Brand new member here and have somewhat of info. overload from researching. I am beginning to purchase a few things for a 10-12 week trip through British Columbia and Ak. I will be truck camping most days with a few Airbnb’s and hotel/motels mixed in. I will more than likely only camp in one spot for a couple of days and will be driving at least a couple of hours most days.
My question is would an AC180P be sufficient to run a 12v fridge and a few other things if I am charging most every day? My thought was to pass through charge the AC180 whenever I am driving. The fridge I’m looking at states 0.708 kw/h. I think the AC180P states 1,140 w/h. So 708 watts per 24 hours (fridge only in a perfect world) plus whatever else I plug in? Seems a little marginal if I camp for more than two days.
This is all w/o solar panels of course. Please advise. Thanks
Hello，Relying solely on the AC180P (1152Wh) to power that refrigerator and meet the basic power needs of other devices is theoretically feasible if you drive several hours almost every day and have an efficient DC-DC charger. However, it operates at its absolute limit with minimal room for error. Slightly less-than-ideal conditions (like higher fridge consumption, increased usage of other devices, insufficient driving/charging time, or cold weather) could easily lead to power depletion. We strongly recommend adding at least a solar panel (200W+) or, ideally, upgrading to a larger capacity power station. May your adventure through BC and Alaska be filled with incredible memories!**
The AC180P (like every other portable Bluetti unit) has a 90% Depth of Discharge (DoD) which means of the 1440Wh, 1296Wh is usable and 144Wh is reserved for preservation of the battery via the battery management system (BMS). If you are planning on going soon, the weather this time of the year in upper BC/lower Alaska region will be below 70 degrees most likely, meaning your fridge will not go through as long of a duty cycle as during the summer.
For reference, I have a 58 qt dual zone 12V fridge (Iceco APL55) and I performed a test when low was around 50-55F and high around 70F. I observed around 300Wh over 24 hours for just fridge set to 35F and around 500Wh for both fridge and freezer set to -4/35F. Assuming 85% efficiency the Bluetti battery burned around 350Wh in those conditions on fridge only. Your consumption goes way up with heat obviously. In the brutal heat this summer, my Bluetti AC180 was completed depleted in just 20 hours, which equated to 1.2kW burned in 24 hour period when on fridge and freezer mode.
Solar potential will be very weak as characterized by lower angle of Sun and inclement weather predicaments. You will be hard pressed to get good amount of solar anyways. You can optimize by traveling on non-peak sun days only. Stay put and recharge from camp when its sunny, and drive when its cloudy/raining out.