calculator will tell you how many amps you are pulling out of the battery. Then you can use the calculator on this page… I went ahead an found out using the Inverter Calculator that you are pulling 52.90 Amps DC and hour our of the battery pack. That is a high draw if you plan on running off a battery for any length of time.Reply • June 10, 2016 at 2:42 pm
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Alex
I have a small 12 volt, 2.5 amp cab fan. I need to know what type of 12 volt battery to run it for up to 8 hrs at a time.Reply • Rated article 5 • June 4, 2016 at 2:59 pm-
BatteryStuff Tech
Based off the calculator, and not doing any adjustments for temperature or age it appears you need a battery at least 44 Amp/Hrs. I would suggest the Universal 12v 55 AH Deep Cycle Sealed AGM Battery UB12550-45825, as it is the closest to that size at this time.Reply • Rated article 5 • June 9, 2016 at 11:27 am
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Mark
Hi Tech, I have 2× 105ah batteries in the tray of the ute, running parallel, using a red arc dual battery system which seems so far keep these batteries topped up, using HD welding cable. From what I have learnt by reading all of the post that means I have 210ah and a 12 volt battery bank. I purchased a10ah smart battery charger, it was half the price and I got a bit excited, my question is will this fully charge these batteries eventually? I realise that 10% amp size for the charger is the recommendation. Also I’m looking at 2× 80w solar panels (160w) foldable with a regulator for each can I plug these two panels together (dual Anderson plug) or will the two regulators confuse each other. Also not keen on burning the car down.
Lastly, trying to fit a square peg in a round hole, what if I was to get a manual battery isolator to split the batteries back to 105ah then just switch the alligator clips between batteries, a bit of stuffing around but wil his charge the batteries fully?
I would like to go camping every month but the reality is 2-3 times a year for only weekends away and 1 week somewhere special. The 4×4 drives around enough to keep the batteries topped up most of the time. But I would still like it set up to work as it should. I run a small fridge led lights all around and basic charging necessities iPad etc.Cheers
All the gear and no idea!!! Is my favourite saying….
Reply • May 18, 2016 at 12:40 pm-
BatteryStuff Tech
Mark you typically want to charge at 10% or you risk overworking the charger. Sure the charger will charge the battery bank eventually, but I would consider it mostly a maintainer due to the size of the battery pack. As far as your panels go I would suggest tying them together through one solar charge controller if you are able to, and as long as you don’t exceed that charge controllers rating. By trying to use two on one battery they might interfere with each other, and one might just go to float mode if it sees the battery is at a higher voltage from the charge coming off the other charge controller. As far as moving the charger from battery to battery I simply suggest charging them as a pack, as that is how they are tied together.Reply • Rated article 5 • May 24, 2016 at 1:20 pm
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Emeka Nwokedi
Hi, good day, please I have two 12volts/120amp batteries,connected in parallel to my inverter (12volts/1000watts), but I have a rechargeable fan which uses two 12volts/4.5amp batteries connected in series, i want to run the fan/blade directly to the big batteries heads at the same point where the inverter wires join, would it blow the fan? since the difference in amp requirements for the fan is way smaller to the 240amp plus the current from the inverter. Thank youReply • Rated article 4 • May 18, 2016 at 12:21 pm-
BatteryStuff Tech
Emeka, If the fan runs off 12v then you can connect it directly to the 12v battery pack. However you say that the fan uses two 12v batteries in series, which if it is in series it is a 24v fan not 12v. Hooking the fan up to a larger battery pack isn’t an issue as long as you get the voltage correct.Reply • Rated article 5 • May 24, 2016 at 12:20 pm
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Mark
See 2/4/13 question from me above in comments. Wondering if we calculated wrong on the front end…Running (9) 17W lights
120 V AC using an inverter powered by two 105 Amp-hr deep cycle AGM batteries in parallel. Average run cycle is 10 hours. Using the inverter calculator, indicates ~14.35 Amps DC load and then running the sizing calculator suggests that I need battery capacity of 306 AH20 hrs.However, when the 2 105 @ 20 hrs batteries in parallel are used, and then put on charge after use, the batteries typically register 50% charged. I have been using this combo since 2013 approximately 10-15 times per year…. Did we size the system correctly the first time, or should I have used larger capacity batteries
Reply • May 10, 2016 at 5:21 pm-
BatteryStuff Tech
The average life of a battery 3-5 years if you are not excessively discharging the battery beyond 50%. If you always taking it to 50% or even going beyond it from time to time then you will most likely be on the low end of the average, so 3 years out of a battery given your load is to be expected. If you want to increase your battery life I would suggest a large AH rated pack, as the less you pull from the battery the longer they tend to last. However a larger AH rated pack will weigh more, and I believe that you were trying to keep the weight down.Reply • Rated article 5 • May 11, 2016 at 8:48 am
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DS
I have totaled my setup that I am building in my Cargo Trailer Conversion to be 16.3 Amps. 9 LED 12v lights, A 12Volt Water pump, DC plug/USB Charger/Monitor Combo, and another USB/DC Charger. My lights I will use only when it is dark and when I am awake, the pump is only when I turn the water on. The lights are the lowest amps at .341. The pump is at the highest at 7amps. With such variables in frequency of usage how do i figure the battery needed? The calculator, which has helped me a lot, figures I am using all DC 12volt items the entire time which is not the case. Any suggestion on getting a better feel for how many AH I need in my Deep Cycle Battery? I am looking at one that says @25amps 389 Capacity minutes. What is that compared to 200 AH at 20-Hr Rate? Would this be sufficient for my setup? The calculator shows I would need a 216 AH battery running all items for 6 hours. I could enter each item separately to get amp hours then total the amp hours at the end. Would this be accurate?Thank you again for the calculator resource.
Reply • April 11, 2016 at 6:27 pm-
BatteryStuff Tech
I do agree figuring out a usage for everything is quite an undertaking, and be difficult if your the one designing the system, versus buying a RV with a manufacturer recommendation. With that said your best bet would be to average each device into the calculator, and then add it all up at the end. However I can tell you that most of our customer that dry camp a lot generally start with a pair of 6 volt deep cycles seen here: RV 6 Volt Batteries. Most people start in the 200 AH range and go and higher if your space permits. If you have any further questions I would suggest emailing us directly via our email support link.Reply • Rated article 5 • April 12, 2016 at 7:03 am
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Lee Callister
For confirmaton: I have a houseboat that uses shore power and does not leave the docks. (No working engines). But I need battery power for occasional use for some overhead 12v lights (about 8 although all would not neccessarily be on, which I understand to be about an amp apiece, a toilet macerator which looks to draw about 13 amps when it is engaged, and 2 automatic bilge pumps that come on if there is water in the bilge (I am variously seeing 4-8 amp estimates on water pumps). In the unlikely event everything were on at once I guess I would be drawing up to 37 amps. I also have a 4 stage converter to keep my batter topped off. So it seems to me that a 50 AH deep cycle battery like your model UB12500-45977 would be sufficient for my needs. Am I missing anything?
thanks
LeeReply • December 1, 2014 at 4:04 pm-
BatteryStuff Tech
You don’t want a situation where you are discharging the battery more than 50%. If you lost shore power that would happen in less than an hour. If you feel comfortable with that, then the 50 AH would work.Reply • Rated article 5 • December 30, 2014 at 8:22 am
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Haider
Dear All,
Can anybody Suggest me number of Batteries (Acid) of 200 AH if i have to enpower Load of 1300 Watt for 13 Hours daily.
pls Guide Me Number of Batteries Which should i use???Regards,
AHReply • November 5, 2014 at 1:45 am-
HANNA YOUSSEF
IF your load is dc load (like a 1300w 12v DC heating element) then it will dreaw 1300/12=108.33amps every hour. THEN time that by the 13 hours of use 108.33×13=1408ahr because your batteries are lead acid you are advice to discharge them to 50% THEN you will need 1408×2=2816ahr.(this is what is needed to power 1300w of DC load for 13hours) because you need touse 200ahr batteries then 2816/200=14 batteries.....but if your load is an AC one then that needs another calculations.Reply • Rated article 5 • September 3, 2021 at 10:42 pm -
BatteryStuff Tech
Watts/Volts = Amps. Once you have you amp figure you can use the calculator. If you need additional help please contact our TECH Department.Reply • Rated article 5 • November 19, 2014 at 10:58 am
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David Deane
I have a question. I want to run a 4000#winch from a portable battery. The winch sucks 240 amp and would run for 20 min max. Should I use a deep cycle RV battery?? and at what AM- HR rating??Reply • Rated article 5 • October 15, 2014 at 3:53 pm-
BatteryStuff Tech
Based on the large load your are pulling I would recommend at minimum a 232 AH AGM Battery for that 20min run time.Reply • Rated article 5 • November 18, 2014 at 11:25 am
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Zafir Ali
ThanksReply • Rated article 5 • October 12, 2014 at 6:54 am -
Ola
Hello,Kindly shed light on my query. If i have a 12V inverter system, using a 1* 200AH battery and a 48V inverter system which requires 4*200AH battery to get the system to perform. For the 48V system, is the amp hrs calculated as 800AH (4*200ah) or is it still only 200AH since it is connected as a 48V?
Reply • May 15, 2014 at 6:23 am -
Neeraj
Hello, I have 50W DC fan i need to run 24 hours with the 12V battery. what capacity battery i need to run this fan 24 hours continuously.Thanks
NeerajReply • May 13, 2014 at 1:28 am-
BatteryStuff Tech
If you plug in the numbers in the calculator it will tell you. If the load is DC at 12 volts, then you are looking at about a 200AH battery.Reply • May 14, 2014 at 10:35 am
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Jerry McLean
This is actualy for a question. On a 12vdc converted to 120v a/c., I want to run a water pump, 120v 8 Amp. But the problem is the starting amps of the pump, which is over 30 amps. How many amps of batteries do I need, and what size and type of inverter? ThanksReply • Rated article 4 • April 28, 2014 at 3:41 pm-
Bryan
Im looking at something similar for sump pump and believe you will need an inverter that can handle a 3600 watts start (120vac x 30amps inrush) so maybe a 2000 watt inverter with a 4000 watt peak may work. Thinking pure sine wave for motor..not sure. For Batteries something in the range of 400ah with 30% duty cyle should give you ~4 hours … you need AGM type battery not your typical car/start or marine style…any others our there agree/disagree? Big cables between batteries and inverter!Reply • July 26, 2014 at 7:41 pm -
Admin
lease email your question to tech@batterystuff.comReply • May 12, 2014 at 12:13 pm
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Michael
I have 4 cfl’s /12 volt each…they are rated at 15 watts each….wondered what size AH battery I should use to get maybe 5-7 hrs of use out of lights? Would an AGM type battery be okay?Reply • April 27, 2014 at 3:42 am-
BatteryStuff Tech
span class="caps">AGM would work fine. If you plug in those numbers, you will find that a 58AH battery will run your load for 5 hrs.Reply • May 12, 2014 at 12:13 pm
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JB
my load is 15 Watts LED DC what size of battery for me to run 15watts LED DC for 8hrs?Reply • March 12, 2014 at 6:02 pm-
Jeremy
JB, if you put in the information into the calculator it will tell you. The one factor you still need to know is the system voltage, so that you can get the amperage of the load.Reply • May 12, 2014 at 12:11 pm
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Mark
Hello,I did some checking here‘s what I got from a tech person:
“The 0.38A is the operating amperage, the inrush current is typically much higher than that value. The part of the equation that is missing in your calculation is the Power Factor of the lamp, which for almost all CFL lamps is specified as >0.5. Taking into consideration the power factor value, the 23W CFL will consume 23W of power still, but would draw 0.38A at 120V”.
Does this change the calculations? Assume 9 lamps, 8 hr run time between charges for simplification
Reply • January 30, 2013 at 10:58 am-
BatteryStuff Tech
The draw amount is what we need to calculate with. There is a significant loss of power when energy going into the lamp is actually being used to run it. Therefore, each lamp will pull ~4.1 amps each per hour. For 9 lamps and 8 hours, that‘s a total of 295.2 amps pulled from a 12 volt battery source. My recommendation: 12 volts with at least 600 available Amp Hours. That‘s three 4D size batteries in parallel.Reply • January 30, 2013 at 12:46 pm-
Mark
OK How about (9) 17w LED lamps… I do not yet have amps, but it should be significantly lower – trying to get this down to one manageable battery under 100lbs and running 8 hrs, with less than a 10 hour recharge time.I plan on using a 400 watt inverter to power this project..any comments?
Reply • February 4, 2013 at 12:58 pm-
BatteryStuff Tech
17 watts / 12.5 volts = 1.36 amps. 9 of these lights will pull 12.24 amps per hour. running 8 hours is a total of 97.92 amps. The calculator recommend a battery with ~ 200 AH, which is still over 100 lbs of weight. Inverters can add on average 15% inefficiency to the power draw.Reply • February 5, 2013 at 10:21 am
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Mark
I want to run ten (10) 23w compact fluorescent bulbs rated at 0.380 amps on a 120 v AC system powered by a deep cycle 12 v dc system using a 400 w inverterrun time per day = 10 hours. Maximum run hours between charges = 24 hours… Wasn‘t sure I was using the calulators correctly. How should I size the battery and do you have any comments or suggestions on the inverter I would use
Reply • January 29, 2013 at 2:46 pm-
BatteryStuff Tech
0.380 amps x 120 volts = 45.6 Watts, not 23w. Therefore 10 lights will be 456 Watts total per hour. A 400 Watt inverter will struggle with this power.456 Watts will pull ~41 amps from a 12v battery source per hour. For ten hours, that‘s a total of 410 amps pulled. For a battery recommendation I would at least double this number…so any AGM battery bank rated with 820 Amp Hours or more is my recommendation. More is needed for flooded batteries.
Reply • January 29, 2013 at 3:11 pm-
Mark
OK, I‘m just reading the information off the lamp. The lamp is rated 23 watts and then also rated 0.380 amps, followed by a color temperature. Can you explain the discrepancy.. Since they are self-ballasted is the difference the ballast? Are we looking at a starting current demand vs a run wattage rating? If so, how does this affect the calculations. My suspicion is that the .38 amp rating is based on the ballast… If this is the case, how does this affect my battery capacity planning?Thank you for your assistance
Reply • January 29, 2013 at 3:38 pm-
BatteryStuff Tech
Unfortunately, I can‘t confirm to you the true power rating of the lamp. Given the uncertainty, I would use the highest power rating to make my calculations from (which I did in my previous comment). It‘s better to size a system for a worst case scenario than not.Reply • January 30, 2013 at 9:07 am
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Ghulam Nabi
Can i use 3 battries (1 Wet Cell 150Amp and 2 AGM Dry Cell 18Amp) same time on local Transformer base UPS ??Reply • April 11, 2012 at 2:34 am-
BatteryStuff Tech
If you use all three batteries to create a single battery bank, then I would advise against it. The Wet Cell is a much larger battery then the two AGMs. When you bank them together, they behave as one battery. The contrast of battery capacities will cause an uneven charge and discharge cycle.Reply • April 11, 2012 at 8:00 am
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