EcoFlow teases full-house battery backup coming later this year
Today at its special launch event, home backup power giant EcoFlow launched a flurry of new products, including a ‘Whole-home Backup Power Solution.’ The company also launched a battery-powered fridge and a portable battery-powered air conditioning unit, which both makes sense. There’s also a lawnmower, which makes me think that preppers will have delightfully pristine lawns, even as the apocalypse looms.
Today at CES in Las Vegas, hidden among all its other news, a spokesperson for the company told TechCrunch it is also planning to release full-house battery backup power solutions to go with its more portable battery backup systems, and its RV-focused solutions. The company was tight-lipped about exactly what it was releasing, or when, but it’ll be interesting to see what the battery backup powerhouse comes up with later in the year
Power backup
EcoFlow’s Whole-home Backup Power Solution is a backup power system that aims to keep a house running without noisy, gas-guzzling generators. The kit is available in three different kits to scale based on a user’s needs. The company has built the solution around its high-end Delta Pro portable power station.
“We’re excited to be showcasing our innovative Whole-home Backup Power Solution and our new smart devices at CES 2023. In recent years we’ve been through the pandemic which was a life-altering event, we’ve got electricity bills that are rising and extreme weather that is creating an ever more unstable energy situation,” said EcoFlow’s Head of Business Development, Brian Essenmacher, at the company’s press event at CES. “That’s why EcoFlow is providing power that’s easier than ever and helping users to make the most of life, whether that’s by saving users time and money to devote to the things that matter most to them, or by making life more enjoyable at home, outdoors and in mobile spaces.”
The Advanced Kit connects two Delta Pro units via the company’s Double Voltage Hub, resulting in an impressive 7,200W output. That should be plenty to power pretty much any device you have in the house. Take it easy on the power consumption, and the company claims you can keep an average home running for about a week. For folks who want to keep the party going for even longer can hook up a duel-fuel generator (powered by a propane tank or good old-fashioned gasoline) to further reduce grid dependence.
EcoFlow Wave 2: portable air conditioner and heater
EcoFlow Wave 2. Image credit: EcoFlow
It’s not exactly a powerhouse in terms of cooling or heating, but for a portable, battery-powered unit, the upgraded EcoFlow Wave 2 is a welcome breath of fresh (or hot) air. With the add-on battery, it can run for up to 8 hours on a charge, and at 14 kg (33 lbs), it’s reasonably portable as well.
The heating/cooling unit packs 5,100 BTUs of cooling and 6,100 BTUs of heating – on par with an entry-level window AC unit. It’s enough to cool or heat a room or a small space such as an RV – assuming the RV itself is well insulated.
EcoFlow Glacier: portable fridge with ice maker
EcoFlow’s battery-powered fridge with built-in ice maker is a perfect companion to an RV or beach adventure. Image credit: Haje Kamps / TechCrunch
The end of days just won’t be the same if you can’t enjoy it with an ice-cold margarita, so EcoFlow has you covered on that front as well. The Glacier has a high-capacity ice makers that the company says will produce 18 ice cubes four times per hour. The fridge can run for 24 hours on a single charge, and has an option for direct solar charging: Plug in a solar panel, and you’re good pretty much indefinitely.
The fridge has a 297Wh battery built in, and features a bunch of power saving features to stretch the cooling powers even further.
EcoFlow Blade: the robotic lawn mower
EcoFlow’s battery-powered autonomous lawnmower looks more like a cool RC car than a trusty yard trimmer. Image credit: Haje Kamps / TechCrunch
So far, EcoFlow’s marketing and messaging has been focused on disaster response and power cuts, with a side of ‘hey you want to live out of an RV, we’ve got power stations for that’. The lawnmower is operable via an app, and features automatic leaf collection, virtual boundary navigation and all sorts of other neat fully-robotic-lawnmower features.
The company says the device has advanced route planning and virtual boundary planning, obstacle climbing and avoidance, and theft protection. The device comes with 4G built-in, so it can merrily roam around your property out of Wi-Fi range.
The products will be available in April this year, pricing has not yet been set.
EcoFlow teases full-house battery backup coming later this year by Haje Jan Kamps originally published on TechCrunch