Much more than just a battery backup!
The ecoflow Delta 3 plus is a game changer for me; it is much more than just a stand alone battery backup. A few years back I got into the battery backup game by purchasing some Jackery power stations and also several Vtoman that first got me into the LiFeP04 batteries. These typically sit around doing nothing except waiting for a power outage which is typically no more than 10 hours a year from La DWP but with CA politics I'm anticipating more outages. I have since moved to ecoflow products with their intelligent software which allows me both the backup capability but also just as importantly they can be used as a buffer for solar power to save money by harvesting solar energy. So far I'm just experimenting but I am quite pleased with the results. I've had several UPS battery backups from cyberpower but they use lead acid batteries which after a few years begin to die and never give me more than 5 or 10 minutes of backup anyway but now with the ecoflow I get hours of backup and a UPS as well. I have four areas of concern: my computer equipment and routers as area 1, my refrigerators area 2, my home theater area 3, and my security cameras in area 4. Each is now protected by battery backup. the Jackery and Vtoman use manual switch over for the 2 refrigerators and my home theater while Ecoflow now protects all my computer equipment and internet along with my security cameras system. For the security cameras I have an ecoflow River 3 plus because it switches over automatically and the computers and routers are on the Delta 3 plus also switching over automatically to battery when necessary. But here's the difference the Delta 3 plus also serves as an automatic savings mode and there's where it shines above all my other power stations and possibly all others in its price range by other manufacturers. One can partition the battery capacity into two uses the standard battery backup but also a solar power battery buffer. The partitioning can be set using the app and I've currently set it to 50% for battery backup and 50% for buffering and here's how it works: In the morning before the sun comes up the battery will be at 50% with the AC power from the grid being used to power my computer equipment and the routers in UPS mode. I have four 100 watt solar panels wired in 2p2s configuration so the that the two pairs in series produce 40 volts and these 2 pairs are wired in parallel so that under best conditions produce about 400 watts. The 60 volt input on the solar is perfect for this. My other power-stations can only accept 12-30 and so will not work with this setup. The computer equipment (desktop, switches, routers, wifi, fiber ONT, 3 monitors, lamp etc.) typically use between 130 and 250 Watts. My solar panels are ground-based and are in the shade until about 8:00 a.m. and then they begin to produce power until sometime after 2:00 p.m. when again in the shade but that's because this is December and I expect much better results in the the other seasons. But they quickly begin to generate more power than I'm using and so the second 50% of the delta 3 plus capacity is used to store up the excess solar coming in. As soon as I've used about 5% of this capacity to store solar power the Delta 3 plus shuts off the grid power and starts powering from its battery on output with solar coming in on input. This continues throughout the day until my panels are once again in the shade but by then the battery will be nearly at 100% full (which is why I set it to 50% for buffering) and it will then continue to power my computers from battery until the capacity is back down to 50% at which time it will turn the grid power back on. So, the computers remain off-grid for an extra 2 hours after solar production is done. It does this all automatically and ends up typically saving me 1-2 kwh of power each day. I'm on a fixed rate plan with two tiers and the second tier is about 28 cents a kilowatt hour so during a month I can expect perhaps $12 to $15 in savings on my electric bill and these are using December numbers. This means that in one year the Ecoflow plus solar panels will have paid for the 4 solar panels which cost me $200. BTW, if you're on a plan that charges more at peak, they have a separate mode that works with that plan. Of course I can install a second set of panels and a third set if I have room in my backyard but then I would need extra battery buffering for the Delta 3 plus which could be done by using the expansion port and an expansion battery. Since the plus comes with two independent 500 watt solar inputs I currently am using the second one along with a $163 12-volt Li-time 100 amp hour battery with a 12 to 24v DC to DC converter for an extra 1.25kwh backup battery although I can't have it switched in and charged automatically. This was just an experiment based on a YouTube video describing the technique - by up-loader "the old jarhead". So the bottom line is I am very pleased with the results and one other thing: I have never yet heard the fan although I know it's on so I think Eco flow has definitely hit this one out of the park. It really is a wonderfully engineered product and well worth the $650 price range I paid for it. Read more