How many times did you lose power at home over the summer period? In our household, it was three times. Unfortunately, it seems that this is a common experience. The good news was those power cuts were short, and I had the EcoFlow Delta 3 Plus to power my fridge and electrical devices.
I put EcoFlow’s latest portable power station to the test to see how it stood up to my home’s needs.
Table of contents
- Why do you need a Delta 3 Plus power station?
- Features
- How do you charge a portable power station?
- Specifications and price
- Using the Delta 3 Plus
- Who is it for?
Why do you need a Delta 3 Plus power station?
The Delta 3 Plus is a lithium battery that can power 240-volt household appliances, 12-volt cigarette lighter socket devices like a camping fridge, and USB-powered gadgets like laptops and smartphones.
The benefit is that it can supply power when there is no mains power available, whether at home, on a job site, or while camping. This power station is also highly portable and quiet and emits no nasty petrol fumes. It is as much at home in your car as in your house.
Features
Having tested other brands’ power stations previously, I first noticed whilst unboxing that the similar 1024Wh battery is about 20% lighter at 12.5kg. The size is comparable to a small bucket on its side, which means it is really portable, with one person able to move it between the house and the car.
The Delta 3 Plus can output up to 1800 watts and, for short periods, surge up to 3600W, which might be needed to start an electric motor. In simple terms, this power station will power most appliances you can plug into a household power outlet, including a hair dryer. The battery capacity could keep your average home refrigerator going for 5-10 hours or a TV for 8 hours in a blackout. A circular saw could run for about 40 minutes on a job site. Those travelling remotely could power their laptop for 16 hours or recharge their smartphone about 90 times.
EcoFlow includes 40 protective measures against current, voltage, temperature, and circuit risks within the power station. This means maximum safety is integrated to prevent fires and electrical short circuits.
How do you charge a portable power station?
The simplest way to charge the Delta is from a power point where it can be fully charged from empty in under an hour. That’s provided you have mains power available when it’s time to charge. Some portable power stations also double as solar power stations because they can be charged using solar panels.
The Delta 3 Plus can accept 1500 watts of solar power, but realistically, you would probably buy around 400W of panels, which, if in full sun, should charge your power station to full in the day. Seasonal differences, the angle of the panels, and cloud cover affect the actual output of the panels. A solar charging cable ($40) is not included in the box, which is disappointing.
The third and most exciting charging method is relatively new in the portable power station space but very common in traditional in-vehicle separate-component power setups. This solution is known as alternator charging. The Delta 3 Plus comes with a cigarette lighter charger, but this will only charge at 100W, meaning you must drive for 10 hours to charge from flat. However, EcoFlow sells a $599 800W alternator charger. This charger will restore your Delta 3 Plus to 100% in less than an hour and 20 minutes of driving. Don’t worry; the charger has protection to ensure your car battery is not drained and the electrics are safe.
If you are a confident DIY-er, the alternator charger has the required cable and fuse. It is as simple as running the cable to your engine bay and attaching it to your battery.
The EcoFlow Alternator charger can also work in reverse, so if your car battery goes flat, you can send power from the Delta 3 Plus back to your battery to enable your vehicle to start. This same theory can also expand an RV or Caravan battery system by drawing or returning power to the RV’s battery, increasing your storage capacity by 1024Wh or 80 Amps in the old-school measure.
In my tests, I drew 801W from the alternator and was also able to supply 164W back to my vehicle’s battery from the EcoFlow. I’ll need more testing time to determine if It will charge 800W in reverse.
The alternator charger is controlled via the EcoFlow App and connects via Wi-Fi.
EcoFlow Delta 3 Plus specifications and price
| Battery Capacity | 1024 Wh |
| AC output | 1800 watts |
| Dimensions | 40 x 20 x 28.5 cm |
| Weight | 12.5 kg |
| Price (RRP) | $1,599 |
| Website | EcoFlow |
| Warranty | 5 years |
Using the Delta 3 Plus
The Delta 3 comes ready to work straight out of the box after you have charged it. From the app, you can adjust how quickly the Delta will charge during what hours and to what capacity of the battery, e.g. 90% capacity. If you charge the EcoFlow every day for 11 years, its battery capacity is guaranteed to be 80% or greater than that of the brand-new product due to battery degradation.
On the front of the unit, you will find three buttons. The centre button turns the power station on. The left button activates the four 240-volt Australian power sockets, and the right button activates the USB sockets.
There are two USB-C 140W sockets capable of powering a laptop computer and two USB-A 36W sockets for a smartphone. On the rear of the unit, you will find another button that activates the single cig socket, which can be used, for example, to run a camping fridge. I ran my 72-litre camping fridge at 2 degrees Celsius for 47 hours before the EcoFlow reached 10%.
All these sources can be run simultaneously, but the bigger the attached devices draw, the shorter the battery will last. All unit charging happens via ports on the back of the unit.
Compared to other brands, the EcoFlow App is very impressive. The flexibility of adjustments you can make in the product settings will keep even the most gadget-orientated individuals happy. It connects via Wi-Fi and Bluetooth to the power station, allowing you to monitor your Delta 3 remotely, assuming the power station has a Wi-Fi connection.
Each of the three power outputs discussed above can be switched on and off remotely, allowing you to switch any connected devices on and off remotely. The app also has some excellent graphs showing power usage, but note that this only works when the Delta 3 Plus has access to the internet. Any new software improvements are also delivered via the app.
If you don’t want to charge to 100% or run the unit below 10%, then limits can be set in the app. Power can be used or dispensed according to electricity costs. Power can be reserved for outages, and so on. There is so much flexibility and features in the app far beyond those of other manufacturers. You can even have your power station integrated with Google Nest, Tapo (TP-Link), Tado, etc.
If you did not think this product was versatile enough already, it also functions as an uninterruptible power supply (UPS). I have had the PC I am writing this article on connected to the power station; if we have another storm blackout I will not lose this story. This could be used for a CPAP machine or a fridge to ensure continuous operation. The overhead of using as a UPS I measured at about 15W an hour.
To be comprehensive, I asked EcoFlow could the unit be used on its side. Their response:
“We do not recommend using the product on its side. By doing that, it might cause imbalance of pressure on the circuit board and other parts. Apart from that, the device vents are located in the back. Standing on its side might affect the ventilation.”
Who is the EcoFlow Delta 3 Plus for?
The EcoFlow Deltra 3 Plus is for anyone who wants access to power when mains power is unavailable. It is light enough to transport easily between your house and the car and will power everything from your smartphone to an angle grinder, to a fridge, to a hair dryer.
If you want to do smart things with this power station, like schedule charging or integrate with other smart devices, then this power station app will do what other competitors will not.
Finally, if you want fast charging and the ability to reverse power back to a vehicle’s battery or an RV battery bank, the EcoFlow alternator charger is one of the best solutions on the market.
GadgetGuy occasionally uses affiliate links and may receive a small commission from purchased products.
The post EcoFlow Delta 3 Plus review: Portable uninterrupted power appeared first on GadgetGuy.
About admin
0 (mga) komento:
Mag-post ng isang Komento