The basic processing current of the PWS100 is <200 mA at 12 V supply. However, the sensor has two levels of heating available. One set of heaters—known as the dew heaters—prevents condensation on the main lenses of the sensor. When these sensors turn on, the current usage increases to approximately 500 mA at 12 V. A current drain of 1 A is the worst case scenario if the input supply to the sensor drops to the minimum of approximately 9 V (the current drain increasing at lower voltages).
By default, the dew heaters turn on all the time and the main hood heaters are off. The dew heaters can be turned off by the user.
The main hood heaters run from a separate power supply and consume 7 A at 24 V when fully on. The main hood heaters only need to be used when icing conditions are likely.