So far so good
Description: This Okitel 5 KWH was discounted last winter and I thought I would give it a try. I have previous experience with a 2 KWH power station from Zendure but that hasn’t worked out well. This Okitel is simpler in that it doesn’t support WiFi or Bluetooth, but it still had the basic UPS functionality I wanted. It was simple to setup, just plug it in and charge it, then connect the load. There are a few settings that the manual describes but the default setup should work for most people. My use: I have it connected to my refrigerator, and my entertainment system. After all you need to keep your food cold and your entertainment live. My maximum load is around a kilowatt, but normally with the TV off, just running the fridge it supplies between 7 watts and 750 watts. My full size side by side fridge only draws 750 watts when defrosting which only happens once a day and then only for a few minutes. Typical draw when the compressor is running is around 200 watts and when the compressor isn’t running it only draws 7 watts. Rundown test: I have had the power station installed for a few months now, and it has protected my food and provided power for entertainment as expected, but I thought I would do a full rundown test to see how long I could survive if the main power went out for an extended time. So, I simply unplugged the power station from the main power and monitored the stations output to my loads with an inexpensive meter that displays the accumulated KWH during the test. I then used the fridge and watched TV during the day and evening until the Okitel discharged down to the less than 10% charge level. I chose not to run it down completely, I was just trying to get an estimate of how long it would last and how much power I could get out of it. My result was completely satisfying. I was able to run my loads for over 31 hours and the total output was over 4 KWHs with about 10% supply remaining. My web research indicates that it is very typical to get about 80% of the rated capacity out of this type of power station, so i am satisfied that it is working properly and as I said in the title, So far so good! Recommended. Extra notes: The power being consumed during the rundown test was mostly used by the entertainment system. It is my belief that if I had run only my fridge, the Okitel would have run just that for several days before running all the way down. So, in a true emergency where you just want to keep your fridge running, you should get two full days of operation. Note that the Okitel does support solar charging at 1000 watts, so if you add a few hundred watts of solar panels it should keep your food cold off grid indefinitely. Read more





















