Battery Back up power.

[Mr.Glock]

It's 70 minutes when using 110V.
How long with a solar panel if the power is off for an extended time like the ice storm we had years ago when power was out for 11 days? Of course it would depend on what size solar panels are used, but what do most use? 100 watt?

This one I bought says on Solar 5 hours. Car charger 6 hours. I wanted one for a backup to a CPAP machine when we travel. I have generators at the house and in RV, but when we dry/boon dock camp, or just an occasional outage at night just plug in, instead of getting up to start generator.

I never sprung for a self start whole house gen set, mine takes a little manual labor to hook up in the shop and pull/shut off mains then hit a button start! For the infrequent need I have maybe $600 instead of several thousands invested in our “whole house”.

I have kept a couple deep cycle batteries and an inverter for occasional back up to use, but they are extremely heavy and cumbersome up against to these portable power stations, 17lbs! So I opted to try one out, and the gents here convinced me on safety with the Lifepo4 battery instead of thhe dangerous lithium.

 

[Mr.Glock]

I don’t think it’s a good idea to rely solely on solar for charging these things. I’m pretty sure that they are capitalizing on the green energy mantra in their marketing them as “solar generators”. They aren’t much more than a battery box and in the case of EcoFlow you can charge while you have a load running. If the battery is full and the solar will handle the load it will just pass through the inverter, so in a sense I guess they kinda are a “generator?.

That said you can set panels up in series to up the voltage and current within the limits the inverter will take. They are best used as a temp backup for short times, not multi day events.

Yep, I doubt I use the solar much. If I use it at home and the elect comes back on then charge it AC. If by chance we dry/boondock camp and it’s more than one nights use and sunny, I will try the Solar, but most likley it will be charged with either the RV generator or tossed in the Jeep/Truck as we run around during the day.

It will for sure beat carrying around a couple of deep cycle batteries and a converter.

 

[ttown]

Here’s another part of the eco environment. You’ll have to grow small fo this one but works well. Never messed with heat pumps but if you run this on eco mode a 1k unit will last about 8 hours.

Save $600

Amazon.com

 

[ttown]

IMO and research look at the top units in 2024. Theres going to be like 3 or 4 max.

Beware these aren’t toys they can kill. EcoFlow is top notch out of Hong Kong.

Go look at the LiFoPo battery reviews. My god it’s a wonder theirs so many fires, very poor soldering of terminal's, epoxy not holding cables down and outright fraud.

My opinion skip the cheap. Zackary and other top brands come out to price/performance.

No expert but have had a home system for 15 years and now refreshing and finding out turn key quality units take less research, puts charge controller, battery, and inverter in a quality package.

EcoFlow been around and is likely to be around. A 5 year warranty on a unit that should last twice that is a bargain. Most of theses companies warranty’s are meaningless as the generic companies won’t be around under that name IMO. May have well gave you a lifetime warranty

 

[Mr.Glock]

IMO and research look at the top units in 2024. Theres going to be like 3 or 4 max.

Beware these aren’t toys they can kill. EcoFlow is top notch out of Hong Kong.

Go look at the LiFoPo battery reviews. My god it’s a wonder theirs so many fires, very poor soldering of terminal's, epoxy not holding cables down and outright fraud.

My opinion skip the cheap. Zackary and other top brands come out to price/performance.

No expert but have had a home system for 15 years and now refreshing and finding out turn key quality units take less research, puts charge controller, battery, and inverter in a quality package.

EcoFlow been around and is likely to be around. A 5 year warranty on a unit that should last twice that is a bargain. Most of theses companies warranty’s are meaningless as the generic companies won’t be around under that name IMO. May have well gave you a lifetime warranty

You, @Shadowrider @L.C. convinced me on the EcoFlow brand. I read a lot after ya’ll mentioning EcoFlow.

Glad I went with that Mfg. Thanks ya’ll.

Wished these types of power supplies were around 40 years back, wife and I used to do nothing but camp dry in the back country all over in just a Jeep and tents.

 

[tim]

Ecoflo is very good I have a delta pro and two extra batteries gives me 10800 watts. I have 1280 watts of solar charging. It saves me around 100$ a month of electric. We are very pleased only electric I don't run is 230volt circuits.

 

[KOPBET]

...We are very pleased only electric I don't run is 230volt circuits.

You can fix that! But you probably already know that.

 

[tim]

Yes I do.

 

[Mr.Glock]

Ecoflo is very good I have a delta pro and two extra batteries gives me 10800 watts. I have 1280 watts of solar charging. It saves me around 100$ a month of electric. We are very pleased only electric I don't run is 230volt circuits.

How do you utilize it in your home to lower your bill?

You have it run certain appliances 24/7? Curious.

 

[retrieverman]

I’m starting to look at “off grid” power sources, and y’all have really given me a head start in that process.