How Efficient Is Victron 1,000w 12v Inverter VN55ZR And Will It Drain Battery When Not Used?

Updated 04/23/2026 | Published 04/21/2026

Question:

How efficient is the VN55ZR and will it drain my battery when nothing is plugged in?

asked by: Mike

Expert Reply:

Hey Mike, good question.

The Victron 1,000w 12v inverter # VN55ZR is fairly efficient at 91% when running loads, and it also has an ECO mode that reduces power draw when nothing is connected.

When idle, it only draws a small amount of power, but like all inverters, it will slowly drain your battery if left on. Best practice is use ECO mode or turn it off when not in use.

What size battery are you running? That’ll give a better idea of how long you can leave it on without noticeable drain.

expert reply by: Andrew N

Mike

4/23/2026

Running it off 2 12v 100ah batteries in parallel. do you know the power it draws idle or in eco mode?

Andrew N.

4/23/2026

@Mike Hey thanks for the added info there. So that inverter draws only about 1w of power at idle or in ECO mode. So with 200ah of power, using Watt's law we come up with about 2400 hours until lithium batteries are drained. If they are flooded lead acid batteries, you'd be looking at closer to the 1200 hour mark.