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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?
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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
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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.
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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
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