Ecoflow battery w/ Apex EB832
- Thread starter finalphaze987
- Start date
My battery backup is an old laptop that I keep charged, and a usb bubbler from amazon
tribbitt
Supporting Member
I should probably get a good backup before the storms come.
Any budget-friendly options? I don't have much money to spend, and online they all look to be quite expensive if you want reliability.
My tanks, together, use 120w for low flow + heat (assuming the heaters go continuously -- which they don't), and 4-500w if I run everything like usual.
Any budget-friendly options? I don't have much money to spend, and online they all look to be quite expensive if you want reliability.
My tanks, together, use 120w for low flow + heat (assuming the heaters go continuously -- which they don't), and 4-500w if I run everything like usual.
MarcosDelgado0
Supporting Member
This will probably be your best bet on a budget
EcoFlow RIVER 2 Portable Power Station 256Wh Generator LFP Certified Refurbished | eBay
EcoFlow RIVER 2---Power. Never Been This Easy. Q1:How long can the RIVER 2 power my appliances?. X-Boost can run devices that require up to 600W. However, it's best to test before use. 80%+ capacity after 3000 cycles.
www.ebay.com
Attachments
+1 on the refurb ones, really good deal. These LiFePO4 batteries have a long lifetime too vs. the old lead acid ones.This will probably be your best bet on a budget
EcoFlow RIVER 2 Portable Power Station 256Wh Generator LFP Certified Refurbished | eBay
EcoFlow RIVER 2---Power. Never Been This Easy. Q1:How long can the RIVER 2 power my appliances?. X-Boost can run devices that require up to 600W. However, it's best to test before use. 80%+ capacity after 3000 cycles.www.ebay.com
tribbitt
Supporting Member
Uh. It says 256wh. I guess if you assume the heater's on half the time, my power consumption goes to 60w for both tanks flow + heat. Would that would make the battery last like 4h? Unless I'm not understanding something properlyThis will probably be your best bet on a budget
EcoFlow RIVER 2 Portable Power Station 256Wh Generator LFP Certified Refurbished | eBay
EcoFlow RIVER 2---Power. Never Been This Easy. Q1:How long can the RIVER 2 power my appliances?. X-Boost can run devices that require up to 600W. However, it's best to test before use. 80%+ capacity after 3000 cycles.www.ebay.com
MarcosDelgado0
Supporting Member
Run time≈256Wh*0.85/operating wattage. That’ll give you roughly 217.6Wh of actual power. If your power consumption ends up being 60w, your battery will last roughly 3.62 hours. I think most people prioritize flow (power head/return pump) instead of lights/heaters. If you want to run a heater on a battery, you’d need multiple or a big battery.
MarcosDelgado0
Supporting Member
They also have larger models if you need more power. They’re just more expensive, but these EcoFlow Refurbished models will be the best bang for your buck if you’re on a budge IMO. I have two of these:
EcoFlow RIVER 2 Max Power Station 512Wh LFP Generator Certified Refurbished | eBay
Q1: How long can the RIVER 2 Max power my appliances?. 100-120V 50Hz/60Hz, 660W Max. 11-50V, 13A, 220W Max. 12V/24V, 8A, 100W Max. 5/9/12/15/20V, 5A, 100W Max. 12.6V, 10A/3A/3A, 126W Max. 5V, 2.4A, 12W Max.
www.ebay.com
Assuming I run only my return pump and two MP10s at 100% (which I don’t), that’d be drawing in 66w. I have two batteries so each would last me a little over 6 1/2hrs each. I’m not sure about where you live but where I live, the power has never been out more than a few hours. We don’t get storms like other states where the power is out for days. I probably would’ve been fine with one battery but got a spare just in case.
tribbitt
Supporting Member
No heat is ok?? I guess as long as temp stays above 68
Gas heaters also work in power outage right? You can light it with a long neck lighter? Never done it but i heard smth about that being the case
Gas heaters only work if they're not forced air, but it probably shouldn't get too cold too fast out here, especially given how much CO2 builds up in your room lol. It's probably well insulated. You can also heat up water bottles, wrap the tank, and float. But as Marcos said, keeping oxygen in the tank is the biggest priority for 24 hours.
MarcosDelgado0
Supporting Member
I wouldn’t say heater doesn’t matter but the lack of oxygen without a return pump/powerhead will definitely kill your fish faster. That’s why flow would be prioritized. I haven’t been through an outage before so someone correct me if I’m wrong but no heater would only become a problem if the outage lasted long (1+ days?), which again don’t really happen here. Plus there’s tons of ways you could insulate your tank so it doesn’t lose heat too fast. On top of that, even our winters don’t get as cold as other states. Especially in a well insulated home, it never gets too cold. All that being said, I did get an extra battery because I want to be able to at least run a small heater through a power outage
newfly
Supporting Member
Not meant to hijack the tread but I am hoping to tap to my EV for extended blackout. I have both egolf and tesla m3. Reading online I should safely do it by connecting a 500w inverter directly to the golf 12v battery and leave the car on in accessory mode. The main high voltage battery will keep the 12v charge. I’m only hoping to pull 300w . Is this sound reasonable?
Not sure how to tap into the Tesla battery.
newfly
Supporting Member
For low cost option, get a battery air pump . It will keep your fish and coral alive for a couple of days . Good thing is we don’t get too cold here. Hot water bottle float in the tank help but it’s a lot of work.
It’s basically the same for the Tesla, except that you don’t need to put it in a specific mode.
Thales
Past President
My system uses an MPP ( not linking because there are better ones now) and a 200ah battery. About 2 grand or 2.5. I did this because I wanted to run some non dc stuff on battery. The tank stuff that gets run by the battery ends up being about 400 watts and I get about 8 hours with it. That 400 watts is pretty generous and if it is a bigger emergency I can cut it by half. I am half looking for a whole house battery solution without solar, and Tesla is uninterested in doing that. I do have 4 200w solar panels on the roof that will run the stuff on the battery just fine when the sun is out - my MPP isn't smart enough to do it automatically, but I am waiting to see what happens in this field before I switch - it is evolving rapidly.
I am very happy with my tank battery solution and apex - there is a reef beef episode with Jim Graham that goes into some detail - the system does exactly what I wanted it to do.
Ecoflow (and others) seem pretty great. So far reefers have the most experience with ecoflow and they do what we want, including automatically switch to AC power when the battery is exhausted and the power comes back on (some other solutions don't/won't do that). I have a small one that will run circulation in a smaller tank I have, but I haven't tested how long it runs. Ecoflow has some nice whole house options, including a smart panel, but since the industry is evolving so quickly, I am putting off a major investment. I may pick up a Delta Pro and extra battery on sale for about 2k, and treat it like a portable generator, but I have to talk to the boss first.
Forgot to add, there is no reefer out of the box solution. You have to decide what you want a battery back up to do and for how long, and then size a solution accordingly. Some folks want a single small pump, some folks want a bunch of pumps and some AC pumps, some want heaters (which is slightly crazy unless you have a very small tank and need it), some want whole house.
MichaelB
Supporting Member
Lmao my wife wants to run the window ac unit, keep the large fridge plugged in, be able to wash and dry clothes, run the microwave, and as a bonus let me plug my 3 tanks into them in a emergency in that order lol.
I need that reactor iron man uses to power his suits. To pull that off, without a generator the size of one that sits on a trailer.
And she also wants the tvs and internet to keep working.
derek_SR
Supporting Member
That’s actually not that bad, minus the AC unit. We have a smallish dual fuel generator (like you can push it, but not lift it) and it runs my tank and the entire house minus AC.
Edit - our dryer and water heater are gas.
MichaelB
Supporting Member
We have special 110 volt washer and dryer, our apt doesn't have hook ups for standard ones. They are full size both, but takes longer to dry since it doesn't have the normal out put of 240 units
No gas in the unit at all, i have several propane stoves with my catering stuff so cooking wouldn't be a issue or heating water just a hassle breaking the equipment out. Something i would personally have to do, wife and kids couldn't. In emergency though it works great. In terms of cooking i could feed the neighborhood just couldn't keep food cold or frozen long term
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