Portable Power Station

[Shirlv]

Hurricane season can last into November. There are 3 more potential threats lurking in the Atlantic. Maryland has had a couple damaging hurricanes in the past. I am trying to prepare for power outage. Maybe someone can explain exactly what a power station would power. Any information about any other devices would be helpful. I know Sue has a whole house something but I am not thing that grand.

[Shirlv]

Ignore post I found good information

[Cudedog]

Hurricane season can last into November. There are 3 more potential threats lurking in the Atlantic. Maryland has had a couple damaging hurricanes in the past. I am trying to prepare for power outage. Maybe someone can explain exactly what a power station would power. Any information about any other devices would be helpful. I know Sue has a whole house something but I am not thing that grand.

Shirl, I did read your follow-on post (happy you found good info - please post about that if you are able), but I wanted to thank you for making your original post about a power station.

I have been thinking about getting a small power station for quite a while. Although we don't - normally - have hurricanes in northern California (southern California had a small one last year) we do have fires, floods (my then-foothill home was without power for about two weeks once due to severe valley flooding) and windstorms (and various other things!) that cause power outages.

I know that Sue has a nice whole-house generator, and that Karen has a really nice gasoline generator (thanks for sharing your info with me, Karen). But for myself, I have been thinking of a battery power station. This won't work so well as a whole-house generator (too expensive for me) or a gasoline generator (a lot of maintenance involved, and a bit noisy).

But with a battery power station you have less ability to power various devices - and they don't require gasoline. Another plus for me is that I already have a pair of portable, 200w solar panels. So if things really went into the dumpster, and gasoline became scarce or unavailable (like I am unfortunately reading in the aftermath of Helene) a battery power station has no problem at all in being re-charged with solar panels.

So, major benefit is no gasoline needed.

I have been looking at the Jackery brand of battery power station for at least a year, and, Shirl, since you mentioned this I went on Amazon to see current pricing.

Just now Jackery is having some kind of sale, and the prices are MUCH lower than I have ever seen them, sale ends October 6. If I can determine that I can find an input plug that will work with my solar panels, I think I just might snag one of these little units.

If anyone out there has experience with a battery unit - not just the Jackery, but maybe some other kind - I would like to hear from you too.

Thanks again, Shirl. Good topic for this time of the year.

Anne

[Bethers]

Shirl asked me to pay this link:

https://www.jackery.com/blogs/knowledge/what-is-a-power-bank

[Shirlv]

Anne, I was unable to post link, maybe Beth will be success-full. Maryland’s eastern shore is very flat so no rushing water down mountains. There is danger of surging tides. High winds are alway a threat. I am surrounded by ginormous pine trees. I had a take with Mother Nature, one ole gal to another but don’t think so was listening. I can only try to keep in touch with the outside world so will get a portable power station.. my heart goes out to all those who are dealing with the horrible devastation.



WOW Beth that was quick, thanks

[Cudedog]

see next post

[Cudedog]

Thank you, Shirl, for the link - and thank you, Beth, for posting it.

Interesting that this link is for the Jackery brand. This is the brand that I have been looking at for quite a long time (at least two years), and this is the brand that has several units just now at quite a discount (up to 40%) on Amazon.

I am giving serious thought to this one:

https://a.co/d/bi0E4ew

(By the way - this same unit shows as $549.99 on your link, Shirl - it is currently $498.00 on Amazon. A large savings that is pushing me into making the decision.)

It is not the largest, but it should serve my emergency needs, plus it is light weight enough that I can lift it (24 pounds) to be able to take it with me camping - and it can be recharged by my car or with my solar panels (and with a wall outlet plug, of course - when the power is on).

This terrible hurricane is certainly a wake-up call for this kind of device.

Thanks, ladies!

Anne

[Shirlv]

Anne, I am looking at the same item

[Cudedog]

Anne, I am looking at the same item

Thanks, Shirl! Please let me know what you decide. I'm still trying to find connecting cables that will work with the solar panels I have to the Jackery.

Fun!!

Anne

[Cudedog]

Jumping back in here on this topic.

I was all set to pull the trigger on the Jackery this evening. . . and then I read the reviews. Currently 9% One-Star (the lowest rating). . . and climbing.

I read over these 1-Star reviews, and they have given me something to think about. Only 72% 5-Star, and as noted above, 9% 1-Star. For a known company that has been in business a long time, this isn't great. Pretty bad, actually.

Add to that, a lot of the poor reviews stated that the older versions of the product were actually superior to the "new and improved" versions. Several of the reviews also said that their new unit wouldn't charge with a solar panel (even though there is an input for a solar panel) due to some Tech problem - and that Tech support was a major pain to get on the phone, and have people with poor English skills. I definitely want solar panel backup to be able to charge whatever it is I end up with - and I definitely don't want to deal with poor Tech support, should I need it.

So decided not to pull the trigger just yet - I'm going to look at what EcoFlow has to offer tomorrow. Bob Wells, the van-life guy, said in one of his YouTube videos that he prefers EcoFlow.

So now I guess I need to do my own due diligence.

Stay tuned.

Anne

[Shirlv]

Anne, I have been reading too. I do not have solar panels and not buying. I only want to charge my cell and iPad so don’t need all that power. Family not interested in more either. Baby steps for this newbie. lol thanks for your input. Let us know what you decide

[Cudedog]

Good morning.

Well, I spent much of last night and this morning researching battery power stations (Jackery, EcoFlow and Bluetti) and have come to the conclusion that I think I am closing the door on the idea of the high-priced battery power station thing.

I have read up on the three main brands - Jackery, EcoFlow and Bluetti. From reading maybe 50 reviews on each of these, and reading general information about them elsewhere, it seems to me that:

1.) Part of what I am getting from reading reviews is that people truly don't understand the severe limitations of these devices. Many of the reviews (although certainly not all) said things like "I only used my Jackery-EcoFlow-Bluetti for "x" numbers of minutes to power my (you name it) device - and then it totally died!!"

I think part of the problem here is that (for example) the Jackery we have been talking about has three places to plug in your regular two-prong plug. This is really misleading - especially to someone who doesn't have a working knowledge of watt hours and electricity. Your average person might think, "Wow! I can run my vacuum and refrigerator and hair dryer all at the same time!!"

Um. . .not so much.

The wh rating (wh meaning watt hours) of a device is the first thing that I look at when considering a device like this one. For example, the Jackery we have been talking about is rated at 1070wh . This might sound like a lot of juice, but the Jackery should only be discharged to no less than 20%. So, to round things off without the need to get out my calculator, this means only 800wh that are available.

Still sound like a lot? Again, not so much. Think about a 100-watt light bulb (Yeah, LOL, I know - lightbulbs from the old days). This particular Jackery might run eight (8) 100w light bulbs continuously for (maybe!) one (1) hour. Then it is empty, and will need an 8 hour or so recharge.

8 100w bulbs x 1 hour = 800wh.

The other, cheaper, Jackery's/Ecoflows/Bluetti's/etc. will provide a lot less power than this.

In order to understand the power draw of any devices one might wish to run with the Jackery, etc. (forget about your vacuum and refrigerator and hair dryer) one must determine the power draw of each of your individual devices.

And the caveat from my reading seems to be: Your mileage may vary. And probably will.

LOL. And I am leaving out the "surge" part of electrical devices needed when they first start up. My math is not that great.

2.) Looks like, to me at least, the technology just isn't quite "there" yet. Lotta over-the-top (and misleading) ads showing a young couple at a remote campsite somewhere with their latte machine plugged into their battery-based-power-station (who would lug a latte machine to a campground, anyway?). Also the general population hasn't yet educated itself on what their actual back-up electricity needs are - and how to put sufficient back-up plans/devices in place.

3.) (This really has nothing much to do with battery power stations) I have decided to put a personal
moratorium against companies that sell high-dollar-items to the American public, but don't care enough to hire tech-support people with English language skills adequate enough so that I can understand what they say - not to mention to train these tech support people enough so that they can actually help with actual tech support.

I'm done with these companies. Life it too short.

To sum up: It seems that most (all?) of the current issue of battery-based power stations forces a person to jump through hoops (with lousy to non-existent tech support) just to keep them going - and (even with a lot of hoop-jumping) the failure rate of these devices is still unacceptably high.

Alternatives? Yes, maybe. My son-in-law requested this small and relatively inexpensive battery back up item for a Christmas gift last year. My son-in-law works in computer network security, so he really knows his stuff. $59.00. This won't power a phone or an Ipad forever - but it definitely will help them to keep going in a power outage.

Anyone can look around, do their own research, and purchase whatever they might like. This is the requested item I bought for my son-in-law:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08VDJP7WN?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title&th=1



Again, your mileage may vary. And probably will.

Have PM'd Karen to ask her - again - about the nifty little gasoline generator she bought last year.

Thanks for reading. You all have a nice day.

Gonna be HOT here again today. Hope I don't melt.

Anne

[Bethers]

Shirl, for what you want I recommend getting a power pack just for that purpose. I've been using them for years when boondocking. I Just looked on Amazon and here are two screenshots of one powerful one that works with IPhone. There are many others.



You snuck in Anne. These things are great. The one I picked I did because it has more power stored at a lower price. Either would be a great start for charging devices.

[Cudedog]

Shirl, for what you want I recommend getting a power pack just for that purpose. I've been using them for years when boondocking. I Just looked on Amazon and here are two screenshots of one powerful one that works with IPhone. There are many others.

You snuck in Anne. These things are great. The one I picked I did because it has more power stored at a lower price. Either would be a great start for charging devices.

This is an area of technology that I am just now beginning to explore. The exploration part is always fun. Beth, you definitely have one up on me in this department.

I actually already have one of these hand-held battery things, that I check once in a while to be sure that it remains active and charged. I'm going to look at the one you just mentioned as well - for about the price of a fast-food meal or two, looks like I could just about double the back up I currently have for my phone.

Another issue that maybe should be mentioned here (LOL - although maybe not, because I really don't want to think on the implications) is that if there is a major power outage, due to some kind of major disaster affecting the electrical grid. . . cell towers (if they are powered by the grid) will be down, too.

Maybe for a longish period of time. . . Although this is beginning to change - some cell companies are now beginning to install back up power for their towers.

LOL. Always something new to think about!!

Fun topic, everyone. Thanks.

Anne

[Bethers]

And combine these with a smaller generator like Karen has and you have the ability to charge them when you have the generator on. I took my devices with on my car/ camping trip. Yes, often the cell towers go down but even then sometimes you can at least get a message out here and there.