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EL Wire Power & Project Calculator

Figure out exactly which inverter, battery pack, and quantity you need before you buy. Works for EL Wire, TruEL™, VynEL™ panels, and SewGlo™ thread.

In feet. Enter the total you plan to run off one power source.
How many hours of continuous use per charge/set of batteries?
Your Results

How this works

  • Standard EL Wire draws roughly 1.0 mA per foot. TruEL™ (4.0mm) draws 2.0 mA per foot — 2× the power for 3× the brightness.
  • Inverters convert battery DC (1.5V–12V) to ~100V AC at 400Hz–2kHz to excite the phosphor coating.
  • Battery life = (battery capacity in mAh) ÷ (total draw in mA × inverter efficiency factor ~1.6).
  • For EL Wire, AA packs handle up to 12ft. TruEL™ draws 2× the current — AA packs handle up to 6ft.
  • For runs over 30ft (EL Wire) or 15ft (TruEL™), a hardwired 12V inverter is recommended.
Inches
Inches
Your Results

How VynEL™ power works

  • VynEL draws approximately 0.5–0.8 mA per square inch at typical brightness.
  • Unlike wire, VynEL is measured by area. Calculate total sq inches by multiplying width × height.
  • Each rechargeable battery pack inverter can drive up to approximately 100 sq inches at 4-hour runtime.
  • Larger panels or longer runtime? Use a hardwired 12V inverter with external power.
Meters of SewGlo thread to power from one inverter.
Your Results

SewGlo power notes

  • SewGlo LT draws approximately 0.7–0.9 mA per meter.
  • SewGlo HD draws approximately 1.2–1.6 mA per meter (brighter = more current).
  • Maximum supported by one rechargeable pack: 7 meters (SewGlo LT) or 4 meters (SewGlo HD).
  • Runs over the maximum require splitting into separate powered segments.
Meters
Your Results

Add each powered zone in your installation — different wire types and run counts per zone. The calculator sums total system draw and recommends inverter count and battery bank sizing for the full build.

Zone Name Wire Type Length (ft) # Runs Zone Draw
Used to size battery banks for portable / event use. Leave at 8h for a full-night event.
System Summary

How multi-zone power works

  • Each zone's draw = length × # parallel runs × mA-per-foot for that wire type.
  • Wire draw constants: Standard EL = 1.0 mA/ft, Thick EL (3.2mm) = 1.4 mA/ft, TruEL™ = 2.0 mA/ft.
  • Total system draw includes 1.6× inverter efficiency overhead (inverters draw more than wire draw alone).
  • For multi-zone installs, all zones can connect to one large inverter via splitters — or split across multiple inverters if total draw is high.
  • A 12V hardwired inverter is the standard for permanent multi-zone installs. Battery banks are sized for portable/event use.
  • Total wire draw > 300mA? Contact us — a custom multi-output commercial driver may be more cost-effective than multiple standard inverters.

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