his Thread is intended to show the difference between what a powered device actually consumes v the power delivered by a power station. These are indicitive of some off grid camping devices needing small to medium power. Conclusions at the end post.
1. The 2 power stations used are; an AC70, 12 months old, purchased by me and the Test Elite 100 v2, provided by Bluetti (PS = Power Station).
2. For each item tested, a 240VAC power meter was plugged into each power station for each device tested and wattage allowed to stabilise after start up. The output Watts display of each PS was noted simultaneously with the power meter.
3. All items tested are approx. 1,000W or less to enable a comparison from both PSs.
Each device showed slightly less power consumed on the power meter than their rated consumption.
Power consumption for each device was similar when comparing them powered from the AC70 and Elite 100.
Resistive loads (Except the 2 Chargers) varied from 3% on the Elite and 4-5% higher on the power station display compared to the power meter.
The Elite 100 showed approx. 3% compared to the AC70’s 4-5%. This shows a better efficiency from the Elite 100.
The PM300 is the Caravans 30A 240VAC battery management system and showed a 7% higher load on both power station displays over the power meter.
The notable and surprising result was the 240VAC 15A battery charger - A Victron multi chemistry smart charger. This showed a 70% higher display load than actual power meter consumption. I can only explain this as an incompatibility of the Victron’s electronics and the power station inverter. This occurred on both the AC70 and Elite 100.
WARNING - I would power all of these devices from either power station, with the exception of the Victron 15A Charger. Such a significant power difference is not a risk I would take. damage to either the power station or the charger is an unknown.
A further test was done using only the Elite 100 as the individual loads exceed the capability of the AC70.
1. A Dometic 700W microwave oven, with a rated load of 1,200W. (Came with the caravan)
2. A Dune 2,000W Induction Hot Plate, rated at 2,000W. It has multiple power settings. On startup it defaults to 1,200W, maximum to 2,000W incrementing at 200W. It also reduces to 800W, 500W and 300W, the latter 2 settings actually use 1,200W in a stop start process.
3. I noted that as power increased to 1,600W, the load on the Elite was 1,750W and went no further. Yes, power lifting could be used, but that would cap output to 1,800 anyway and reduce the voltage, which I will not actually do. I have no idea what effect a voltage reduction will have on the Dune’s electronics.
3. The microwave had a M/W safe container of cold water when tested at its full power. The Dune had a saucepan of cold water and was set to 1,600W and did boil, albeit a little slower than 2,000W.
The induction hot plate is resistive and a similar % of added power to the other devices above.
The electronics of the M/W require significantly more power at 15%.
Based on my previous M/W usage, 1,324W load, will give approx. 40 minutes of M/W cook time and a pre cooked frozen meal takes 6-7 minutes to cook from frozen = 6 meals from a fully charged Elite 100.
I did one further test, one for the ladies, lol. I carry a 1,500W rated Hair Dryer, which is slightly less power than a regular home dryer. And, I had to shop around to find one. It has 2 fan settings and 2 heat settings, each with a 3 position switch, the 3rd being off. It can be used as fan only and every combination other than heat only without fan.
1. This hair dryer will work in all combinations from the Elite 100 v2. However, other than high fan - high heat, it will also work from the AC70.
2. On low fan, the method of slowing the speed applies a significant increase in the inefficiency %, whilst the resistive load of the heat circuit does not.
3. Therefore using the hair dryer, choose the high fan speed and only vary the heat. Something to check for a duel motorised/heating element with speed control.
The primary take from this testing is that the display shows what the power station is taking from the battery to provide what a device needs. The way to check what the device is consuming is with an external power meter.
The secondary observation is that, non resistive loads tend to require more energy to operate and there’s no one size fits all.
his Thread is intended to show the difference between what a powered device actually consumes v the power delivered by a power station. These are indicitive of some off grid camping devices needing small to medium power. Conclusions at the end post.
