I have just received my Elite 100 V2 and was pleased to test it with my new third-party solar panel earlier today.
I thought I’d try running my “office desk” (laptop via docking station, small speakers and sub, desktop network switch, lamp) from the power station to make use of the free energy I got from the sun earlier, and it’s been working great.
However, all my “office desk” devices are plugged into a single extension cable, which is plugged into an energy-monitoring smart plug, and the reading coming from the plug is quite different to the AC power output reading on my new Elite 100 V2.
The total draw from all devices plugged into the extension lead is around 70W according to the energy-monitoring plug, which in my view is about right. However, the 100 V2 is reporting a draw of around 125W via the AC port - nearly twice as much power.
Hi Chris, Yes, you are missing something. Do a forum search for my review of the Elite 100, and other posts I’ve submitted. However, here is the answer to your Q.
What the inline power meter is showing, is the actual power your devices are using i.e 100W total. (You don’t state the value of your usage).
What the Elite 100’s display is showing you is the actual power it is using to provide that device power and that may be 120W or higher depending on the type of load.
I have a 90lt cheap drink fridge that has a rated power use of 90W. When connected to the grid my power meter shows roughly that amount of power drawn. when connected to the Elite 100, its display shows over 140W. This is because of the compressor, inductive loads etc and the efficiency losses of the power station. (Which all battery operated inverters suffer)
Power Stations have at least a 10% inverter efficiency loss, then there is the combined small “other loads” such as Bluetooth, Wifi, Display, BMS etc which all add up.
In other words, the Elite 100 display is not the power your devices use, it’s the power it is consuming from its battery to provide that power. Hope this helps.
Thank you very much for the detailed reply - I understand what you’re saying. I guess for low loads (like my desk setup’s draw of 70W) the power station’s overhead is quite large in comparison. But for a few hundred watts it makes less of a difference.
(I did perform several searches in the forum but realise I might have been too specific to get the results I was looking for - maybe I just suck at searching!)
Chris, absolutely, the following is for demo, not real, but the logic is the same.
Assume the overhead is 100W, your load is also 100W and the capacity is 1,000Wh. Your time of use is not 100W for 10 hours, it is for 5 hours. However, if your load is 400W, with an overhead of 100W, you will get a 2 hour runtime.
This means that for the 100W load, you’re only getting 50% efficiency, whereas for the 400W load it’s 80%.
Although not exact, using the Bluetti display and it’s calculated runtime is closer to actual than a power meter. From my testing, it’s close, but variable loads and environmental conditions will also affect time of use. (TOU)
I tend to play conservative when looking at TOU by looking at the screen, assessing variables and then taking 80% of that result. That way, as I have multiple power stations, I can either swap out before the one being used goes flat, or “daisy chain” a full one to recharge it if switching the load off is not an option. (This is for off grid or grid out situations.)
