expireddarkpeace posted Apr 17, 2022 06:30 AM
Item 1 of 5
Item 1 of 5
expireddarkpeace posted Apr 17, 2022 06:30 AM
Costco Members: EcoFlow River Pro Portable Power Station
& More + Free Shipping$430
$549
21% offCostco Wholesale
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If outages happen at night, I just need to plug in the fridge and go back to sleep rather than starting the generator. During the days of outages after a hurricane, I will be able to charge this during the day from my generator while simultaneously running my fridge, then at night secure the generator and run the fridge from the battery.
The power station can run devices higher than 600 watts, but it starts to drop the voltage after 600 watts. It appears to handle the surge wattage draw from my fridge just fine, but I haven't tested it long term. I have not tried running two 600+ watt things on multiple outlets, but I would guess the limit is 600 watt total, not per outlet.
FWIW, it also runs 600 watt/second photography monolights, although there is some voltage drop at higher power levels.
I bought a cheap knockoff version of a Kill-a-watt to measure power usage when I bought this. It makes it easy to see usage stats for your electronics and see if the River Pro is dropping the voltage for your device.
If you're buying this for power outages, having an outage alarm like this is very useful:
https://www.amazon.com/Reliance-C...B018A30T8Q
When the power goes out, it lights up so you can see and beeps. It's helpful to find flashlights and the power bank, and also wakes you up to plug in fridges or whatever. You can then stick the alarm on a splitter coming out of the River Pro, so that when the battery runs out you are alerted.
Technically you posted this "deal of a lifetime" back in 2005 though
A 27" Westinghouse LCD screen for only $699 haha. Hopefully it served you well.
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Being able to charge this quickly is really helpful if you're on the road somewhere and have the opportunity to charge up via shore power, or if you're in a blackout prone area, charge via the house mains for a brief moment before the power cuts out again. With camping or roadtripping, you could get several more days of power by juicing quickly a starbucks or something like that if you arent driving+charging from the 12v input enough to offset the amount you're consuming.
One more thing it advertises which is a little misleading is it's XBOOST function on the AC power output. It claims it can power devices rated higher than 600W, but what it ACTUALLY does is caps the power output to that device TO 600W. This is fine if its something that doesnt really care much about the wattage, like my 800W electric kettle (again, camping), it will cap the output at 600W which still allows the kettle to work albeit at a longer time to boil. Dont expect to run some fancy electronics or a heavy duty appliance that actually need to run more than 600W on this properly, its a gimmick that has a few rare purposes. Their examples all involve heating elements like kettles and hair dryers, "dumb" technology I guess.
If you can work within the confines of the device its fantastic value compared to other brands like goalzero or jackery.
Can RIVER Pro be used as an uninterruptible power supply (UPS)?
It can be an emergency power source (EPS), which will have the same result as UPS for most electronics. Here's the difference. When your RIVER Pro is plugged into the wall, anything plugged into it gets power from the grid, not its battery. If power from the grid stops, RIVER Pro automatically switches to its battery supply mode within 30 milliseconds. That means anything connected will not have power for 30 milliseconds, which may mean sensitive electronics like desktop computers and data servers turn off. Test your devices individually to see if they need UPS to stay powered.
A typical propane tank you hook up to a BBQ grill holds 20 lbs of propane, or 9.07 kg.
If you assume the propane is run through a generator with 20% efficiency, it will produce:
(13777.8 Wh/kg) * (9.07 kg) * (0.2) = 24,993 Wh.
The River 600 Pro is rated for 720 Wh. So a single BBQ propane tank can produce as much electricity as 34.7 River 600 Pros.
Their estimate is 220 W panels will charge this to full in 4-8 hours (call it 6 hours). 720Wh / (6 hours * 220 W) = 0.545 capacity factor. Typical PV solar capacity factor in the desert southwest US is about 0.19. Double that if you exclude 12 hours of night, to get 0.38. So you'll only achieve their 6 hour figure in the desert southwest, on a sunny day, close to noon, if you constantly adjust the panels to keep them pointed at the sun.
Average capacity factor for the contiguous U.S. overall is about 0.145 (dipping to 0.1 for the northern states). So if you leave 220W of panels in a fixed position for a day on a sunny day elsewhere in the U.S., it will produce about (2200W)*(24 h)*(0.145) = 766 Wh in a day. So yes you could top it off every day with just solar if you completely depleted it each night.
But the 20 lb propane tank's energy generation is equivalent to over a month of recharging this with 220 W panels. These lithium battery "solar generators" have their place, but don't for an instant think they come anywhere close to the electrical generating capacity of petroleum distillates or even alcohol fuels. A propane generator can produce as much electricity as the full capacity of the River 600 Pro every half hour for the better part of a full day. The primary reason gas and propane generators don't actually give you a month of electricity is that their efficiency plummets when they're not under heavy load. The engine is tuned for peak efficiency at a narrow power output range (usually around max power, around 1500-2000 Watts in the smallest generators), and it wastes a lot of fuel if you're not running it in that band.
So you want propane for high-power continuous uses (AC, cooking, heating water, powering your entire house during an emergency, etc.), while you want the lithium battery pack for low-power intermittent uses. (Recharging phones and other devices, powering a radio, running a portable refrigerator, etc.) Heck, running a generator for an hour to completely charge this (or 2-3 of them), then shutting the generator off and using the battery until it needs recharging again, would actually be a more efficient use of your propane.
If I lived in a hurricane area, I'd get a gas/propane generator over a solar generator. I'd still have one of the fold out solar panels for phones and whatnot though in case there was a break in weather.
where is a good place to look into using it as a back up for my house
thanks
20 pound propane tanks are often referred to as grill cylinders and hold 4.6 gallons of propane when full.
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Our community has rated this post as helpful. If you agree, why not thank amarr
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=paYfM8N
where is a good place to look into using it as a back up for my house
thanks
You need the Delta Pro. If you already have a transfer switch for a gas generator, you don't need anything else.
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