I have a very tiny set-up for an off grid cabin. 4-100w panels, an MPPT charge controller, 1-12v200aH battery with shunt and monitor, 1000w inverter charger connected to a breaker box. 5 breakers 15amps each. An electrician did the cabin wiring and panel box. I use this to run 9w LED bulbs, typically one at a time, the occasional vent fan and charge a laptop or cell phone, not every day(and mostly around mid-day when the solar battery is fully charged.) I recently installed the battery monitor so I could keep track more easily the voltage on the battery, fearful of draining it to low. When nothing is running, there are small pulses of current through the inverter/charger until a load is detected. These pulses show up on the battery monitor and are no cause for concern. What I do not understand is this: When a single 9w .13amp bulb is turned on, the battery monitor shows around 3.5amps/45w being used. If I turn on a second bulb it increases by approximately 10w (ok) and amps rise to 4.3(a .8 increase for a .13amp bulb?). Why does the initial bulb draw such a high wattage or amperage? No matter what I plug in and turn on, the initial draw for a device is around 3.5amps.