Off-Grid Cooking with Solar Electric - Bluetti AC200P Review! All in one LiFePo4 Battery Solution
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- Опубліковано 24 лип 2024
- Have you ever wondered if cooking with Solar Electric is viable in Off-Grid Camping or Overlanding situations? In this video, we demonstrate many of our High Power Electric Cooking appliances which we power 100% from Solar and LiFePo4 Batteries.
In this video, we power them all using the AC200P that was sent for review by Bluetti.
This version of their "Solar Generator" uses the more stable Lithium Iron Phosphate (LiFePo4) battery chemistry. The very same type of battery we selected for our Overlander Build.
BLUETTI Portable Power Station AC200PMAX (Newer version) amzn.to/3KRPfNQ
I have added all the power consumptions for the cooking appliances to our older blog post on the same topic... I will continue to add others when I find some that are interesting or different.
everlanders.com/watt-hour-con...
00:00 Welcome Back
00:30 We're 100% Solar Powered
02:50 Testing the Big Boy Battery
03:30 Overview Of Connections
05:58 Maxing-Out the Connections
07:39 Discharge Testing Breakfast
13:33 Lunchtime Oven Discharge
15:57 Suppertime Discharge Testing
22:56 We Killed it!!
23:55 Total Power Consumption
24:19 Efficiency Testing
25:30 Testing USB-A and USB-C PD
28:35 High Current Output Testing
30:59 Testing the Solar MPPT
32:50 Why we're wired in Parallel
34:05 Testing the MPPT Controller
36:16 Monitoring the Tempertaure
37:24 Conclusions and Suggestions
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This has to be one of the most interesting channels I've stumbled onto in a long time. Came for the android auto build and then just got sucked into the rabbit hole that has been your camper build. Good stuff
Thank you Shawn... The heartwarming comment I needed today...
No thank you sir. The mechanical and electrical skills you employ leave me envious of your aptitude and with an insatiable hunger for more. I feel like I have so much more direction on the projects I've been putting on hold for the past couple years cause they seemed so daunting but you've dismissed several of my concerns even tho the applications will be completely different.
A refreshing no-BS review. It is obvious you put a lot of work into producing the video. Much appreciated!!
I appreciate your appreciation! 💪
So... I just had to try your waffles. I even bought a Dash mini waffle iron ($9.99 USD). Excellent! Your recipe made three waffles each for my wife and I. I'm going to be a rock star (72 years old) with my grandkids the next time we go camping. I love your videos, thanks for making them.
Thanks! We usually get 6 out of that recipe as well, Kara is delighted that someone actually utilized a recipe...
Definitely the best unbiased review- thank you. Looked like you had a lot of fun plotting out how you would test and record results. 👍👍😎👍👍
Fun... mmmh Weeks of work made 15 seconds of video. 🤣
@@Everlanders I didn’t mean to suggest in anyway that it was easy 🤓. It certainly looked like a tremendous amount of work. There are very few people in this world willing to test and prove to themselves the veracity of product claims. And your uniquely qualified to understand and explain in relatively simple terms how things work…. Or don’t. Especially where the extra pixies go. 👍🙏
Thanks for your thorough testing & explanations. I'm a computer techie, interested in learning basic electronic controls. You do a superb job of explaining, and makes this one of my "must watch" channels.
Roughing it in paradise Everlanders style. Love your extensive and thorough reviews.
The effort you put into this definitely deserves a follow. 🤙
Such a coincidence that I was recommended this video while we are camping here at Pasaj Cap 😁
Excellent work, so thorough. Thank you.
Great video, best practical use review I have seen anywhere.
Very thorough review! (not surprised by that at all!)
Great video. Told me everything I needed to know. Well done!
Thank you for an honest unbiased review. It is nice to see one in practical use. My thanks also for your final thoughts, sincere evaluation and personal opinion.
Thank you for the thorough review!
I had not considered these for campervan use, but this unit could certainly fit some use cases.
Thanks for posting such a thorough review. I think it is a great product for the right user that can live with its drawbacks.
Excellent review, thanks!
Wow! great review! And a chef too!
Really good balanced video - and I am positivelyhungry watching it. Thanks for your time.
Great job! You are a good presenter of information…and a pretty good cook too. Thanks to you and your wife for sharing.
As usual, excellent review. Not an item I would use based on running extensive solar on my rigs, but for sure weekend campers would benefit from this. I love the exquisite details and comedy relief, which I actually get! Gracias amigo!
Kickass review. If I didn't already own a ac200p I'd definitely buy one after your review. Love the content! Cheers from Fort McMurray
Thanks for a great no nonsense review. This convinced me to go for the AC200Max, so thanks for great review - much appreciated!
Great detailed evaluation and your comments and suggestions will greatly improve this product if Bluetti implements them - and ultimately this will improve their sales. PS: they definitely should have sent you some panels!!
Uniformly superb review and presentation. Jason & Kara rule!
I enjoy cooking with solar too. So I enjoyed watching this video of you cooking with your regular kitchen cookware. Quite a number of people kept having issues with Bluetti because of their insistence on using proprietary parts. I spent so much time having to help folks find solutions, so as a result I am not a fan of Bluetti. It's just that I spent so much time problem solving issues for people (unpaid and unthanked) when all these things should be done by Bluetti themself. I would say 70% (PROS) of it is really good, but the 30% (CONS) could so easily be fixed. If they do fix those issues, their products would be really amazing.
“We’re going to test that” - nice PF reference ! I like your actual use case review also.
Lol... Glad someone caught that!
Most thorough, constructive review I've seen on a power station or any other complicated consumer product for that matter. Well done! You deserved some of their solar panels too- haha
Very kind of you to say! 👍
This was a great review and a breath of fresh air. I'm in the market for something exactly like this unit and it was refreshing seeing an honest review over just another sales pitch.
I'm going to subscribe to your channel now and I wish you and your wife the best.
You sir are a gentleman and a scholar!
Great review. I am happy to see that you give your honest opinion and not company jargon.
Excelent way to prove the batery Bluetti! Thanks!!
Glad you liked the testing.
Glad you liked the testing.
excellent review, i have watched many on this model and am thinking of buying a large system like it. The 60% efficiency was a shock to me. losing almost one Kw going from charging in to using out is a lot and a big consideration for me as i plan on using this in the fall and winter which here in Montana will have as few as 5 usable hours of solar. I think you were fair and very informative, thank you.
Great review. Love your videos!
Well done. thank you for that opus review.... Bluetti got the best deal! I think you were totally fair and unbiased. Reviews coming from you are reliable.
Reliable... and detailed and lengthy, although with quick cuts to maintain visual interest.
Ahh...all of that good cooking! Kara's "umm's" and giggles behind the camera are hilarious! Great review. I think these things are aimed at the weekender anyway, so there's that. I'll look up what it costs. I've found that you can usually build something better for less, but that requires skilz. Sam says "Hi"! God speed on your travels!
So nice to see a thorough review of one of these than just a “I plugged in my laptop and it works” one. Well done! 😎👍🏻👍🏻
Exactly!
@@Everlanders 😎👍🏻 You're doing a great job!
Thank for the heads up on the XT-60 homemade adapter! The aviation adapter setup must be their “proprietary” design to make customers buy their products. Two years later, it’s still out of stock status on the company website. I agree that the XT-90 is used as Input, the XT-60 on its Output. Really no need for the aviation adapter! I’m glad you covered your workaround. Great video! I just purchased a Bluetti AC200P
I've been a UA-cam junkie for many years, and have seen hundreds of RV-type-electrical-etc vids. You’re amongst the best 👍 .. unbiased, knowledgeable, factual based, etc. Well accomplished 🙌 and kudos! I already own this model, and just purchased the extension B230 model. Here's hoping the efficiency has been vastly improved 🙄.
Maybe someday you can test the Titan power bank?
Safe travels, and many, many thanks, for an informative and thorough coverage of this unit.
Excellent review the best on the blue Eddie 200 p I've seen.
I've had mine for 6 months works perfect for my needs to me it's the best bang for the buck for a power bank.
That's great to hear...
very thorough video. thanks!!!
I love it. Great video. Looking to purchase one of these.
Thank you. 😊
Nice to see a real world test of a product. Your software geek shone through with your suggestions, all very valid. Curious if they will offer you a job to “clean up” the code.
Excellent review.
Good stuff! Thanks for sharing.
Excellent review, thanks
Great test
Loved the vid and I’m not even a vehicle owner. Seeing your list of supporters I was reminded that women are not taught / involved in,or of the mind set, to deal/work in this arena. Lots of reasons why. It would be great if there was a channel for teaching women all this.
I think it all boils down to interest... 99.4% of our viewership is male, but if the women are interested, they are more than welcome to watch!
Well thought out video. Actually suprised it worked as well as it did. I usually shrug all of these "solar generators" off as hipster trash. But looks like it could be useful in the right scenario.
That's true, Everything works well, Lots of power with no complaining. Hopefully they can wrangle those pixies...
I just found your channel and it is awesome and I love how you have the recipes on this and the all the measurements and boy those cookies look good and so did that food it looks like a professional chef was cooking it kudos to your video very good and I also have that solar generator but very one,but never used it 😹
Wonderful review!
Dude your rig is awesome. I always thought it would be cool to have some kind of folding solar apparatus. Almost like a flower opening to get the sunlight.
Now this is how to do a review!
Great informative evaluation of the Bluetti. Great video all around. But the big question how tasty was that coffee? I think that was the best real world test of what these battery units can do. Everyone can relate to your cooking , and there cooking needs.
I’m hungry now. Your meals look 👀 so good.
Thanks for a great review.
If the video wasn't already so long I'd have shown the coffee harvest in full swing here on the mountains of Guatemala, Freshly roasted days before! ☕
Good review! Just bought a refurbished unit for $600 so hopefully it works as well as your new one lol
Nice video. I just got the BLUETTI AC200MAX It's in the mail.
Test it hard in the first month...
Great video!!
Great video! Thanks.
Great to see you review this, I was wondering about cooking with solar as all the appliances I currently use for cooking are electric. I have a small revile electric oven that is perfect but uses about 1kw when cooking
You really went above and beyond with the rewire of your solar on the camper to test the Bluetti, that was very unexpected lol
Great and detailed review! But really it just made me want to know more about your truck and how all the electronics are wired haha. I've watched a lot of your vids but somehow missed your panels are paralleled to reduce shade problems. Very smart! Would be cool to see a video how efficient your stuff is and how the bigger battery is holding up in hotter climate.
Maybe this will answer your questions: ua-cam.com/video/cM5s4F-7AOk/v-deo.html
I have made up my mind that the Bluetti Big Boy is what I am getting . Its more than I currently need , by far . But like they say ...its better to have and not need than it is to need and not have .
Great video. Thank you
Great review .
Great Video.
Wow, what a cool panel setup. I think you are the first channel I have seen that Bluetti reached out to other than Hobotech and Will Prowse. The other channels it appears purchased the unit then made videos about it. I purchased the AC200 Max and 2 B230 batteries for 6144Wh hours. What a great looking unit.
The units use power operating and it can be as much as 10 %. The efficiency rating for the 200 Max seems to be around 88%. The 200Max is an improved unit over the 200P.
They fixed the problems you mentioned and it helps the unit can be controlled through Bluetooth from your phone. The app allows control from any where in the world. You can’t turn the unit on though. It has to already be on. You can turn it off using the app.
Naaaa, they've given them to dozens of other channels...
Damn dude, awesome job
Saving this one to a playlist just for that waffle recipe!
Thanks so much for your comprehensive and detailed review. No, you were not too critical. Very helpful for me to see how much output, in real terms, ie cooking, one can expect; as well as how much input/solar is required to recharge. Knowing that it requires panels wired in series, that it uses outdated "aircraft" connectors, and its inefficiency of power management are also very useful. THANK YOU!
We're glad you found it helpful!
Great job
Great real world test, i'm waiting for my bluetti to be delivered touse in my campervan, great cooking skills, you just need to learn what a "pinch" of salt is! haha
Awesome documenting wh for cooking is underrated.
It is hands-down best and most detailed review of this power station from an outlander perspective! You are hero we don't deserve, but got nonetheless! ;) Great demonstration of its capabilities in the kitchen. I am looking for some electric kitchen appliances right now. I have purchased ac200max and 2x b300 extensions half a year ago, so I am not looking for more ;) Note, how much energy oven uses. I am planning to get Instant Pot or equivalent with air fryer cover. I think it will be most efficient cooking countertop appliance, even better than induction, and the lid turns it into a small convection oven.
Thanks!
Nice Overland truck. I kinda agree with you in regards to the display in daytime conditions. It is very hard to see it.
Yeah all good you’re in a great job it’s a little bit different than what I was looking for because you were actually cooking with solar power you were cooking with battery powered and recharging with solar I’m looking how to cook with just the solar panel no battery but good on you have fun on your holidays
Unless you have a 100% analog cooking appliance, like the oven we demonstrated, and you have enough Series Solar to reach 120 volts, you're going to have problems running it without a battery of some kind.
Also, not on holidays... This is our full time job for the last 5 years...
Nice toaster
Go… you get my vote for 100,000
If you have solar panels plugged in, the unit will automatically turn itself on when there is enough voltage at the PV input. But then in the evening the unit never turns itself off. I agree with the other mentioned improvements at the end of the video. The unit functions well though.
Yup, it turns on, but never turns off until the batteries are too low.
Yet another excellent video. If your current gig ever dies, you could be an independent contractor for Consumer Reports... It would certainly be an underutilization of your talents, but still...
All that cooking has me drooling in a decidedly jealous way.
Finally, with the Bluetti in the same compartment as your “cold” water canisters, did the heat soak into them? Did you notice a drop in the performance of your permanent equipment colocated in that space?
Cheers from Ecuador via Kelowna!
Once I figured out that I was getting that hot, I kept that side compartment open most of the time... and turn it off when not in use. That compartment is in the same airspace as our living quarters, so I don't need that any hotter than necessary.
I just saw your truck driving through Antigua Guatemala
Can confirm!
Very thorough, tnx - I was wondering if you can get a day's cooking out of the 200P and you answered this pretty well, obviously you weren't running the fridge or charging laptop, batteries, phone... at the same time but with a 200P large yeti taking care of cooking, one could have a smaller one for running the fridge, lights, charging the laptop.... I have their smaller one the 505 and it is OK for these, but it does vent hot air even when just powering the fridge so it is a bit counterproductive in a confined space cause the fridge also vents hot air.
I tried to show it without adding any more power, but when we had the solar connected it was no problem to power everything.
Impressive thanks a lot for sharing 💚💚💚 I'd love to see you use the Jackery Explorer 2000 Portable Power Station. Plus SolarSaga 200W Solar Panels are available.
I have a dead Jackery I can't get to work, so far I'm not impressed.
Excellent video. I'm intrigued you have the Cuisinart Toaster oven/Air fryer. Would love to hear your thoughts on it for 'camping'. I have one but it stays at home despite me having 300Ah onboard. I presume it would run at close to full power most of the time, hence be a heck of a power draw. It seems you managed fries with about 30Ah in this video.
It depends how you define 'camping' and how much space you can spare... We're on the road full-time, so we call it 'life'. We use it often for whipping up some biscuits to accompany a chilli, some cookies for a quick treat but most often for roast vegetables.
Excellent content. Lots of detail, expert opinion and a comprehensive real use-case demonstration. The only thing I was missing is connectivity for data sharing? I have a DC cool box (DC compressor) that was just over £200 and it has connectivity with data that I can pull into Automation systems (HA Node Red etc), does this?
This unit has no connectivity I'm afraid.
@@Everlanders Thanks for the reply.
Very useful video, I have just brought Bluetti AC200 Max for home use. Can I use it for boiling a kettle which has a range of 220V-240V, 3000W? Will I damage it if using appliances over the limits set by Bluettii? Thanks
It won't be damaged, it might just throw an error and need to be restarted. But it likely will not have enough power to do it... It's only a 2000 watt inverter.
1/2 cup peanut butter
2 table spoon soft butter
1/2 coconut sugar
2 eggs
pinch salt
1/2 tea spoon of baking soda
1 tea spoon of vanilla
Mix well
1/2 cup coconut floor
1/4 cup chocolate chip
;)
🍪🍪🍪😋
At what temperature for how long?
As you pointed out, the aircraft connector is rear and the bluetti comes in handy as an auxiliary power source for smaller general aviation aircraft. So don't mess with perfection. Ehh!
looks great. be right over
@Everlanders what’s the wattage of your induction cooker?
Max is 1800W
33:53 Ever thought about switching to a higher efficiency PV half-cell PERC panels. Maybe even bifacial on the sides.
Nope.
Whaaat no unboxing ?
Bluetity was hilarious
Ran out of funny unboxing ideas...
I own an AC200 and I'd be curious about its performance versus the AC200P. Mine has an LG automative battery instead of a phosphate one...
The battery chemistry will have less of an impact than the charge and inverter circuitry...
I have the same Anova sous vide cooker. I'd love to ditch the massive (~11"x11"x9") mildly insulated container for a small cooler as you did. That appears to be an Igloo Legend 6-Can 5 Qt Cooler, is that correct? Also, what are you using at the extension/collar on top of the cooler? Thank you sir!
No, it's a $5 Mexican Walmart 6-can cooler. The sleeve is a PVC plumbing coupler with the ridge/shoulder in the middle filled out, this was done to splint the broken plastic threads on the Anova, shouldn't be needed to use the cooler.
@@Everlanders ah thank you! That is a great way to insulate the cooking and minimize the space to storage the necessary gear. Thanks for the quick response and great content.
Hi nice good and informative video! Maybe check out the ac300?
We're currently much further south, just passing through Nicaragua, so we couldn't get one here if we wanted to...
It's just a bummer that Bluetti didn't include 2 AC adapters for the quick charging option on this thing. I have to buy it separately.
I think it's fine that it's sold as an option for those that need it... we will likely never use this one we have and it would increase the cost for everyone if they included two with every unit.
What's the name of the roof automatic deploy thing for your solar panel?
Everlanders Expanding Solar Array
That’s funny. After your review, Bkuetti seems to have fixed all of the issues you pointed out. Good job!!! They need a stronger solar charge controller if people are to use this with their camper vans. Would you agree?
Nope
Watching your build and enjoy your videos you do use your alternator to charge your battery bank when running? So not 100% solar
No, charging our house batteries from the engine alternator would consume $2 in diesel per kWh into the battery, It would be pretty foolish for us to do this with so much solar on the roof...
Iam wondering if the efficiency differs to the 230V versions?
Probably worse as the voltage diferencial is greater.
Fantastic to meet another human with a 165 IQ! Thanks for being so comprehensive and informative in your detail as we appreciate the minutia. You've convinced me to purchase this unit to compliment our sans propane caravan (down under). Pleased to have discovered you. Sub sub'd. Cheers, dd
Who was the first one? 🤣🤣🤣
Can you connect your solar panels on your roof to the bluetti 200P.
No, I explained this at 30:59 - The MPPT requires panel voltages of 35 to 159 volts, they would need to be wired in parallel, and we wouldn't want that.
How do you turn on the wireless charging on the top of the unit
The on screen DC output toggle turns on all the DC outputs, including the wireless charging.