Power station dilemma

Pete Green

Pete Green

Joined
Jul 19, 2014
Posts
11
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32,470
MH
Swift 604 Corniche
Exp
Since 2012
Hi all.
just want to ask if anyone owns or has knowledge/experience of power stations especially the ones with solar charging capability.
Been thinking of getting one for quite some time now.
any suggestions for the best brand performance etc.
Also another obvious possible problem being that they plug directly into your electric hook up point.
Any ideas on how to stop Tom Dick and thieving Harry walking off with them?
cheers in advance…Pete
 
Solution2
Jo662
We have a Ecoflow Delta which we chose because of its ability to recharge in an hour and a half. Most of the others take 6 to 8 hours to charge from flat. We only really use it in the winter when there is little solar to replenish our batteries and not on EHU.
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Depends on what you want to use it for, and where - if in/near your ‘van, why not buy another battery instead……?:unsure:
 
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David and Sally said:
:hiya2:w2f
Click to expand...

He's been a member longer than you. :ROFLMAO:

1649238887794.png

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We have a Ecoflow Delta which we chose because of its ability to recharge in an hour and a half. Most of the others take 6 to 8 hours to charge from flat. We only really use it in the winter when there is little solar to replenish our batteries and not on EHU.
 
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Solution
Pete Green said:
Hi all.
just want to ask if anyone owns or has knowledge/experience of power stations especially the ones with solar charging capability.
Been thinking of getting one for quite some time now.
any suggestions for the best brand performance etc.
Also another obvious possible problem being that they plug directly into your electric hook up point.
Any ideas on how to stop Tom Dick and thieving Harry walking off with them?
cheers in advance…Pete
Click to expand...
Keep the power station in the vehicle and poke the lead outside to the charging point, if you are worried about leaving it outside to charge, put it on the roof out of sight and place a security cable on it and attach the cable to a wheel/towbar etc and if you have a Vanbitz alarm there s a external cable that could also be attached so that the alarm goes off if disconnected.
 
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I chose Bluetti because some of their models use the safer LiFePO4 batteries. I have the EB70 for home use but if I was using it on a campsite I would plug the motorhome in to the ehu and charge it inside. They are not waterproof and neither is the mains charger. Also too easy to nick. They come with a standard mains plug not an ehu plug. On a sunny day I would be happy to leave it out for solar charging whilst I was on site.
bluettipower.co.uk

BLUETTI EB70 Portable Power Station | 1,000W 716Wh

BLUETTI EB70 UK portable power station is one of the coolest compact power stations. 716Wh capacity is quite enough to power up most of your essential outdoor gear and gadgets.
bluettipower.co.uk bluettipower.co.uk
If you need something bigger.
www.bluetti.co.uk

BLUETTI AC200P 2000Wh/2000W Portable Power Station

USE CODE: AC200PINS100 BLUETTI AC200P (UK version) Portable Power Station-Large Capacity, High Power. Home Backup Power. Keep your equipment running indoors and outdoors.2000Wh/2000W Higher Output/Larger Capacity13 Output Ports Meet Multiple DevicesFlexible 5 Recharge...
www.bluetti.co.uk www.bluetti.co.uk
I think it is worth paying a bit more for one with a LiFePO4 battery. Check the technical specs for battery type, it will say if it has LiFePO4 and will just say lithium or lithium ion if it hasn’t.

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Pete Green said:
Also another obvious possible problem being that they plug directly into your electric hook up point.
Click to expand...
No need to plug directly into the hookup point. Assuming your MH is plugged into a hookup point already. A 13A socket in your MH will probably be wired through a breaker of 10A, which will supply over 2000W. That should be more than enough to charge a 2000Wh power pack in one and a half hours.
 
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autorouter said:
No need to plug directly into the hookup point. Assuming your MH is plugged into a hookup point already. A 13A socket in your MH will probably be wired through a breaker of 10A, which will supply over 2000W. That should be more than enough to charge a 2000Wh power pack in one and a half hours.
Click to expand...
Hi...I will be occasionally when off grid be powering the motorhome by hooking up to the Power Station...that's what i meant when saying "they plug into your hook up" ie the one on the motorhome
 
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AndyPK said:
Depends on what you want to use it for, and where - if in/near your ‘van, why not buy another battery instead……?:unsure:
Click to expand...
Hi I've looked into a lithium battery option and the power available is nowhere near the capabilities of a decent Power Station..plus the simplicity of just plugging in with no fiddling around...
 
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Power Station?

Oil/Coal/Gas/Solar/Hydro?

Shamefully forgot Nuke and Geothermal
 
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Pausim said:
I chose Bluetti because some of their models use the safer LiFePO4 batteries. I have the EB70 for home use but if I was using it on a campsite I would plug the motorhome in to the ehu and charge it inside. They are not waterproof and neither is the mains charger. Also too easy to nick. They come with a standard mains plug not an ehu plug. On a sunny day I would be happy to leave it out for solar charging whilst I was on site.
bluettipower.co.uk

BLUETTI EB70 Portable Power Station | 1,000W 716Wh

BLUETTI EB70 UK portable power station is one of the coolest compact power stations. 716Wh capacity is quite enough to power up most of your essential outdoor gear and gadgets.
bluettipower.co.uk bluettipower.co.uk
If you need something bigger.
www.bluetti.co.uk

BLUETTI AC200P 2000Wh/2000W Portable Power Station

USE CODE: AC200PINS100 BLUETTI AC200P (UK version) Portable Power Station-Large Capacity, High Power. Home Backup Power. Keep your equipment running indoors and outdoors.2000Wh/2000W Higher Output/Larger Capacity13 Output Ports Meet Multiple DevicesFlexible 5 Recharge...
www.bluetti.co.uk www.bluetti.co.uk
I think it is worth paying a bit more for one with a LiFePO4 battery. Check the technical specs for battery type, it will say if it has LiFePO4 and will just say lithium or lithium ion if it hasn’t.
Click to expand...
Hi
I would be hooking it up to the motorhome when off grid to power most relatively low wattage devices...even occasionally the microwave for short times. I was initially thinking of making a secure box of sorts to house it outside. However Coolcats earlier suggested having it in the motorhome and feeding the hook up lead out of the door or window. I had been seriously considering a Bluetti and your recommendations back that up....Thanks

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Pete Green said:
Hi
I would be hooking it up to the motorhome when off grid to power most relatively low wattage devices...even occasionally the microwave for short times. I was initially thinking of making a secure box of sorts to house it outside. However Coolcats earlier suggested having it in the motorhome and feeding the hook up lead out of the door or window. I had been seriously considering a Bluetti and your recommendations back that up....Thanks
Click to expand...
If the low wattage devices are 12V, such as lighting and water pump, this may not be a power efficient solution. Your power station will be taking a DC current from it’s battery, inverting it to 230v AC and then your motorhome charger will be turning it back into 12V to power the devices. Both processes are less than 100% efficient so you might find that 10-20% of your stored power is being wasted.

If you want to avoid changing your motorhome battery and charging arrangements it might be better to set up the power station inside your motorhome. You could then take the power for the 12V devices straight from the power stations 12V outlet, much more efficient. I would do this by having a changeover switch so that when the onboard battery starts running low you simply switch off this battery and take the 12V from your power station. For the 230V AC devices you could simply plug the devices into one of the power station’s AC outlets when you need to.

A word of warning about microwave ovens. The power quoted e.g. 850W is the heating power not the power needed to run it. The power needed to run an 850W microwave will probably be something like 1450W, they are not very efficient. You will need to allow for this in your calculations of what size power station you need.

When off grid I use gas wherever I can, particularly for making things hot. A 6kg bottle of gas holds 84kWh of energy, a 100Ah LiFePO4 battery holds only 1.3kWh of energy. My Bluetti EB70 holds 0.716kWh of energy.
 
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Pete Green said:
Hi
I presume you are being tongue in cheek?
Click to expand...
Indeed. :giggle:

However as an ex Station E,C&I engineer the words "Power Station" means a heck of a lot more.
 
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Pete Green said:
I would be hooking it up to the motorhome when off grid to power most relatively low wattage devices...even occasionally the microwave for short times. I was initially thinking of making a secure box of sorts to house it outside. However Coolcats earlier suggested having it in the motorhome and feeding the hook up lead out of the door or window.
Click to expand...
An alternative is to fit a second mains inlet, with a manual changeover switch. The kind of arrangement you might fit for a generator input. You could fit the socket in the MH garage, or a locker, or inside in the living area if you really wanted. Then the power pack would be locked away, not left outside. Having a changeover switch avoids the problem of having the pins of the other inlet live.

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Hi all
I eventually opted for a Bluetooth AC200P with three 200W solar panels.
I have watched many videos online of the unit being used plugged in to the EHU point
All reviews are positive
Has anyone had experience of using solar panels with a fairly long charge cable?I know this can slow down the charging process
However I will probably need a 10M cable so I can keep the unit at the back of the van in our shower room.
feeding the charge cable out of the window to the panels
Thanks for all of your replies too…..👍
 
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Pete Green said:
Hi I've looked into a lithium battery option and the power available is nowhere near the capabilities of a decent Power Station..plus the simplicity of just plugging in with no fiddling around...
Click to expand...
I think you need to check your calculations on this as mitzimad said,

If I had been a minute quicker I would have posted the above before your update, so now I will say it looks like a decent bit of kit and LiFePO4(y) battery, around 160ah at 12v so a good chunk of power.
 
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Pete Green said:
Hi all
I eventually opted for a Bluetooth AC200P with three 200W solar panels.
I have watched many videos online of the unit being used plugged in to the EHU point
All reviews are positive
Has anyone had experience of using solar panels with a fairly long charge cable?I know this can slow down the charging process
However I will probably need a 10M cable so I can keep the unit at the back of the van in our shower room.
feeding the charge cable out of the window to the panels
Thanks for all of your replies too…..👍
Click to expand...
Remember to switch the fridge onto gas otherwise it will consume the battery running on 240v.
 
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I've just ordered an EcoFlow to supplement the solar panel I've just had installed. I spend lots of time off grid, and it will enable me to charge camera batteries, ebike battery and other bits of kit when away. I did various YouTube research beforehand, and the EcoFlow seemed the best option for my use. We'll see how it works in practice once it arrives next week.

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funflair said:
Remember to switch the fridge onto gas otherwise it will consume the battery running on 240v.
Click to expand...
I was also thinking about getting an underslung gas tank too. But not sure if I really need it.....maybe the next project. Not sure if our motorhome would accommodate it.
 
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The Ecoflows (especially the Delta) do seem to be getting some good reviews (partially fuelled by the usual giveaways to Youtubers!) but as our replacement motorhome is going to be delayed for a good while and we will be using our classic VW more and for longer than usual, I'm getting tempted.
 
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Pete Green said:
Hi all
I eventually opted for a Bluetooth AC200P with three 200W solar panels.
I have watched many videos online of the unit being used plugged in to the EHU point
All reviews are positive
Has anyone had experience of using solar panels with a fairly long charge cable?I know this can slow down the charging process
However I will probably need a 10M cable so I can keep the unit at the back of the van in our shower room.
feeding the charge cable out of the window to the panels
Thanks for all of your replies too…..👍
Click to expand...
Good choice, you also get a lot more recharge cycles with LiFePO4 than NMC.
 
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