Apologies for the sound on this video, there was alot of background noise from wind so I think the mic was compensating. Learn something new everyday I guess.
MR HOLLIS SIR when you said i was wrong, just drew me to you, cause tons of guys would rather be wrong and never admit than admit it was a mistake, thankyou sir, i like your view and truthfulness about things, im a new subscriber and follower
Too many UA-camrs are just shills for a handful of companies selling stuff. This guy's is a true working class man doing stuff and getting the job done. Plus he's from the best part of 'Merica... Canadialand ! A new subscriber here.
I run all of my electronic stuff off of the EcoFlow 2 with solar panels. Since I work from home, I don’t pay the higher rate for daytime usage from the power company. It was a bit of a chore to set up, but I feel better having done it and learned a lot.
My father-in-law lived by the idea; "Whenever you can, buy the best. You'll seldom be disappointed." Your comment that, "When you need it, you need it to work" parallels that thought. BUT - as you pointed out in another video, buying the best doesn't mean that you should buy the biggest. Buy the best for your application. So much wisdom. Thanks for your thoughts and honesty.
Hey, Hollis. I've watched three of your videos so far and really like your practical and honest approach to backup power. I was just about to comment on your previous video and saw this update and I'll say it's rare that a UA-camr will correct himself the way you did. Classy!!! I'll be back for more. I'm only Canadian by ancestry, but I live in the Southeast where there is no snow.We do have a hurricane season that sometimes affects us so a lot of what you said applies to us, too. I can't believe you don't have more subscribers, but keep it up and you will.
Hollis, Thanks for sharing your experience. Many folks are unwilling to admit that they have changed their minds about something. I appreciate your honesty, conviction, and willingness to try things a different way, once you have new information!
I have four power stations and the EcoFlow Delta 2 is my favorite, I can run all of my appliances, it’s light weight, charges fast and is reliable. It doesn’t have a huge capacity but you can’t have large capacity and light weight at the same time. I thought about getting the smart battery but buying an extra Delta 2 isn’t much more money, and is much more usable. You can save hundreds of dollars if you wait for the sales that happen several times a year.
@@HollisDoesStuffthe combo price was very tempting 😊I'm saving up and am going to by 2 delta 2' s to leapfrog with my generator when I see the deltas on sale. I currently have a small Oupes 600 portable and actually find it useful for charging phones, portable lights and it will actually run my wife's rice cooker (500watt) 1 time runs it down to 24 percent but I can charge it on solar in about 2-3 hours so it got me interested in the larger stations.
I watched your other video earlier this evening, and then I found this one. I wanted my husband to watch them, even though I am leaning toward the EcoFlow. But he tends to go for the cheaper alternatives, so I wasn’t sure that I should let him see your video. We have 2 gas generators that are “Greek to me.” I need something easy to do-mentally and physically (I’m 72)-if I’m by myself. And it has to be dependable. What I really want is a Generac stand-by, but EcoFlow will do. Thank you for testing the cheaper alternative for us. I am also a new subscriber.
I was just about to comment on your original video and say you clearly hadn’t done enough research and then I saw this updated video. Glad to see you educated yourself (possibly the hard way) but yeah there is a reason most people rave about EcoFlow gear and it has nothing to do with sponsorship. You’ll be happy with EcoFlow and it’s reliable.
i bought an Ecoflow a couple of years ago to provide off grid power for my camper, which I use as a cabin. I'm quite happy with it and bought a cheap solar panel off Amazon which will power it up on a sunny day no problem. You are absolutely right saying you get what you pay for generally,
I am so glad Hollis for your updated positive experience using Eco Flow. A much more balanced approach with your new experience. We all have to consider what we value most.
Test and use it regularly. I have an Ecoflow Delta 2 Max. Works great. Just purchased a Delta 2 on sale for my father to replace his dead Jackery (and also a little Ecoflow River for me). More about that Jackery... A little more than two years ago I purchased that Jackery for my father. I got a good deal on it and it had good specs. It seemed like a nice unit. Used it a little bit a few times then last fall used it most of a day down to about 25% charge then charged it and put it on the shelf. Used a couple of short times for small loads since then. This past summer tried to use it. It wouldn't put out enough to run a small fan without shutting off. Tried all the outputs with no success. Over about 5-10 watts it shuts down (looks like it is rebooting). Front panel says all is fine. Charged it up from 80% to full, no change. Name brand and still junk after just over two years.
That is very disheartening to read about your Jackery issue. I have three of these overpriced units (a 240 and a 300 in each car and a 1000 for the house, all first generation). Now I'm questioning their reliability when I really need them.
@@modquad18 Yes Pops, the instructions say to fully charge, then 6 months later discharge and recharge. That 6 months later is when it failed to discharge.
I have the 1500 LFP Pecron and using 600W array on a rollable frame for brownouts, and supplimental electricity for home or whatever (SHTF), Saving to get another 1500LFP. Have had no issues with using it for intended purposes. ALSO, appreciate the video update for these kinds of power battery banks and their correct uses.
Nice informative vid! If I was doing this, I would just purchase 2 Delta Pro 2’s, and skip the extra battery. Thing about Ecoflow is, your extra batteries are useless if the main unit goes down, where as if you have 2 Pros and one goes down, you still have another working unit for not that much more money. Just something to think about. Would be interested in your opinion on “value” solar panels? Thanks!
Yes, that was my reasoning. I just bought two Aferiy P210s (each 2000Wh) - after seeing a review by Wilson Forest Lands - ua-cam.com/video/f2QtmPWCObw/v-deo.html - rather than the bigger 3000W unit. More watt hours per dollar, and like all things electronic, it's good to have 2 of them.
Having an extra battery for the delta 2 makes sense if you want it to power a fridge overnight, but yeah, for the most part I think you get more bang for the buck by ignoring the battery expansions and getting multiple units.
Love the revised video, I too had lots of questions and concerns about your first video, but you have addressed them all in this video! Thanks for the revision. Also, I am a long time user of ECOFLOW PRODUCTS
That was a good point you made with the jumperbox. It being able to extend the charge of the Ecopro. That leads to an experiment of can you charge the Ecopro from 0-full with the jumper. The jumper being fully charged and itself plugged into a charger. How long will it take. Can the jumper handle what is essentially a current pass thru?
Great video and you got 2 views out of all of us lol. Just from what I've seen, I think you probably made the right decision. I've done a ton of research myself and hoping to buy a portable power station when budget allows. My town almost never has power outages, but just having portable power would be fantastic!
What I like bout my EcoFlow, is it is fast charging. For high current loads, I have a Diesel generator. With he purchase of a couple EcoFlow units, I can shut down the generator most of the time and run it occasionally to recharge. This greatly increases the run time for a tank of fuel as the generator is not running while the freezer and fridge cycle off. The construction industry is rapidly converting over to hybrid units for this very reason. They run on a battery and inverter and auto start the generator when the battery becomes low. I plan to replace my current Diesel with a Hybrid system to stop is running when there is low or no load. It would start, charge and shut down instead of running constantly. For the house, purchased a solar inverter charger and battery as those units can trigger the remote start and shutdown of the generator if the generator has an autostart control module. If solar does not keep up with the demand due to bad weather, the generator will auto start and top off the battery. Plan on getting another 300 AH battery for the system.
My setup is fairly simple. I have 100w solar panel, and a small ecoflow river 2. I get about 70 watts from the panel, so the ecoflow will charge in about 3 hours. Then, I have a massive Furman generator. And, what you said about over spending hit home. The thing is heavy and drains fuel. It works well. However, in an emergency it would be nice to get up and running quickly. So, I ordered a 2200w inverter suitcase generator. I feel like being able to move it around and hopefully less fuel use will help. Thank you!
You should look at the Licitti (blue one) 1,000 Watt battery box which allows you to drop in your battery. It's not fancy but it is incredibly easy to troubleshoot, maintain and DIY if needed. It's not "melded" together like the major power stations. I used mine which has a 280 Ah Prismatic cell battery to fully use my traditional top mount fridge for 50+ hours but will only go 40 hours in the future. I think the key is to have multiple power sources.
I have the same setup. My family purchased a delta 2 about a year and a half ago, at $799, and then we got a refurbished extra battery for $379 on ebay. We have used it to mostly keep our refrigerator running during a short power outage. Plus a light as well. We also recently bought an electric mower from Ego power, and we got multiple batteries from it, so we decided to get the AC inverter that works with the batteries to keep powered our wifi/modem during an outage. We have one 150w solar panel to recharge the ecoflow delta 2 as well. We also have a ecoflow river 2 max that I got from Ebay, like new condition for $150 which was a deal. Plus a bluetti eb3a. I also just recently picked up the anker Solix c300 DC and I am using that to power my car fridge in my car. I like how compact it is, and also how it can be charged via type c and solar input at the same time, so it makes it easier to charge as fast as I can from the 100w car outlet and 100w ac outlet in my car. I got about 160w of charging from my car. I also can keep a portable solar panel connected to it, and just put the panel on the roof of my car when I am at work, etc. And all of those connections are connected at the same time, so I don't have alot of unplugging an replugging. Anyways, those are all of the power stations that I have.
I use my delta 2 in line with a Honda 2000 if the power goes out. It keeps the generator from running all the time or when there is limited power draw. I can also do generator maintenance with some power on if we get into a longer term outage. Delta 2 outputs about the same max wattage as the honda 2000 so they balance well.
Thank you for the update. Appreciate the information between solar play and eco flow. It helps me make a decision. Im in canada too. I just would need to keep fridge, a heater and a lighf going in case of emergency.
Hey man there is so many which one is the best for the buck ! Great tips & how it can work for you :) I actually have a couple a 1500 & a 2000 but different brands :) I think I got a good one with my 2000wh & going to have something to add for more power soon in a video :)) I live 100% off grid & now use it hooked to solar panels full time to run the cabin, I am pretty happy with it so far ! take care my friend"
I started down the road of making my own setup... might someday finish that project... I got two EcoFlow units and extra batteries. I use the smaller unit(like yours) for times when I just need a power source without running a drop cord a long ways. The Delta 2 Max is nice with the extra two batteries. I can run my well and most of my house(no heat/hot water/dryer) but all the rest without trouble.
Glad you were able to bite your tounge after you realize the better quality and features, especially as the prices come down You can even build eco flow system for much cheaper as well , All about learning what’s best and especially like you said reliability during outage
I agree about the nomenclature, power station is more accurate. I said it elsewhere, but i sure wish i had seen your video on the solar play unit before i paid an extra $100 for an Aferiy. I will be hooking up two 100ah batteries in series to double the capacity of the unit. Will test to be sure but it looks like it should feed 500w into the xt90 input. I'm guilty of letting price be the major factor and no doubt that will effect the result but I'm hoping my very limited use will diminish longevity issues. Thanks for this video and your others
Weve got the delta 2 . We take it to run the camping fridge which is one of those that can also run from tool batteries. We can get 4 days from the fridge left on 24/7. The last trip, we tried unplugging the fridge at night and covering with blankets and we got a further days worth out of it. The fridge's own batteries last about 10 hours I think so about 5 1/2 days worth of refridgeration.
I have the EF Delta 2 as well as the EF Delta 2 Max. The D2 only weighs 27 pounds so I consider it to be a medium-weight solution for lighter loads. I also have an Anker 767 as well as the D2 Max which are both twice the power and twice the weight of the D2. Both have wheels, so they are used for heavier loads such as saws and air compressors. For construction work, it's a Honda 6500 gasoline that weighs more than 200 pounds and will run all day in an outdoor setting. The smaller D2 is ideal for small indoor activities.
The SPEED of recharging is everything! And Ecoflow is king. Almost any Ecoflow solar generator can be recharged from 0%-100% in about an hour and ten minutes from an AC source, including a GAS generator so you're saving a ton on gasoline usage. The first solar generators i bought back when? Took 7-9 HOURS to recharge from an AC source... I won't mention the brand.
I have a Delta 2 and I run a bunch of appliances 24/7> My days worth of electricity needed is right at or below 11Kw So how can I run everything 24/7 with the delta 2? I have (9) 320W used solar panels running 3 groups of 3 (3S/3P) 15 Kwh of battery storage (A bunch of used 36v scooter batteries) A 150/60 Victron solar controller. My battery bank is constantly feeding my Delta 34v-42v @ a constant 500w into the solar input of the Delta 2. (12K per day max) If my battery bank depletes and then the internal of the delta drops below 25%, then it recharges itself via AC from the wall. Love my Delta 3
Can it charge from 240 V? And can it output 120 V or 240 V at the same time with the splitter? If not, what is this good for? Are you suggesting that this is better than a little Honda generator?
I just ordered a similar battery backup from Jackery - mostly due to the fact it's AVAILABLE NOW, as opposed to other products that are weeks, or even .months out.
Electrical theory tells us that, Electric Motors, which START UNDER LOAD consume 7 times, yes SEVEN TIMES their normal running current, for the first second or few seconds, until they get up to speed. Examples of a motor starting under load, include Water Pumps, Air compressors, fridges and freezers and airconditioners and Heat Pump airconditioners. So for example, an air compressor which draws 500 watts when running, draws up to 3,500 watts on startup. Starting NOT under load, some examples could be an electric chainsaw or a metal cutting saw which is started spinning freely and then when up to speed, brought into contact with what it's cutting. Those motors take some amount extra, but NOT a whole 7 times of the amount. Remember folks to oversize your generators to cope with those "starting currents" and be careful if in your situation, several fridges or freezers might suddenly try to start up at the same time.
The car charging cable only has 2 pins that will only give you 90 plus Watts, its to protect you car socket , i you have the solar xt60i plug which has a 3rd pin it will give more watts through your starter pck as it thinks its a solar panel, nice video 👍🏴
Yeah, these power stations can be hella flexible. having multiple charging inputs is sooooo nice, especially in an outage situation. Ecoflow does seem like the brand that's a step above but my only REAL complaint with them is that the extra batteries are dumb (as in not smart) in anyway and, thus, can't do anything without the main units. A lot of other brands will allow you to daisy chain multiple batteries or let the battery charge other devices via DC or has it's own solar charger built in so you can take the extra battery to the solar panels and leave the main unit by your critical loads. We have the Delta Pro and it saved our ASSES during Hurricane Milton. It's nice having a thing you can pick up and carry to go with you to other charging sources too. During Hurricane Ian, we didn't have a gas generator to charge out Delta Pro so we have to really ration the power but when family got their power back, we just drove the Delta Pro to their house to charge up in a hour and that gave us enough to keep going till our power came back on. And, yeah, it's nice having everything all built in one unit. I would like it was easy to swap things out, like the battery or something (in case something goes wrong) and that's one of the advantages of DIY but also I really don't want to have to figure all that out and have to troubleshoot myself. Nice that I'd be able to just send our unit in if need be. We're stating to get solar panels now so we can maybe not use our gas generator AS much to conserve fuel in case power outages go for longer than a week. These things are so nice to have in a pinch.
I believe it's better to run your high-surge 'dirty' stuff (sump pump motors, compressors, etc.) on gas generators and the 'clean' stuff (lights/USB devices/etc.) on UPS/batteries. Gas generator is far less likely to get destroyed.
I bought 2 Delta 2s during the recent sale. Still awaiting delivery. Two JJN bifacial 200 watt panels came quickly. We will see how they work before plunging further down the rabbit hole.
Update: everything came but I had to order a mc4 to XT60i cable to connect the solar panels. Be sure to get the XT 60i and not the XT60 or the Delta 2 will limit you to 8 amps coming in. I have determined that the 27 pound Delta 2 is as about as much weight as I want to lug around. Anything else will need wheels. I will say the Deltas work fine.
Pecron just released the E 2400 LFP which is 2000 W hours for $899 and is expandable. No external charger required. Fast charge capable You can get the 2000 W MAIN unit and the 3000 W hour expansion battery right now in the US for $1708 shipped which is like $0.32 per wh
Pecron is very reliable. I have many power stations...Pecron e1500lfp, 2 Pecron e600lfp, Bluetti AC180, AlphaEss SG2000, and yes, even the Solarplay Q2501. Also Allpowers S2000 pro, and a couple of smaller Bluetti...EB3a and PS54. I have several more, some are off brand. So far, all have worked well. The Bluetti and the Pecron are the best. Also have a Jackery Explorer 1000v2 that is sure to be reliable. I also have 2 Pecron 1242 DC-DC chargers that convert a 12.8v lipo4 100ah battery into 42v 500watt output. That will, by using it as solar input for most power stations allow it to be an expansion battery. It will charge the power station at up to 500 watts from the lipo4 battery. So far, I have 6 lipo4 batteries, each supplies 1280wh. It will not work with the Solar Play, and I do not know why. It works with all the Pecrons, the Bluetti AC180 and the AlphaEss SG2000. Some I have not tested, or the max solar voltage is less than 42 volts. After having issues from Hurricane Helene and being without power over 1 week, I went sort of nuts with buying power stations on sale.
I'm in the US, & finally made my decision to go with Ecoflow also...for all the same reasons you expressed! I haven't made my final decision on buying solar panels yet, & I'm currently investigating DC to DC charging in my vehicle. Do I need both? Maybe. I still feel there's a lot of downside in the solar arena, esp after living in a completely solar powered apt complex during the "big freeze" in Tx. After 3 days, the solar supply vanished & they had to hook back up to the electric company due to continued cloud cover. They never reinstalled the solar after that storm, but all those heavy panels remain on the roofs of the buildings.
Honestly, a 2500 watt inverter generator is probably a better investment than solar panels, and far cheaper. Permanent full time off-grid might be different.
Not familiar with the Ecoflows but many people seem happy with them. You do get what you pay for, though with EF, Jackery, Anker, Bluetti, you do pay extra for their high advertising budgets. I have a couple of LiPo4 batteries (440 and 1280Wh) and have used them to supplement small Jackery powerstations (the original 250 & 500) which doubles / triples the run time in an outage, if you are using for just LED lights and a router etc. This works well but is limited by the lack of fast charging on the older/smaller units, the 250 input can only handle 45W, and the 500 about 60W). Advantages are that if you only need a max of 250W in an outage a small light unit will be all you need. For the 500+ models, it's worth getting a step-up voltage converter (about $20), which steps up the 12-13v from the LiPo (or an old lead-acid lesiure) battery to 19v, so the new power stations will charge more quickly (250 will then take about 60W, and the 500 about 100W).
yes its the perfect way for Wh per dollar ecoflow river 3 , perfect device but only 240 Wh for 150$ to extend it take for example the litime 50ah LiFepo4 = 640 Wh for 110$ or the litime 200ah Lifepo4 = 2600Wh for 390$ ..... extrend it like you will....
Ecoflow uses the same sales tactic as many other stores where they overprice their products and then frequently offer good sales to draw people in. Truth be told I'd prefer a more straight-forward pricing model, but it is what it is. I'll put up with a sleezy pricing model if it means I can get all the cool features Ecoflow likes to stuff in their units.
Buy them on sale. Paid $469 for the Delta 2 alone on Amazon Prime day. Also around Christmas the prices drops. The one flaw that is frustrating is that the Delta 2 extra battery can only be charged via the main unit. I agree with your opinion on building a power bank on your own. i am not an electrical engineer and the videos on UA-cam who demonstrate how to build it yourself seem to omit key criteria out. They also have tools that you would have to buy and learn to use. When you need these units, the money you spent seems worthless as I went through Hurricane Helene. Money well spent.
These are a great way to leverage your generator output by charging the pack while running other loads then shutting down the generator to save fuel while running off the pack.
Since I live in a rural area it's difficult to send a long reply - In my case the full capacity of my house batterys is around 35000 watts or 2900. Amps at 12 volts - if you discharge them 50% or down to 10.5 volts you can draw about 17000 watts off them - With many battery's 85% of the capacity can be restore back into the battery n 1 hr and 15 minutes - But it might take 24 hrs to restore the last 15% of the capacity of. The battery - In daily cycling you recharge the battery up to 85% capacity - that can be accomplished with lead acid or lithium battery's just fine - So after storms if fuel will become hard to have delivered I'll use the 1 hr and 15 minutes charge rate - To reduce generator run time as to save a lot of fuel -
I got a "no name" brand and similar thing happened. I tried to test it out with medium sized loads compared to it's specs. It popped and tripped the circuit breaker and shut down. I tried to get a refund but the replaced the unit. I decided to keep it and use it as a backup and purchased an ecoflow delta2
During WW2 one of my uncles was on a submarine - When they ran low on fuel or the enemy was near - they only.charged 30 minutes a day - that brought the battery bank to 70% charge - to bring the battery bank to 85% state of charge took 1 hr and 15 minutes - They preferred charging four hours if it was safe to be on the surface for four hours at night - Those are good examples of cycling a battery -
Power stations are often market as having the capability of being charged by solar panels - Solar can work well in.many parts - I live in the deep South US - The humidity is always high so at noon day a solar panel will only put out 50% of it's rated out put maximum - There are always clouds humidity defuses UV light so it does not directly strike a solar panel - At best a solar panel will only generate 20% of it's rate power a day down here - There can be months of over cast also - So a generator is a must down here for no sun days -
1 thing I do wonder about as I have a old school non inverter gen. Wonder what harm would come to the solar gens if charging off the old school non inverter gens.
A power station is ok for camping or something that's low draw - For $1350 I would think you might be better off buying. A 3000 watt pure sign wave inverter, maybe 3 or 4 lithium battery's and a 40 amp charger. Along with a 1200 watt inverter generator - off Amazon - a 40 amp battery charger draws about 750 watts - a 1200 watt inverter generator might be 1000 watts continues out put -
Building your own system would be cheaper, but also more labor intensive--especially if you were to try making it portable. Having it all put together in one small package really helps the portability aspect.
Yep, could save a little with homemade, but the portability and the fact that units like these are engineered to work together are selling points for me.
I think you could put together what I shared for under a $1000 - you could add battery capacity to it and another charger if needed - Most of it depends on what your planning to do with it - in my case I have a lot of short power outages - But after a hurricane or ice storms it can be a long while till our power comes back on - Normally if I'm home I have a stationary generator running 24/7 - Since I work on generators I'm not home much after storms - In that case I use a home stand by generator set on a timer that comes on for 1 hr and 15 minutes a day to top off my house battery's -
It all depends on your situation as to whether it’s a good value. I have a Jackery 2000 plus. Bought it on sale with panels. Price was about the same as running a line to my workshop. Now I have free power without having the expense of having to run a new underground circuit to my main power panel. You really should consider some solar. It’s not that expensive if you get a bit creative.
A 24 Volt 100ah Lithium Iron Phosphate Battery is 2560 watt hours and wired to Your XT60 Solar Port also extends Your Eco Flow Portable Power Station allot Faster and nominally found for less than $400.00 off EBay currently. At night between 4 - 9pm when Rates are highest, just plug in and Top off for the night if No Solar was available that day due to Weather or Xtreme Conditions. Note : 2 24 Volt 100ah = 5K and 4 of these = 10K 🌴 💦 Indian Creek Ranch 🌵⛩ Southern California High Desert 🇺🇸
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For a few dollars more and a little bit of assembly you can build higher capacity better quality portable of fixed power backup.. Prices for LiFePo4 batteries are way down and 4kw or higher 240v split phase inverters are also lower in cost making them the better option.. They still will be more expensive than a cheap gasoline generator but they are silent and great for those couple hour outages like a giant UPS or the first step to lowering your dependence on the electrical grid.. For running a furnace in the dead of winter you need to take into account the initial surge demand that larger electric motors have which can be up to 10x their running current..
those fill a specific niche but they arent going to replace a fueled generator 100% of the time - maybe 40% of the time in small power need applications. my opinion is that they're not even useful in the RV/vanlife market, where they are heavily advertised - "all in one" devices are largely a marketing gimmick because the entire solar generator stops working when an internal component malfunctions. a much better setup (which really isnt that difficult to spec) has components that serve dedicated functions, when one component breaks then you replace it and the entire system is back to functioning order.
Unfortunately, for the cost of a good power station you can buy a whole lot more gas/propane generator. I am not saying that power stations don't have their place, but in my opinion generators and power stations should be used for separate functions. I have both but if you are using this stuff as back up, and a power outage lasts longer than maybe a week. Gas may become impossible to get and all you will have is the battery power station with solar panels until fuel becomes available again.
Solar generators have come a long way since the days of GoalZero. And we all start out with something cheap and an attitude that it’s all the same. The EF Delta 2 is a great little unit. Since you got the bundle with extra battery, I think you could have done better by getting the Delta Max 2 at nearly the same price I have a Delta first generation and a BLUETTI ac200L as a bigger unit. Both are awesome. For emergency use, it’s important to know what you might need to power with the unit and then choose a model that can handle it. Test it. Test it now! You don’t want to find out during an emergency that the unit fails on you. Compressors and motors are known to have high initial surge needs. So a 1800 watt inverter sounds good enough for a 1500 watt inverter, but it might also not like it at all. The next bigger model, 2000 or 2400 watt inverter will more likely to handle such loads. If you can, find a small 200 watt folding solar panel, something cheap. And then go camping for a weekend. You will shed your reluctance to call these power banks by anything but their proper name, solar generators. Good video. Keep it up
Sail boats crossing the oceans are limited to there fuel capacity - So they use the 1 hr and 15 minutes charge rate for there house battery's - while crossing oceans - It's heather to you use the 6 hr or 8 hr charge rate to 85% capacity on all battery's - This gives insight on cycle service - after Katrina I had to use the 1 hr 15 min charge rate for about 2 months till fuel delivery's were resumed - As it cooled down into November after Katrina I only had to charge once a week -
Four 100 amp lithium battery's would give you about 3000 watts of capacity - also you can add more battery's if needed - With a 40 amp charger the charge time would be roughly 6 to 7 hrs -
True - can save bunch from the fully integrated setup, but it's also not entirely trivial to get all those 100Ah batteries charged back up after you've run them down in a couple days.
I think people expect too much out of these power stations. Yes, they will run just about everything in your house but not at the same time, unless they are low power. They also won't run some things for a long time. For instance, I have an Echoflow Delta 2 Max and it will run my window AC unit for about 5 hours, then battery is depleted. I can run a fridge for around 28 hours. These will not replace a whole-house generator like a Generac. Do your research.
@@HollisDoesStuff I bought mine because of the recent hurricane. this was the third time with out power and loss of food. I have run my freezer for 2 days just to make sure it will work for me. I already own solar panels so this was a no brainer for me.
I had just watched your previous video. haha However , as you said....can't beat a fuel generator. ( Hope the crow was tasty 😂) I've looked at a lot of these. Some of the Pecron models are a good bet IMO.
You should switch the extra battery for another delta 2 because the extra battery is useless without the delta 2 … with the 2 as you said you can take one and work outside and the other one working inside
There is some wrong information in this video. Obviously you could spend $100k on a home back up system if you wanted to but generally speaking, building your own, regardless of size, will be significantly cheaper. You could build an EcoFlow Delta Pro Ultra for under $2000. EcoFlow wants almost $7000 ! Also, it's not overly complicated to build your own system because everything is plug and play. And lastly, Pecron is awesome !!! They cut costs significantly by NOT throwing in every useless feature that most people never use. I have 2 of them and my 3600lfp is arriving tomorrow... $1350 and if it's anything like my other two Pecrons, it will be 5 + years of trouble free use. Pecron is Good ! Just ask those of us in the RV and van life community. We use them daily, Pecron is very respected.
i build power custom power stations and yes most retail ones are over priced. BUT, i dont think i would ever plug that large of a compressor into a portable power station. thats a very violent surge load. thats just me... maybe a small pancake compressor
Beware, none of these integrated units works outside in a Canadian winter. Read the environmental specs if you need winter operation in the cold. I ended up piecing together a Renogy system to get a rig that will work at -15 C.
I myself need to sleep with a CPAP and Asthmatic with a Breathing Machine for Albuterol Sulphate Treatments, I bought the Eco Flow EF3 Delta Pro 1300 and a 160 watt portable Solar Panel off Amazon for $720.00 and It Covered My immediate needs on Black Friday I bought a 2nd Refurbished Unit off EBay from Eco Flow for $523.00 as well as a Refurbished 160 watt Portable Solar Panel and Scored a Deal on a Brand New River 2 Pro with 110 watt Eco Flow Portable Solar Panel for $253.00 with a 5 year warranty. Total Cost for all 6 Items = $1,800.00 and 3,300 Usable KWHours and My Warranty and very Satisfied with All 6 Units and the Delta EF3 Pro 1300's Piggy Back like an Xtra Battery and gives You all Charging options. The River 2 Pro is only 17 Lbs. Lithium Iron Phosphate battery chemistry I work It as a Slave for most Immediate power needs here on the Ranch ⛩
A diesel submarine can circumvent the world on the same amount of fuel that a surface vessel will burn going from New York to London - when going hybrid - that means charging 4 hrs a day and running 20 hrs a day off the battery's - If you use a power station with a generator - you can drastically reduce your fuel consumption - Today were groomed to live with electricity - so I would consider a power station and a generator a must have for power outages - most power stations only need 6 hrs of charge time - That is a lot of fuel savings- generators can be used for heavy constant loads -
i have one of these Ecoflow mine runs flawlessly remember 500 watts is the limit on the solar panel input i use a house 500 watt solar panel. I charge mine at 500 watts to prolong the life of the battery's not fast charging . i run my Eco flow off Solar during the day and shore power at night.
Lol, they’re some very silly people online who waste time with silly comments, trolling😂. Anyone who is arguing it’s a generator because of a chemical reaction must not understand basic battery technology. No it’s a power storage device, yes unless with panels.
There is much generators as a gasoline generator. The only difference is the energy source that they use is from the Sun instead of petroleum. Both of them take energy and turn them into electricity hence generator they generate electricity.
I don't know about these. Being i build my own lifpo4 batteries from cells. I built my own portable 3500 watt psw unit with everything the ecoflow plus the ability to connect directly to solar or my car alternator for quick charging or sustained running ability. My car has a 325 alt. 149 amp at idle. My portable unit has a 220ah battery. Has voltage display, percentage display, 120v display, 2 USB a, and 2 usbc, 2 gfci 110v, and 1 30rv outlet with reset breakers and reset fuses. It cost me 800 bucks. Still cheaper than the ecoflow.
Apologies for the sound on this video, there was alot of background noise from wind so I think the mic was compensating. Learn something new everyday I guess.
No problem, sound is not important, content is important 🎉 Thanks 👍
Thank you for the info. Very much appreciated.
MR HOLLIS SIR when you said i was wrong, just drew me to you, cause tons of guys would rather be wrong and never admit than admit it was a mistake, thankyou sir, i like your view and truthfulness about things, im a new subscriber and follower
Too many UA-camrs are just shills for a handful of companies selling stuff. This guy's is a true working class man doing stuff and getting the job done. Plus he's from the best part of 'Merica... Canadialand ! A new subscriber here.
ditto , just sub'd
I run all of my electronic stuff off of the EcoFlow 2 with solar panels. Since I work from home, I don’t pay the higher rate for daytime usage from the power company. It was a bit of a chore to set up, but I feel better having done it and learned a lot.
Did you use 2 100 watt solar panels how long till charged
My father-in-law lived by the idea; "Whenever you can, buy the best. You'll seldom be disappointed." Your comment that, "When you need it, you need it to work" parallels that thought. BUT - as you pointed out in another video, buying the best doesn't mean that you should buy the biggest. Buy the best for your application. So much wisdom. Thanks for your thoughts and honesty.
My dad said the same thing to me years ago. It'll save you money in the long run. And the headaches that go with lower quality equipment
Hey, Hollis. I've watched three of your videos so far and really like your practical and honest approach to backup power. I was just about to comment on your previous video and saw this update and I'll say it's rare that a UA-camr will correct himself the way you did. Classy!!! I'll be back for more. I'm only Canadian by ancestry, but I live in the Southeast where there is no snow.We do have a hurricane season that sometimes affects us so a lot of what you said applies to us, too. I can't believe you don't have more subscribers, but keep it up and you will.
Hollis,
Thanks for sharing your experience. Many folks are unwilling to admit that they have changed their minds about something. I appreciate your honesty, conviction, and willingness to try things a different way, once you have new information!
Thank you!
I have four power stations and the EcoFlow Delta 2 is my favorite, I can run all of my appliances, it’s light weight, charges fast and is reliable. It doesn’t have a huge capacity but you can’t have large capacity and light weight at the same time. I thought about getting the smart battery but buying an extra Delta 2 isn’t much more money, and is much more usable. You can save hundreds of dollars if you wait for the sales that happen several times a year.
I agree, so far so good. They had a sale on the combo, that's why I bought it.
@@HollisDoesStuffthe combo price was very tempting 😊I'm saving up and am going to by 2 delta 2' s to leapfrog with my generator when I see the deltas on sale. I currently have a small Oupes 600 portable and actually find it useful for charging phones, portable lights and it will actually run my wife's rice cooker (500watt) 1 time runs it down to 24 percent but I can charge it on solar in about 2-3 hours so it got me interested in the larger stations.
💯 %
Does your EcoFlow Delta 2 have any issue recharging with the included 12v cable?
I watched your other video earlier this evening, and then I found this one. I wanted my husband to watch them, even though I am leaning toward the EcoFlow. But he tends to go for the cheaper alternatives, so I wasn’t sure that I should let him see your video. We have 2 gas generators that are “Greek to me.” I need something easy to do-mentally and physically (I’m 72)-if I’m by myself. And it has to be dependable. What I really want is a Generac stand-by, but EcoFlow will do. Thank you for testing the cheaper alternative for us. I am also a new subscriber.
I'm also a cheapskate, but I learned quickly that with this item, quality matters. When you need it, you really need it. Thanks for the sub!
I was just about to comment on your original video and say you clearly hadn’t done enough research and then I saw this updated video. Glad to see you educated yourself (possibly the hard way) but yeah there is a reason most people rave about EcoFlow gear and it has nothing to do with sponsorship. You’ll be happy with EcoFlow and it’s reliable.
i bought an Ecoflow a couple of years ago to provide off grid power for my camper, which I use as a cabin. I'm quite happy with it and bought a cheap solar panel off Amazon which will power it up on a sunny day no problem. You are absolutely right saying you get what you pay for generally,
I am so glad Hollis for your updated positive experience using Eco Flow. A much more balanced approach with your new experience. We all have to consider what we value most.
Test and use it regularly.
I have an Ecoflow Delta 2 Max. Works great. Just purchased a Delta 2 on sale for my father to replace his dead Jackery (and also a little Ecoflow River for me).
More about that Jackery... A little more than two years ago I purchased that Jackery for my father. I got a good deal on it and it had good specs. It seemed like a nice unit. Used it a little bit a few times then last fall used it most of a day down to about 25% charge then charged it and put it on the shelf. Used a couple of short times for small loads since then. This past summer tried to use it. It wouldn't put out enough to run a small fan without shutting off. Tried all the outputs with no success. Over about 5-10 watts it shuts down (looks like it is rebooting). Front panel says all is fine. Charged it up from 80% to full, no change. Name brand and still junk after just over two years.
That is very disheartening to read about your Jackery issue. I have three of these overpriced units (a 240 and a 300 in each car and a 1000 for the house, all first generation). Now I'm questioning their reliability when I really need them.
Ya can’t charge em up all the way and leave em sittin. Reed your instruxions son.
@@modquad18 Yes Pops, the instructions say to fully charge, then 6 months later discharge and recharge. That 6 months later is when it failed to discharge.
@@Sylvan_dB They usin lithium iron cells?
@@modquad18 lithium ncm, yes. Seems more like an electronics problem than anything to do with the battery.
I have the 1500 LFP Pecron and using 600W array on a rollable frame for brownouts, and supplimental electricity for home or whatever (SHTF), Saving to get another 1500LFP. Have had no issues with using it for intended purposes. ALSO, appreciate the video update for these kinds of power battery banks and their correct uses.
Welcome to the EcoFlow family. We love ours, works great.
Nice informative vid! If I was doing this, I would just purchase 2 Delta Pro 2’s, and skip the extra battery. Thing about Ecoflow is, your extra batteries are useless if the main unit goes down, where as if you have 2 Pros and one goes down, you still have another working unit for not that much more money. Just something to think about. Would be interested in your opinion on “value” solar panels? Thanks!
Yes, that was my reasoning. I just bought two Aferiy P210s (each 2000Wh) - after seeing a review by Wilson Forest Lands - ua-cam.com/video/f2QtmPWCObw/v-deo.html - rather than the bigger 3000W unit. More watt hours per dollar, and like all things electronic, it's good to have 2 of them.
Having an extra battery for the delta 2 makes sense if you want it to power a fridge overnight, but yeah, for the most part I think you get more bang for the buck by ignoring the battery expansions and getting multiple units.
Love the revised video, I too had lots of questions and concerns about your first video, but you have addressed them all in this video!
Thanks for the revision.
Also, I am a long time user of ECOFLOW PRODUCTS
Glad you enjoyed it!
Thanks for the video... Can you USE the ecoflow while it is being charged by a gas generator?
Yes, I believe so. You can also pass through solar if connected.
That was a good point you made with the jumperbox. It being able to extend the charge of the Ecopro.
That leads to an experiment of can you charge the Ecopro from 0-full with the jumper. The jumper being fully charged and itself plugged into a charger. How long will it take. Can the jumper handle what is essentially a current pass thru?
Great video and you got 2 views out of all of us lol.
Just from what I've seen, I think you probably made the right decision. I've done a ton of research myself and hoping to buy a portable power station when budget allows. My town almost never has power outages, but just having portable power would be fantastic!
I appreciate that
What I like bout my EcoFlow, is it is fast charging. For high current loads, I have a Diesel generator. With he purchase of a couple EcoFlow units, I can shut down the generator most of the time and run it occasionally to recharge. This greatly increases the run time for a tank of fuel as the generator is not running while the freezer and fridge cycle off. The construction industry is rapidly converting over to hybrid units for this very reason. They run on a battery and inverter and auto start the generator when the battery becomes low. I plan to replace my current Diesel with a Hybrid system to stop is running when there is low or no load. It would start, charge and shut down instead of running constantly. For the house, purchased a solar inverter charger and battery as those units can trigger the remote start and shutdown of the generator if the generator has an autostart control module. If solar does not keep up with the demand due to bad weather, the generator will auto start and top off the battery. Plan on getting another 300 AH battery for the system.
My setup is fairly simple. I have 100w solar panel, and a small ecoflow river 2. I get about 70 watts from the panel, so the ecoflow will charge in about 3 hours. Then, I have a massive Furman generator. And, what you said about over spending hit home. The thing is heavy and drains fuel. It works well. However, in an emergency it would be nice to get up and running quickly. So, I ordered a 2200w inverter suitcase generator. I feel like being able to move it around and hopefully less fuel use will help. Thank you!
You should look at the Licitti (blue one) 1,000 Watt battery box which allows you to drop in your battery. It's not fancy but it is incredibly easy to troubleshoot, maintain and DIY if needed. It's not "melded" together like the major power stations. I used mine which has a 280 Ah Prismatic cell battery to fully use my traditional top mount fridge for 50+ hours but will only go 40 hours in the future. I think the key is to have multiple power sources.
I have the same setup. My family purchased a delta 2 about a year and a half ago, at $799, and then we got a refurbished extra battery for $379 on ebay.
We have used it to mostly keep our refrigerator running during a short power outage. Plus a light as well.
We also recently bought an electric mower from Ego power, and we got multiple batteries from it, so we decided to get the AC inverter that works with the batteries to keep powered our wifi/modem during an outage.
We have one 150w solar panel to recharge the ecoflow delta 2 as well.
We also have a ecoflow river 2 max that I got from Ebay, like new condition for $150 which was a deal. Plus a bluetti eb3a.
I also just recently picked up the anker Solix c300 DC and I am using that to power my car fridge in my car. I like how compact it is, and also how it can be charged via type c and solar input at the same time, so it makes it easier to charge as fast as I can from the 100w car outlet and 100w ac outlet in my car. I got about 160w of charging from my car. I also can keep a portable solar panel connected to it, and just put the panel on the roof of my car when I am at work, etc. And all of those connections are connected at the same time, so I don't have alot of unplugging an replugging.
Anyways, those are all of the power stations that I have.
New subscriber just because you commit a mistake cuz boy do I make a lot of them. Have a great day
I use my delta 2 in line with a Honda 2000 if the power goes out. It keeps the generator from running all the time or when there is limited power draw. I can also do generator maintenance with some power on if we get into a longer term outage.
Delta 2 outputs about the same max wattage as the honda 2000 so they balance well.
Thank you for the update. Appreciate the information between solar play and eco flow. It helps me make a decision. Im in canada too. I just would need to keep fridge, a heater and a lighf going in case of emergency.
Hey man there is so many which one is the best for the buck ! Great tips & how it can work for you :) I actually have a couple a 1500 & a 2000 but different brands :) I think I got a good one with my 2000wh & going to have something to add for more power soon in a video :)) I live 100% off grid & now use it hooked to solar panels full time to run the cabin, I am pretty happy with it so far ! take care my friend"
I started down the road of making my own setup... might someday finish that project... I got two EcoFlow units and extra batteries. I use the smaller unit(like yours) for times when I just need a power source without running a drop cord a long ways. The Delta 2 Max is nice with the extra two batteries. I can run my well and most of my house(no heat/hot water/dryer) but all the rest without trouble.
Glad you were able to bite your tounge after you realize the better quality and features, especially as the prices come down
You can even build eco flow system for much cheaper as well , All about learning what’s best and especially like you said reliability during outage
I agree about the nomenclature, power station is more accurate. I said it elsewhere, but i sure wish i had seen your video on the solar play unit before i paid an extra $100 for an Aferiy. I will be hooking up two 100ah batteries in series to double the capacity of the unit. Will test to be sure but it looks like it should feed 500w into the xt90 input. I'm guilty of letting price be the major factor and no doubt that will effect the result but I'm hoping my very limited use will diminish longevity issues. Thanks for this video and your others
Have an Ecoflow River 2, Delta 2 max, and River 2 Pro. Love them all.
Weve got the delta 2 . We take it to run the camping fridge which is one of those that can also run from tool batteries. We can get 4 days from the fridge left on 24/7. The last trip, we tried unplugging the fridge at night and covering with blankets and we got a further days worth out of it. The fridge's own batteries last about 10 hours I think so about 5 1/2 days worth of refridgeration.
I have the EF Delta 2 as well as the EF Delta 2 Max. The D2 only weighs 27 pounds so I consider it to be a medium-weight solution for lighter loads. I also have an Anker 767 as well as the D2 Max which are both twice the power and twice the weight of the D2. Both have wheels, so they are used for heavier loads such as saws and air compressors. For construction work, it's a Honda 6500 gasoline that weighs more than 200 pounds and will run all day in an outdoor setting. The smaller D2 is ideal for small indoor activities.
The SPEED of recharging is everything! And Ecoflow is king.
Almost any Ecoflow solar generator can be recharged from 0%-100% in about an hour and ten minutes from an AC source, including a GAS generator so you're saving a ton on gasoline usage.
The first solar generators i bought back when? Took 7-9 HOURS to recharge from an AC source... I won't mention the brand.
I like the fair assessment.
Thanks!
I have a Delta 2 and I run a bunch of appliances 24/7>
My days worth of electricity needed is right at or below 11Kw
So how can I run everything 24/7 with the delta 2?
I have (9) 320W used solar panels running 3 groups of 3 (3S/3P)
15 Kwh of battery storage (A bunch of used 36v scooter batteries)
A 150/60 Victron solar controller.
My battery bank is constantly feeding my Delta 34v-42v @ a constant 500w into the solar input of the Delta 2. (12K per day max)
If my battery bank depletes and then the internal of the delta drops below 25%, then it recharges itself via AC from the wall.
Love my Delta 3
Nice setup! I may work myself into a hybrid grid setup someday, similar to yours.
So do you have the Delta 3 alresdy (what you said at the end)?
You have my dream system, lol. Trying to convince the wife this will save $$ in retirement 😂
Can it charge from 240 V? And can it output 120 V or 240 V at the same time with the splitter? If not, what is this good for? Are you suggesting that this is better than a little Honda generator?
I just ordered a similar battery backup from Jackery - mostly due to the fact it's AVAILABLE NOW, as opposed to other products that are weeks, or even .months out.
Electrical theory tells us that, Electric Motors, which START UNDER LOAD consume 7 times, yes SEVEN TIMES their normal running current, for the first second or few seconds, until they get up to speed. Examples of a motor starting under load, include Water Pumps, Air compressors, fridges and freezers and airconditioners and Heat Pump airconditioners.
So for example, an air compressor which draws 500 watts when running, draws up to 3,500 watts on startup.
Starting NOT under load, some examples could be an electric chainsaw or a metal cutting saw which is started spinning freely and then when up to speed, brought into contact with what it's cutting. Those motors take some amount extra, but NOT a whole 7 times of the amount.
Remember folks to oversize your generators to cope with those "starting currents" and be careful if in your situation, several fridges or freezers might suddenly try to start up at the same time.
The car charging cable only has 2 pins that will only give you 90 plus Watts, its to protect you car socket , i you have the solar xt60i plug which has a 3rd pin it will give more watts through your starter pck as it thinks its a solar panel, nice video 👍🏴
Good to know! Thanks!
@@HollisDoesStuffyou can also get a faster alternator charger from ecoflow, bluetti, or pecron that will charge at 400 watts or more.
Yeah, these power stations can be hella flexible. having multiple charging inputs is sooooo nice, especially in an outage situation. Ecoflow does seem like the brand that's a step above but my only REAL complaint with them is that the extra batteries are dumb (as in not smart) in anyway and, thus, can't do anything without the main units. A lot of other brands will allow you to daisy chain multiple batteries or let the battery charge other devices via DC or has it's own solar charger built in so you can take the extra battery to the solar panels and leave the main unit by your critical loads.
We have the Delta Pro and it saved our ASSES during Hurricane Milton. It's nice having a thing you can pick up and carry to go with you to other charging sources too. During Hurricane Ian, we didn't have a gas generator to charge out Delta Pro so we have to really ration the power but when family got their power back, we just drove the Delta Pro to their house to charge up in a hour and that gave us enough to keep going till our power came back on.
And, yeah, it's nice having everything all built in one unit. I would like it was easy to swap things out, like the battery or something (in case something goes wrong) and that's one of the advantages of DIY but also I really don't want to have to figure all that out and have to troubleshoot myself. Nice that I'd be able to just send our unit in if need be. We're stating to get solar panels now so we can maybe not use our gas generator AS much to conserve fuel in case power outages go for longer than a week. These things are so nice to have in a pinch.
I believe it's better to run your high-surge 'dirty' stuff (sump pump motors, compressors, etc.) on gas generators and the 'clean' stuff (lights/USB devices/etc.) on UPS/batteries. Gas generator is far less likely to get destroyed.
I think you might be on to something.
I bought 2 Delta 2s during the recent sale. Still awaiting delivery. Two JJN bifacial 200 watt panels came quickly. We will see how they work before plunging further down the rabbit hole.
Sounds like Ecoflow is having trouble keeping up with orders! Still no word on the Smart battery I ordered.
@@HollisDoesStuffwhen I looked it said mid November ( maybe the 16th) for an extra battery.
Update: everything came but I had to order a mc4 to XT60i cable to connect the solar panels. Be sure to get the XT 60i and not the XT60 or the Delta 2 will limit you to 8 amps coming in. I have determined that the 27 pound Delta 2 is as about as much weight as I want to lug around. Anything else will need wheels. I will say the Deltas work fine.
Pecron just released the E 2400 LFP which is 2000 W hours for $899 and is expandable. No external charger required. Fast charge capable
You can get the 2000 W MAIN unit and the 3000 W hour expansion battery right now in the US for $1708 shipped which is like $0.32 per wh
It’s because of competition! I got my Ecoflows plus Ecoflows Alternator fast charger for my truck. Perfection for my needs.
I would also check out Oupes Means Series power stations. New competition should translate into more competitive pricing.
Pecron is very reliable. I have many power stations...Pecron e1500lfp, 2 Pecron e600lfp, Bluetti AC180, AlphaEss SG2000, and yes, even the Solarplay Q2501. Also Allpowers S2000 pro, and a couple of smaller Bluetti...EB3a and PS54. I have several more, some are off brand. So far, all have worked well. The Bluetti and the Pecron are the best. Also have a Jackery Explorer 1000v2 that is sure to be reliable. I also have 2 Pecron 1242 DC-DC chargers that convert a 12.8v lipo4 100ah battery into 42v 500watt output. That will, by using it as solar input for most power stations allow it to be an expansion battery. It will charge the power station at up to 500 watts from the lipo4 battery. So far, I have 6 lipo4 batteries, each supplies 1280wh. It will not work with the Solar Play, and I do not know why. It works with all the Pecrons, the Bluetti AC180 and the AlphaEss SG2000. Some I have not tested, or the max solar voltage is less than 42 volts. After having issues from Hurricane Helene and being without power over 1 week, I went sort of nuts with buying power stations on sale.
oh. if you have room, get some panels.. they work! i think amazon has em for about 60 us for 100w fixed rigid type
I'm looking at that. I might take part of the house "off grid" that way.
@HollisDoesStuff some places sell used panels too. But with just one panel u can start to see.
That $60 is correct at this writing.
I'm in the US, & finally made my decision to go with Ecoflow also...for all the same reasons you expressed! I haven't made my final decision on buying solar panels yet, & I'm currently investigating DC to DC charging in my vehicle. Do I need both? Maybe. I still feel there's a lot of downside in the solar arena, esp after living in a completely solar powered apt complex during the "big freeze" in Tx. After 3 days, the solar supply vanished & they had to hook back up to the electric company due to continued cloud cover. They never reinstalled the solar after that storm, but all those heavy panels remain on the roofs of the buildings.
Honestly, a 2500 watt inverter generator is probably a better investment than solar panels, and far cheaper. Permanent full time off-grid might be different.
Buying one of the”name brands” at anytime other than Prime sale days is a recipe for personal bankruptcy.
Seriously. I waited almost a year to buy one on Prime Days, and saved almost $1000 off the manufacturer's website price.
Not familiar with the Ecoflows but many people seem happy with them. You do get what you pay for, though with EF, Jackery, Anker, Bluetti, you do pay extra for their high advertising budgets. I have a couple of LiPo4 batteries (440 and 1280Wh) and have used them to supplement small Jackery powerstations (the original 250 & 500) which doubles / triples the run time in an outage, if you are using for just LED lights and a router etc. This works well but is limited by the lack of fast charging on the older/smaller units, the 250 input can only handle 45W, and the 500 about 60W). Advantages are that if you only need a max of 250W in an outage a small light unit will be all you need. For the 500+ models, it's worth getting a step-up voltage converter (about $20), which steps up the 12-13v from the LiPo (or an old lead-acid lesiure) battery to 19v, so the new power stations will charge more quickly (250 will then take about 60W, and the 500 about 100W).
Eco flow is number one on the market, and Anker and Jackery are number 2 🎉
yes its the perfect way for Wh per dollar
ecoflow river 3 , perfect device but only 240 Wh for 150$
to extend it take for example the litime 50ah LiFepo4 = 640 Wh for 110$
or the litime 200ah Lifepo4 = 2600Wh for 390$ .....
extrend it like you will....
Well said. Cost is a factor but security and reliability is as well.
Ecoflow uses the same sales tactic as many other stores where they overprice their products and then frequently offer good sales to draw people in. Truth be told I'd prefer a more straight-forward pricing model, but it is what it is. I'll put up with a sleezy pricing model if it means I can get all the cool features Ecoflow likes to stuff in their units.
Agreed
Ive had mine since 2016 with the older battery chemistry
I have two Delta 2 with two extra batteries and they have both operated perfectly! I would not go to a no name battery, ever.
Buy them on sale. Paid $469 for the Delta 2 alone on Amazon Prime day. Also around Christmas the prices drops. The one flaw that is frustrating is that the Delta 2 extra battery can only be charged via the main unit. I agree with your opinion on building a power bank on your own. i am not an electrical engineer and the videos on UA-cam who demonstrate how to build it yourself seem to omit key criteria out. They also have tools that you would have to buy and learn to use.
When you need these units, the money you spent seems worthless as I went through Hurricane Helene. Money well spent.
These are a great way to leverage your generator output by charging the pack while running other loads then shutting down the generator to save fuel while running off the pack.
That's basically my plan; gas can be hard to come by in an emergency so efficient use is key.
Since I live in a rural area it's difficult to send a long reply -
In my case the full capacity of my house batterys is around 35000 watts or 2900. Amps at 12 volts - if you discharge them 50% or down to 10.5 volts you can draw about 17000 watts off them -
With many battery's 85% of the capacity can be restore back into the battery n 1 hr and 15 minutes -
But it might take 24 hrs to restore the last 15% of the capacity of. The battery -
In daily cycling you recharge the battery up to 85% capacity - that can be accomplished with lead acid or lithium battery's just fine -
So after storms if fuel will become hard to have delivered I'll use the 1 hr and 15 minutes charge rate -
To reduce generator run time as to save a lot of fuel -
Check the Black Friday price for that unit on the Amazons.
I got a "no name" brand and similar thing happened. I tried to test it out with medium sized loads compared to it's specs. It popped and tripped the circuit breaker and shut down. I tried to get a refund but the replaced the unit. I decided to keep it and use it as a backup and purchased an ecoflow delta2
These grid independent systems are the way to go. Now if one could EMP harden them, that would make them even better
I have Jackery and Ankor, very happy with them, will buy EcoFlow too!
. . . thx so much for this highly valuable & very helpful vid & God Bless....
Great video, thank you!
During WW2 one of my uncles was on a submarine -
When they ran low on fuel or the enemy was near - they only.charged 30 minutes a day - that brought the battery bank to 70% charge - to bring the battery bank to 85% state of charge took 1 hr and 15 minutes -
They preferred charging four hours if it was safe to be on the surface for four hours at night -
Those are good examples of cycling a battery -
They had solar panels back then? Who knew?!
What I had stated was a charge rate of 6 hrs - so every one or two days you would have 6 hrs of gen run time - that can be a huge fuel savings -
On delta 2 it cannot charge from ac and dc at same time.
grats on the ecoflow!
Power stations are often market as having the capability of being charged by solar panels -
Solar can work well in.many parts - I live in the deep South US -
The humidity is always high so at noon day a solar panel will only put out 50% of it's rated out put maximum -
There are always clouds humidity defuses UV light so it does not directly strike a solar panel -
At best a solar panel will only generate 20% of it's rate power a day down here -
There can be months of over cast also -
So a generator is a must down here for no sun days -
The new DC to ac alternator chargers are a nice option if you drive a lot and have a small enough power station to throw in the car.
1 thing I do wonder about as I have a old school non inverter gen. Wonder what harm would come to the solar gens if charging off the old school non inverter gens.
I have heard that the Ecoflows simply will not charge if it detects “dirty” power.
A power station is ok for camping or something that's low draw -
For $1350 I would think you might be better off buying. A 3000 watt pure sign wave inverter, maybe 3 or 4 lithium battery's and a 40 amp charger. Along with a 1200 watt inverter generator - off Amazon - a 40 amp battery charger draws about 750 watts - a 1200 watt inverter generator might be 1000 watts continues out put -
Building your own system would be cheaper, but also more labor intensive--especially if you were to try making it portable. Having it all put together in one small package really helps the portability aspect.
Yep, could save a little with homemade, but the portability and the fact that units like these are engineered to work together are selling points for me.
Pecron e3600 is $1500 US
I do agree with having a compact system that's all in one - especially for out door use -
Also many don't know how to put together there own system -
I think you could put together what I shared for under a $1000 - you could add battery capacity to it and another charger if needed -
Most of it depends on what your planning to do with it -
in my case I have a lot of short power outages -
But after a hurricane or ice storms it can be a long while till our power comes back on -
Normally if I'm home I have a stationary generator running 24/7 -
Since I work on generators I'm not home much after storms -
In that case I use a home stand by generator set on a timer that comes on for 1 hr and 15 minutes a day to top off my house battery's -
It all depends on your situation as to whether it’s a good value. I have a Jackery 2000 plus. Bought it on sale with panels. Price was about the same as running a line to my workshop. Now I have free power without having the expense of having to run a new underground circuit to my main power panel. You really should consider some solar. It’s not that expensive if you get a bit creative.
A 24 Volt 100ah Lithium Iron Phosphate Battery is 2560 watt hours and wired to Your XT60 Solar Port also extends Your Eco Flow Portable Power Station allot Faster and nominally found for less than $400.00 off EBay currently. At night between 4 - 9pm when Rates are highest, just plug in and Top off for the night if No Solar was available that day due to Weather or Xtreme Conditions.
Note : 2 24 Volt 100ah = 5K and 4 of these = 10K
🌴 💦 Indian Creek Ranch 🌵⛩ Southern California High Desert 🇺🇸
For a few dollars more and a little bit of assembly you can build higher capacity better quality portable of fixed power backup.. Prices for LiFePo4 batteries are way down and 4kw or higher 240v split phase inverters are also lower in cost making them the better option.. They still will be more expensive than a cheap gasoline generator but they are silent and great for those couple hour outages like a giant UPS or the first step to lowering your dependence on the electrical grid.. For running a furnace in the dead of winter you need to take into account the initial surge demand that larger electric motors have which can be up to 10x their running current..
those fill a specific niche but they arent going to replace a fueled generator 100% of the time - maybe 40% of the time in small power need applications.
my opinion is that they're not even useful in the RV/vanlife market, where they are heavily advertised - "all in one" devices are largely a marketing gimmick because the entire solar generator stops working when an internal component malfunctions. a much better setup (which really isnt that difficult to spec) has components that serve dedicated functions, when one component breaks then you replace it and the entire system is back to functioning order.
Unfortunately, for the cost of a good power station you can buy a whole lot more gas/propane generator. I am not saying that power stations don't have their place, but in my opinion generators and power stations should be used for separate functions. I have both but if you are using this stuff as back up, and a power outage lasts longer than maybe a week. Gas may become impossible to get and all you will have is the battery power station with solar panels until fuel becomes available again.
Solar generators have come a long way since the days of GoalZero. And we all start out with something cheap and an attitude that it’s all the same.
The EF Delta 2 is a great little unit. Since you got the bundle with extra battery, I think you could have done better by getting the Delta Max 2 at nearly the same price
I have a Delta first generation and a BLUETTI ac200L as a bigger unit. Both are awesome.
For emergency use, it’s important to know what you might need to power with the unit and then choose a model that can handle it. Test it. Test it now! You don’t want to find out during an emergency that the unit fails on you.
Compressors and motors are known to have high initial surge needs. So a 1800 watt inverter sounds good enough for a 1500 watt inverter, but it might also not like it at all. The next bigger model, 2000 or 2400 watt inverter will more likely to handle such loads.
If you can, find a small 200 watt folding solar panel, something cheap. And then go camping for a weekend. You will shed your reluctance to call these power banks by anything but their proper name, solar generators.
Good video. Keep it up
Sail boats crossing the oceans are limited to there fuel capacity -
So they use the 1 hr and 15 minutes charge rate for there house battery's - while crossing oceans -
It's heather to you use the 6 hr or 8 hr charge rate to 85% capacity on all battery's -
This gives insight on cycle service - after Katrina I had to use the 1 hr 15 min charge rate for about 2 months till fuel delivery's were resumed -
As it cooled down into November after Katrina I only had to charge once a week -
Great Video!!!!!! 😊
Four 100 amp lithium battery's would give you about 3000 watts of capacity - also you can add more battery's if needed -
With a 40 amp charger the charge time would be roughly 6 to 7 hrs -
I think if I was doing a more permanent installation I'd go this route, but it's a learning curve for me.
True - can save bunch from the fully integrated setup, but it's also not entirely trivial to get all those 100Ah batteries charged back up after you've run them down in a couple days.
I think people expect too much out of these power stations. Yes, they will run just about everything in your house but not at the same time, unless they are low power. They also won't run some things for a long time. For instance, I have an Echoflow Delta 2 Max and it will run my window AC unit for about 5 hours, then battery is depleted. I can run a fridge for around 28 hours. These will not replace a whole-house generator like a Generac. Do your research.
I got the delta 2 and the alternator charger + 4 (100 ah power queen batteries they work great .
Do you have an mppt and panels charging the extra batteries?
Thank you ❤
I like the Delta 2 also, I have one and ordered another one. Very impressed with Ecoflow!
So far so good for me. Glad I had a cheap one first so I could see the difference.
@@HollisDoesStuff I bought mine because of the recent hurricane. this was the third time with out power and loss of food. I have run my freezer for 2 days just to make sure it will work for me. I already own solar panels so this was a no brainer for me.
I had just watched your previous video. haha However , as you said....can't beat a fuel generator. ( Hope the crow was tasty 😂)
I've looked at a lot of these. Some of the Pecron models are a good bet IMO.
I went with Oupes as they have a great service department.
I've heard good things about Oupes. We don't have them available in Canada yet (maybe a certification thing?)
You should switch the extra battery for another delta 2 because the extra battery is useless without the delta 2 … with the 2 as you said you can take one and work outside and the other one working inside
just got the ecoflow delta 2 max with the 400 watt solar panel. free electricity without fuel for a long time to come.
Nice
There is some wrong information in this video. Obviously you could spend $100k on a home back up system if you wanted to but generally speaking, building your own, regardless of size, will be significantly cheaper. You could build an EcoFlow Delta Pro Ultra for under $2000. EcoFlow wants almost $7000 ! Also, it's not overly complicated to build your own system because everything is plug and play.
And lastly, Pecron is awesome !!!
They cut costs significantly by NOT throwing in every useless feature that most people never use. I have 2 of them and my 3600lfp is arriving tomorrow... $1350 and if it's anything like my other two Pecrons, it will be 5 + years of trouble free use. Pecron is Good ! Just ask those of us in the RV and van life community. We use them daily, Pecron is very respected.
i build power custom power stations and yes most retail ones are over priced. BUT, i dont think i would ever plug that large of a compressor into a portable power station. thats a very violent surge load. thats just me... maybe a small pancake compressor
Yah you can build it for about 600 and that's wood give you way way more battery space
Beware, none of these integrated units works outside in a Canadian winter. Read the environmental specs if you need winter operation in the cold. I ended up piecing together a Renogy system to get a rig that will work at -15 C.
In the Philippines they want over 1100 dollars just for the extra battery. Would buy but not paying these prices.
I myself need to sleep with a CPAP and Asthmatic with a Breathing Machine for Albuterol Sulphate Treatments, I bought the Eco Flow EF3 Delta Pro 1300 and a 160 watt portable Solar Panel off Amazon for $720.00 and It Covered My immediate needs on Black Friday I bought a 2nd Refurbished Unit off EBay from Eco Flow for $523.00 as well as a Refurbished 160 watt Portable Solar Panel and Scored a Deal on a Brand New River 2 Pro with 110 watt Eco Flow Portable Solar Panel for $253.00 with a 5 year warranty. Total Cost for all 6 Items = $1,800.00 and 3,300 Usable KWHours and My Warranty and very Satisfied with All 6 Units and the Delta EF3 Pro 1300's Piggy Back like an Xtra Battery and gives You all Charging options. The River 2 Pro is only 17 Lbs. Lithium Iron Phosphate battery chemistry I work It as a Slave for most Immediate power needs here on the Ranch ⛩
Plot twist: this video is sponsored by EcoFlow LOL!
Lol
A diesel submarine can circumvent the world on the same amount of fuel that a surface vessel will burn going from New York to London - when going hybrid - that means charging 4 hrs a day and running 20 hrs a day off the battery's -
If you use a power station with a generator - you can drastically reduce your fuel consumption -
Today were groomed to live with electricity - so I would consider a power station and a generator a must have for power outages - most power stations only need 6 hrs of charge time -
That is a lot of fuel savings- generators can be used for heavy constant loads -
i have one of these Ecoflow mine runs flawlessly
remember 500 watts is the limit on the solar panel input i use a house 500 watt solar panel.
I charge mine at 500 watts to prolong the life of the battery's not fast charging . i run my Eco flow off Solar during the day and shore power at night.
Lol, they’re some very silly people online who waste time with silly comments, trolling😂. Anyone who is arguing it’s a generator because of a chemical reaction must not understand basic battery technology. No it’s a power storage device, yes unless with panels.
There is much generators as a gasoline generator. The only difference is the energy source that they use is from the Sun instead of petroleum. Both of them take energy and turn them into electricity hence generator they generate electricity.
I don't know about these. Being i build my own lifpo4 batteries from cells. I built my own portable 3500 watt psw unit with everything the ecoflow plus the ability to connect directly to solar or my car alternator for quick charging or sustained running ability. My car has a 325 alt. 149 amp at idle. My portable unit has a 220ah battery. Has voltage display, percentage display, 120v display, 2 USB a, and 2 usbc, 2 gfci 110v, and 1 30rv outlet with reset breakers and reset fuses. It cost me 800 bucks. Still cheaper than the ecoflow.