Energy
Tuesday, August 2nd, 2022 10:50 am EDT
When I get a portable power station, I like to test it to the max, or as close to the maximum as possible. So, when I got the EcoFlow DELTA Pro power station to test, I was a little bit stumped at first. With a maximum continuous load rating of 3600 watts (7200 peak load), I wasn’t sure how to give it a really tough test. But, with the help of a family member who owns an RV, I was able to make the unit work hard.
Before I get to the RV test, I want to cover some basic information about the EcoFlow DELTA Pro and the killer system it’s part of.
A Seriously Beefy Power Station That Can Play On A CleanTech Team
If you want an in-depth review of the station’s features and capabilities, I’d recommend checking out my colleague Kyle Field’s article. Here, I’m going to cover the basics.
Let’s just start out by saying that the power station is the biggest and heaviest portable power station I’ve tested. It’s about as big as a serious gaming computer, but weighs in at a whopping 98 pounds. But, it makes full use of the 98 pounds to give you 3.6 kWh of battery storage. If you drew the full 3600 continuous watts from it, it would last about an hour. But, as I’ll explain later, it’s tough to find a load that pulls that much power.
Unless you’re trying to go backpacking, the weight really isn’t a big deal. Why? Because the unit has a retractable carry handle and where are big skateboard wheels on one end. So, you can roll it around anywhere that doesn’t have rough terrain. Carpet, sidewalks, and well-packed dirt are no challenge. I even pulled it through some sandy patches with some extra effort and it went right back to rolling after. So, it’s pretty easy to deal with.
If that wasn’t impressive enough, the unit can work as part of an ecosystem. There are batteries you can get for extra storage, and with two DELTA Pros and four batteries, you can get an impressive 25 kWh and power your whole home via a panel an electrician can install. You can even get 240 volts out of two units with an available adapter. It can also be charged with solar power, up to kilowatts of it, to serve as a complete off-grid power solution. They even make an air conditioner that I recently reviewed that’s designed to efficiently work with the unit.
It can be charged using a wall outlet (up to 1500 watts in to charge in 2.5 hours), via a cigarette lighter plug (which would take quite a while), and via solar (which would depend on how much solar you feed into it, light quality, etc.). Output can happen via household 110-volt plugs, a 30-amp RV outlet, USB ports, a 12 volt cigarette lighter plug, and several other ports. It can power just about anything.
Here are the specifications/numbers:
- Price: $3,599
- Capacity: 3,600Wh
- Battery Chemistry: LFP
- Extra Battery: Support up to two DELTA Pro Smart Extra Battery/Smart Generator
- AC Output: 5 outlets, 3,600W total (Surge 7,200W)
- Max Device(s) Power Supported by X-Boost: 4,500W
- USB-A Output: 2 ports, 5V, 2.4A, 12W Max per port
- USB-A Fast Charge: 2 ports, 5V, 2.4A / 9V, 2A / 12V, 1.5A, 18W Max per port
- USB-C Output: 2 ports, 5/9/12/15/20V, 5A, 100W Max per port
- Car Power Output: 12.6V, 10A, 126W Max
- DC5521 Output: 2 ports, 12.6V, 3A, 38W Max per port
- Anderson Port: 12.6V, 30A
- AC Charging Input: 1800W Max, 120V~15A, 3000W Max, 240V~12.5A
- Solar Charging Input: 1600W Max, 11-150V, 15A
- Car Charging Input: Support 12V/24V battery, 8A
- Cycle Life: 6,500 cycles to 50% capacity, 3,500 cycles to 80% capacity
- Shelf Life: 1 year (after a full charge)
- Connection: Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, wired
- Net Weight: 99 lb/45 kg
- Dimensions: 25*11.2*16.4 in / 63.5*28.4*42cm
How I Gave The Unit A Hard Initial Test
While I plan on taking the unit camping, charging an EV with it, using it for air conditioning, and doing several other things, I wanted to give the DELTA Pro a serious test of power output to see what it could do or whether it would crumble under the stress or work as advertised. One thing I thought of was running extension cords and running several appliances at the same time and cooking a meal on it, which would have worked, but seemed like a clunky test.
I noticed that the unit has a 30-amp 120-volt plug like you’d find at an RV park, and that seemed like an invitation to, well, plug an RV into it. Fortunately, I have several relatives with RVs (and it’s a club I intend to join at some point). So, I charged the unit up, loaded it in the back seat of my car, and took it over.
Rolling it up next to the RV was pretty easy, and it’s set up so that you can put it on its back if needed (but I wouldn’t leave it that way). The RV’s 30-amp plug went right in and the unit immediately started supplying a whopping 12 watts. The RV’s battery was already full, so we were basically just running a couple of LED lights. The big thing at this point was that it was working.
The EcoFlow DELTA Pro powering a family member’s RV and air conditioner.
We went inside and turned the AC on. As soon as we did that, the display on the DELTA Pro showed about 400 watts, which was just from the AC unit’s fan. After a bit, the air conditioner’s compressor kicked in and showed that the camper was pulling about 1400 watts to start cooling off the camper on high. This wasn’t a problem at all for the unit.
To make it work harder, we then boiled a cup of water in the RV’s microwave. This pulled the power draw up to 3,000 watts, which made the unit’s cooling fans kick on. But, this wasn’t a problem, no matter how many cups of water we boiled. At that power draw level, the app (connected by Bluetooth) said it would last just over an hour, but nobody runs a microwave for an hour.
Bottom line: the unit works as advertised for high power draws, and would work pretty well for small to mid-sized RVs. You wouldn’t be able to run the power-hungry stock air conditioner most campers come with (manufacturers assumed you’re going to park at RV parks or use a generator), but if you were to get a more efficient air conditioner (like the Wave), you could run air conditioning all night if needed. Or, buy more battery capacity. Or both.
In future testing, I’m going to use it to power a campsite (with an air conditioned tent) and use it for backup home electricity.
Featured image by Jennifer Sensiba.
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