I am in the market to shop for a 1k watt capable power station but am wondering if anyone with depth knowledge can give some pointers. The reason I need 1k watt is to power a hair dryer. I have very infrequent blackouts but wife is hell bent on having ways to dry her hair as a necessity. That and I go camping once a year, and having a sizable battery to blow up my self inflating mattress is convenient (it requires AC and my 300watt 12v dc converter won’t cut it, where my friend’s 800w worked). Lastly, when I do have black out, I can power some things such as fridges, and a few aquarium, all periodically in case the outage is over 24 hours.
What the price break down of a power station to look for? Jackery seems very popular, but I also see offbrands selling for around $300 to $500, where former is around $1000. Is it worth the premium to get a name brand? Should one only look for power spec, since at the end of the day, its just battery and BMS that I want right?
They have lots of reviews on individual units as well.
Check cell type (cycle capability), weight, warranty, reviews.
I am no expert. I have three units in the 500 to 600 watt/hour units. Bought them because they were on sale cheap ( imean ~$130 cheap) . I have only used them a couple of times, and they work fine. I could give you specifics, but none of them will give you the 1KW that you want.
Amazon has discounts on lots of the “Solar Generators” right now for prime day.
Unless it’s a little travel one or you keep it on the lower settings. But you’re really pushing its limit. I wouldn’t want to overload those jackery’s. Ever see a teardown video of one? Giant brick of Alibaba brand 18650s with a bunch of aluminum heatsinks on top. I don’t wanna know what the offbrand ones look like. I’m sure it’s got safety and stuff built in, the boards look nice, the wires are thick and all that. But I’m not messing around with it. Not at the limit.
Maybe get her a 600 watt dryer… and explain it is as a stop gap in an emergency only. If you are going to have a protracted power outage, there may be more important things to power. Or maybe no hair wash for a day or so… or air drying…
I know, I know, there is no logic to this kind of thing…
This is actually a really good suggestion on the lower wattage dryer. I didn’t think of it. The usage isn’t just for hair dryer, its also to power the fridges and other things, but obviously nothing sucks up electricity like a hair dryer since you are converting it into a lot of heat.
That looks like a really good deal, but I am skeptical on the weight for 1000w only at 17.8lbs while ecoflow delta 2 at 1024w weighs 27lbs. Grecell must be cutting some corners, either less heatsink or less than actual claimed capacity.
I just looked at the hair dryer after someone saying 1000w won’t work, he’s right. My dryer is 1879w , fortunately, it has 4 settings, low fan and low heat is probably 1/4 to 1/2 just by guessing. But maybe I should go buy a “kid sized” hair dryer instead just for emergencies. yeah… that’s my life.
The surge current for a hair drier should be low because there is not much load on the fan and the element is a resistance load.
I am looking at building a power setup that will last a weekend without charging. 15kwh of LFP cells fits in a box 350mm x 600mm x 250mm deep. That would run the hair drier for what 7hrs roughly.
Looks like (googleing) pure energy density of lfp’s about 2L for 1kw. But you need cooling, bms, wires, and stacking efficiency loss. I don’t think that size is possible, even if you somehow manage it, it won’t be sustainable?
If you are camping for a weekend you won’t run the hair dryer for 7hrs straight…unless it’s really cold. So the load on the cells is not enough to need cooling. I have 16 302ah cells in a plywood box that size in my lounge room balanced ready to assemble right now. They are for my house, I also have 16 100ah cells balancing now. Another 16 on the way. It took me many failed attempts but looks like I have found a reliable supplier. The 302ah cell were cheap and in the country came on a pallet. The 100ah cells 48 total planned came in a van. I saved $1300 smaller cells but they will be in parallel. 3 batteries 5.4kwh. 32kwh total.
My mobility mower gets li ion upgrade from 3.6kwhlead acid to my old 7.6kwh battery. There is around 300 5000mah 21700s. It has hardly been cycled. It is a small battery. The the mower is getting an inverter added. Probably connected to my micro grid. I have stripped them down and I will make acrylic boxes so they slot in under the seat. I use it as a mobility scooter. To visit neighbours, go to the servo,
It is not so hard to do. If I spend 15k on batteries same on panels. I have diesel backup. Then my power bill is 2000 a year for 15 years but they are likely to last 25 maybe 35 years if looked after. And in parallel I can take them off line and into storage or camping. And leave the main battery for fridges and stuff. Having them in parallel also allows for a staggered purchase and replacement.
It is becoming affordable.
I’m not using the hair dryer. I’m keeping my 200w TV on the whole time tho lmao
, fortunately, it has 4 settings, low fan and low heat is probably 1/4 to 1/2 just by guessing. But maybe I should go buy a “kid sized” hair dryer instead just for emergencies. yeah… that’s my life.