Reducing power draw from appliance

Question

I have an appliance (electric skillet) that draws 1500W when plugged into a regular (120V) household circuit.

If I want to be able to use it on an inverter that can supply max 1000W@120V, can I build a device with a transformer to limit the current drawn from the appliance to 1000W?

Answer 1

yes, you can use a transformer to reduce the power draw.

Assuming a nichrome heating element with a resistance of 9.6 ohms

Reducing the voltage to 96 volts will bring the power down to 960 watts at 10A

so you need a transformer that can handle 10A with a ratio 4:1 (primary and sencondary in series) or 5:1 (secondary bucking)

^{simulate this circuit – Schematic created using CircuitLab}

series droppinmg is preferred as you only need a 200VA transformer , but off the shelf parts are more common in 5:1 ratio (120V in 24V out), for that layout 240VA is needed

you could maybe use this one: https://nz.element14.com/schneider-electric/abt7esm032b/transformer-320va-1-x-24v/dp/2070221 but replacing the inverter might be cheaper.