This battery business is getting out of control.
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| Wallbox Quasar 2 |
"At the 2022 Consumer Electronics Show (CES), Wallbox Industries will unveil its second-generation bidirectional home charging station for the North American market."
Like its predecessor, the Wallbox Quasar 2 can draw power from an EV's battery pack, allowing the car to serve as an emergency backup power source for homes. Bidirectional charging effectively turns electric cars into energy-storage units, giving homeowners more flexibility in energy use, Wallbox said in a press release.
Chuck Egg reports:
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| EcoFlow RIVER Max Portable Power Station |
I own an EcoFlow River Max "Portable Power Station" and a portable foldable solar panel (which is much more expensive now than when I bought it a couple years ago. Supply line issue, perhaps?)
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| PAXCESS 120W 18V Portable Solar Panel |
My mom has COPD and uses two oxygen generators. Her smaller transportable battery powered oxygen unit can be charged and powered by 110v or a 12v (cigarette lighter) outlet.. The Oxygen unit's detachable battery can run the O2 generator for up to about 4 hours. When we inquired about a second battery we were told the price was about $400 because it is a "medical device". So, instead, I bought the EcoFlow Battery because it was just a few dollars more, but had a lot more potential uses since it has 110v, 12v and USB outlets.
In fact, we've used the EcoFlow to extend battery power for a few extra hours on mom's O2 machine, but more often we've used the Ecoflow battery to power our internet router, computers, TV, and LED lights when the power has gone out for short periods.
In the summer, I connect the Ecoflow to a portable solar panel to charge the Ecoflow battery, then use the USB ports to charge, for free, our phones, tablets and laptops.
No, the cost for a high watt-hour battery backup may not make sense for the average household, but a lot of people use them for temporary power during outages and a lot more people use them with solar panels when they are camping. I've loaned my Ecoflow out to friends a few times during power outages and they've used it to brew a pot of coffee, watch TV, and charge their cell phones.
The Ecoflow I use has a high wattage button that allows the battery to power a table saw, circular saw, or other power tools which may be more convenient than running an extension cord.
The Ecoflow unit we use has a capacity of 576 watt hours. It's simple math to calculate how long the battery will power LED lighting (at several watts per hour, per bulb) or an internet router (2-3 watts per hour), etc. The battery displays remaining power in both watt hours and minutes at the current load.
Power tool companies are making widgets that make 110VAC from power tool batteries. They don't deliver a lot of power and they don't last long, but there seems to be a market for them, charging phones, or job sites without 110 where you don't want to run a generator.
We seldom get hit with power outages. I wonder if being just down the street from Intel's Ronler Acres multi-billion dollar computer chip factory has anything to do with that. I kind of suspect that they went to a lot of trouble and expense to make sure their money printing machine has a reliable supply of 'lectricity.
While some people are making a lot of noise about how electric cars are more efficient, save you money and are good for the environment, that's all it is, a lot of noise. What it's really all about is convenience. I have a smartphone. I don't like it very much but I carry it with me everywhere because it is very useful. I like my gasoline powered truck, but having to go out of my way to reach a gas station and then wait in line to buy gas is annoying and inconvenient.
Me, I'll put up with all kinds of annoying bullshit if it means I don't have to spend any money, but now I'm thinking about spending $80 for a new printer so I don't have to walk upstairs to get my one page of printout or figure out how to connect my Linux box to the printer on my wife's Windows box. I mean I already spent an hour on this and got nowhere. Yes, I still use paper and pencil for some things.
3 comments:
I have a 230V Honda portable generator which runs on petrol and delivers just 800W.
The most difficult thing was running extra wiring through the house to support the 4 or 5 devices using these 800 Watts as an alternative to the mains power.
I've had it 33 years now but the only use so far has been running it at the start of winter every year to check that it does actually start up.
It's voodoo. Make a sacrifice (shelling out cold hard cash to purchase a generator) to the gods of continuous power and you shall be blessed. Kind of like fire extinguishers and guns.
When I lived in Washington State, we had power outages every winter. I bought a dual-fuel Champion generator from Costco. It offered 7000 watts and I ran it on Propane from BBQ tanks. I paid $600 for the generator and about $400 for the installation of a manual transfer switch in my electrical breaker panel. Every winter I ran the generator at least once to test it, and at least once to heat and light my house.
My electric utility, Puget Sound Energy, was completely out to lunch when it came to protecting its (our) power lines. You could call them and say, "There's a tree hanging over the power lines at such and such address" and they would absolutely ignore you. But every winter our region would have hundreds of widespread outages lasting up to 24 hours, or more, and the media would praise the PSE repair teams for working so hard to restore everyone's power.
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