When you turn on the AC functionality on existing power stations, it activates the inverter, however it is universally on for ALL ports. It would be nice if a future Bluetti model allowed you to control power output to each port via a software managed toggle switch. So if I want AC port #1 OFF but #2,3,and 4 ON I can do that.
To provide you an example, I have a BLDC Dreo Fan that runs over AC, however I also have my T200S power brick plugged into the same power station to top off my auxiliary EB70S power station to supply me some additional power in an emergency. The problem is BOTH are always plugged in, so the T200S always activates, even if i don’t want it to. But I have to run my fan all the time in the warmer months to cool me down. What I do for now is simply just run a power strip with a physical on-off switch to activate the T200S charging brick when I need it, however it involves crawling under my bed to get to, making the need for a software based toggle a nice feature to have if I ever decide to upgrade to a newer power station model in the future.
Here in AU, all household power outlets (GPO-General Purpose Outlet) are switched at the power point. Many power boards as well.
There are a number of ways to switch outlet power;
A physical switch at the outlet, similar to AU GPOs.
An internal relay on each outlet, logic controlled via the App.
solid state electronics, again for each outlet.
The common issue with all is;
a. Extra Real Estate to physically fit the additional hardware.
b.Additional cost of said hardware,
c. A probable redesign of the entire power station’s form factor (physical size) if current space is limited.
A switchable power board plugged into an outlet of and near to the power station can make switching accessable. a further powerboard plugged into that and nearer devices can be plugged into it for distribution. They also often have internal overload and or surge protection.
I actually do this at my WiFi router from an AC70. The 4 outlet powerboard has the Router, Fibre Optic box and my home security camera hub plugged into 3 of the 4 outlets. The board is switchable to isolate any one or more of the devices. Unlike you, it’s not under the bed, lol.
Another install where I actually do have 2 powerboards “piggy backed”, one to the other, is my main lounge TV and office desk nearby. Powerboard 1 is behind the TV, plugged into a wall GPO. It powers the TV, DVD-R and Stereo system. The 4th oulet has powerboard 2 plugged into it, with a 5M cable. Powerboard 2 has 4 AC outlets, 1 x USB-A and 1 x USB-C. It powers my laptop, MF printer, desk LED light. The USB ports are for mobile phone charging. In the event of a grid outage, I could unplug powerboard 1 from the GPO and into a Bluetti. (actually done before I had a Transfer switch installed for whole of house GPO backup) I would need to move a large TV cabinet to get to powerboard 1.
Yes, per @mandp this is a prety difficult ask, since it makes the box more expensive for a niche feature, and these things are very price competitive. Maybe get one of these:
I understand where you are coming from and indeed it is niche, which is why I think it would make perfect sense on a pro grade model for example an Elite 200"P". Most people won’t need it, but the IOT relay makes a lot of sense in certain conditions, for example mine, where I don’t want to have to crawl under my bed every time to flip a switch.
There are a few more potential benefits such as:
Scheduled switching
Maybe you want to sleep with a fan, but don’t necessarily want it running all night, just running long enough until you fall asleep.
Allocated power management
Need to run an appliance that will consume more than the rated wattage of the power station? You can turn off 1 or 2 outlets in order to preserve enough power to run things such as a power tool. Likewise you can prioritize critical loads vs non-critical loads. Yes you can also walk over to each device and turn them off, but the physical on/off switch does act as a nice benefit for isolation/safety benefit as well in case of a fault condition. I’m not an electrical expert, but if everything is connected and a device malfunctions, could it “backfeed” into the other ports and ruin the other devices not in use? Isolation would be a nice thing to have in my opinion.
Less phantom draw
“Always-on” devices will mindlessly sip power when they are not in use, but even so some common appliances like coffee maker, microwave, etc. or anything with a control board all will use some nominal watts. Say 3-5 watts per device. So if you have 4 things plugged, but are only consuming 1 device, the other three add up to the power consumed by running another inverter while idle (15W). So you are essentially “maximizing” your energy consumption by eliminating waste.
Definitely “Food for Thought”, however, likely a “Bridge Too Far”, lol. I just drove 650kms from the goldfields to home, so please excuse the anecdotes, lol.
