Nick Mokey / Digital Trends

On long stretch of highway , when the landscape turn to stubbly farmland and episodes ofSearch Engineget stale , I have a underground Rubik ’s square block for my jobless idea : plan flatulency blockage . Say what you will about the futility of relieve pennies , I still do a mental fist pump from cruising past a $ 4.89 gasolene station with a tank car I just pass off at $ 3.51 .

It ’s dumb . And fun . And if you think that could n’t get much more pitiful , now I ’m doing it with electrical energy .

For the retiring few weeks , I ’ve been living with the EcoFlow Delta Pro Ultra and Smart Home Panel 2 , two fresh devices the company declare atCES 2024 . This goliath bombardment power station and its accompanying electrical jury allow me to click my home ’s wiring on and off the grid with a button press . Every day , I can gage my utility throwaway by accumulate flash electrical power at nighttime and releasing it at vertex rate times . And when the gridiron goes down , my house humming on without missing a beat .

Here ’s what it ’s like to live with a home with secret superpowers , why EcoFlow ’s new ironware differs from some of the other option , and what you might need to consider before making the leap yourself .

Home, home on the grid

Home energy storehouse systems are not new , although you could be forgiven for intend that after seeing how many are hitting the market right now . Anker just launched the competingSolix F3800 , and Bluetti began sell theEP900earlier this in 2023 . But Tesla introduced its Powerwall – perhaps the most recognizable product in the space – in 2015 . And for more hardy householder , a host of party with less recognizable names , like Sol - Ark and EG4 , betray part - by - part alternatives . But EcoFlow is offering a setup that ’s simpler , more versatile , and , in some room , better .

Crucially , the Delta Pro Ultra is still amobilepower station . Unlike the Tesla Powerwall and a myriad of other systems that mount to your wall everlastingly , it rolls . Not well , mind you – the 116 - pound battery portion is hernia cod for overly convinced halfway - ripened daddy everywhere . But it comes with casters , a dolly , and a panoply of outlets to plug into without hardwiring into a family , let in heavy - responsibility 30A exit .

Imagine loading it in your RV for a week aside from home . Or bringing it up to your off - grid cabin . Or being the hero who drops this sucker off with a friend when their top executive goes out . You ca n’t do that with a Powerwall .

EcoFlow is also using a unlike class of batteries . While the Tesla Powerwall employ the same nickel - Mn - cobalt ( NCM ) batteries found in Tesla cars , EcoFlow apply lithium - atomic number 26 - phosphate ( contract LiFePO4 or LFP ) cells . They ’re cheaper , utilise fewer rarefied earth mineral , and , importantly , they do n’t carry the same risk of unstoppable 3,600 - degree fire , which is a nice perk for a cooler - sized electric battery you destine to cohabitate beside .

Many specialised vendors also habituate LFP mobile phone but sell something closer to a outfit than a product . You ’ll need to select inverters , bombardment , cables , and terminals and twist your garage or basement bulwark into a snarl of switches , wires , and LEDs . The EcoFlow is pretty much a one - plosive speech sound shop .

Well , three stop if we ’re being literal : The Delta Pro Ultra battery hype into the Delta Pro Ultra inverter , which plugs into the Smart Home Panel 2 , which is hardwired into your home . Once it ’s all wired up , you control it all with one app – and that ’s where the real magic come about .

The brains of the operation

My electricians set up the Smart Home Panel 2 as a subpanel , meaning it feeds off my main circuit breakers . I got to take up to 10 circuits to move from my main breaker into the Smart Home Panel 2 – these are the only circuits I can power in an emergency brake , so I had to take wisely . My icebox , heat ticker , and Wi - Fi router made the cutting – blistering tub , not so lucky . Is it ask so much to luxuriate in bubbling 104 - degree weewee while the mankind around you winkle into darkness ? Yes .

While we ’re talking about installation , it ’s worth cite that since it took a team of three electricians a hearty working day to cable this dialog box into my home , the review organisation that EcoFlow supplied at no cost will not be going anywhere . I ’ll judge it as candidly as anything I ’ve compose about for this site , but give the value of the ironware and labor involved , you should know the circumstances .

In the Smart Home Panel 2 ’s most basic apparatus , it will but switch every circle inside to barrage fire big businessman during a power outage . The grid goes down ; the fridge rest running . But it can get much more sophisticated than that .

Using the EcoFlow app , you may monitor each circuit and see precisely how much succus it ’s using , either in real time , or over days , weeks , and months . This floor of visibility lets you make bright decision about where you “ spend ” your ability in an outage .

For instance , I reveal that my kitchen gismo die hard on the same racing circuit as my basement radon fan , which draw about 120 watts day and night . So in a powerfulness outage , I ’d reverse the whole circuit off unless I ask to , you know , make pledge . get the radon pay heed out for a few days .

you may do this manually or set up an “ outage scheme ” to mechanically exclude down some circuit when power system power winkle out . I can set it up to automatically trend off my kitchen circuits or feed them until the battery pass on a delimitate grade , like 50 % . As you dispatch or restrict more circuits , you could determine your estimated battery runtime increase proportionally based on historical data the instrument panel has collected from traverse them . It ’s very , very slick .

Runtime and capacity

So , how long can you expect to get by with your EcoFlow Delta Pro Ultra until the watts peter out ? The Delta Pro Ultra offers 6.14kWH of capacity , a bit that I know wo n’t mean much to most citizenry . For setting , that ’s monumental on the musical scale of portable battery pack ( the beefyGeneverse HomePower Two Prooffers just 2.4kWh in comparison ) but not much on the scale of galvanizing cars ( the most basicTesla Model 3you can buy packs 50kWh ) . The Tesla Powerwall 2 offer more than double at 14kWh , while the more modest Anker Solix F3800 offers 3.8kWh .

Meanwhile , the average American menage apply 28kWh a day . You probably do n’t postulate a estimator to realise that 6kWh wo n’t take you far unless you modify your usage . That ’s why the Smart Home Panel 2 is a necessary scalpel to skin down to just the essential – and even they can be athirst . My refrigerator alone uses 2.28kWh per day . Two days of emergency power , used judiciously , is probably naturalistic for many household .

If that sounds insufficient for The Big One you ’re expecting to rattle your city to shambles , you’re able to also tack on excess batteries up to a total of 90kWh , which stack on the exist system like Lego bricks . Or you may augment this apparatus with two off - the - grid options : a author or a solar array . My home does n’t have either , but here ’s how they knead in principle .

Rip the corduroy on a author , flip a switch in the Smart Home Panel 2 , and you ’ve essentially substitute the grid with gas , but as you ’ll notice , it ’s not fully automatic . Since a generator can top up the battery ( in plus to powering your stuff ) while it ’s feed , you’re able to minimize the lagger of an engine outside your house by running it for a pair hours a day , then coasting on battery .

Solar is much more commodious . You connect it directly to the Delta Pro Ultra inverter through one of two ports : One for the variety ofsmall portable panelsthat EcoFlow trade and another for the type of permanently installed system that might be on your cap . The latter will accommodate up to 4kW for each inverter in your stack , up to a maximum of 12kW. Tesla ’s unreleased Powerwall 3 , in comparison , handle up to 11.5kW but does it with one box . Because you ’re feed DC solar major power directly to DC batteries , it ’s also more effective than a setup like the Powerwall 2 , which requires your solar ability to be converted from DC to AC and back to DC for storage .

Cheap watts all day long

make for an electric apocalypse will please preppers , but as I alluded , there ’s something in it for cheapskates , too . When Iinstalled my EV charger , my utility automatically interchange my electricity billing from bland - rate to time - of - use ( TOU ) billing . That means I pay a discount 8 - cent - per - kWh rate almost all day long , but for four minute every eve , my rate rocket to 25 cent per kW hr .

Most utilities offer a similar arranging to help take the payload off their control grid during peak hr . If you set your use a bit , you’re able to save money and facilitate the strain on your community ’s infrastructure . I ’ve already set my car to charge up during off - peak hours , but as you’re able to imagine , not all electricity use can wait . I ’m not waiting until 9 p.m. to make dinner .

record the battery in my basement . A consecrate metre - of - use mode in the EcoFlow app countenance you enter the timing of your peak hours , and the panel will turn on the battery when watt are tatty and then get from it when they ’re expensive . Voila . There are , of course of action , all form of options , but in precept , you could prepare this up once and never worry about it again . Your nursing home will tie to and from the grid without miss a beat .

Mostly . There is one other William Tell - tale sign I ’m on battery power : Some of my LED lights blink . A few of the LED electric light in my standard fixtures and my recessed LED roof lights exhibit a scantily detectable winking while I ’m on battery top executive . It was n’t even enough for my married woman to find , but reckon on your sensitiveness , you may question whether the savings are deserving it .

Speaking of which , what are the savings ?

Counting pennies

We ’ve established that this system of rules can handle taking your home off the grid during peak hour , but does that make any fiscal sense ? detain with me here ; we need to talk bit .

EcoFlow has n’t provide me with last pricing yet but suggest that the EcoFlow Delta Pro Ultra inverter bundled with one battery will be around $ 6,000 . The Smart Home Panel 2 has n’t been priced yet , but let ’s assume it sells for the same $ 1,600 as its predecessor . With the 30 % price reduction available through the Inflation Reduction Act , you ’re looking at $ 5,320 on hardware and then about $ 3,000 on installation . It ’s realistic to say you could own this frame-up for $ 8,320 , all in .

I can economize a maximum of 94 cents per day , or $ 343 per year .

Every kW hour I can pull from a electric battery during flower rates saves me 17 penny since I buy it for 8 cents when it would cost me 25 cents from the grid . That means if I use the Delta Pro Ultra ’s full capacity ( 90 % of 6.14kWh because it wo n’t let you utilize 100 % ) in a exclusive solar day , I can save a maximum of 94 cents per daytime , or $ 343 per year .

If you ’re unimpressed , perhaps that ’s because you ’ve calculated that even over the battery ’s estimated 10 - year lifetime , it could keep open me a maximum of $ 3,430 . I ’d be nowhere near infract even , much less gain a net welfare . In Hawaii , where rates may jump 40 cents at peak custom , you ’d almost recuperate your cost with $ 8,068 saved over 10 age . But most of us should probably see the prison term - of - use features as the frost , not the cake .

That’s a lot of watts

For most homeowners , the cake is the public security of psyche of knowing that their home plate can keep humming even when the grid goes down . It ’s a trivial stupefying to seem at a box the size of the Delta Pro Ultra and realize it can do that , but with a goodish 7,200 Watt of output , it was up to the task for my home . It puts even the 5,000 - watt Bluetti AC500 Idragged into the woodsto shame . And my plate was up to the task of flogging it .

I just swapped my age natural gas furnace for a 3 - ton high temperature pump this summer , which means all of my home ’s heating and cooling relies on electricity – and a lot of it . When running , the heat pump uses 3,100 watts of electrical energy , and like all compressor , it likely glugs much more on inauguration . The Delta Pro Ultra does n’t seem to point out . In 30 - arcdegree conditions , I can well keep my home at a toasty 71 point on battery index .

Of course , that ’s just a baseline . I still demand to pass computers , Wi - Fi routers , and light bulbs ! None of that really give the Delta Pro Ultra a challenge , so I determine about upping the ante . I turn on every light in the house . I turned on my toaster oven . Started roil piddle in my galvanic tympanum . Plugged in my 120V hot bath with an prolongation cable . Please do n’t tell apart the flak marshall . As mypièce de résistance , I fire up a mesa power saw , which only managed to drink down the 15 - amp circuit circuit breaker it was plug into . The Delta Pro Ultra chugged on .

Bottom line : 7,200 watts is more than enough for critical payload . consume much more than that wo n’t take you very far with a battery this size , anyway .

The right system for the right person

If you survive near bum , dependable power , it ’s probably well-to-do to see home plate backup system as toy for rich nerds . But there are all sorts of people in other situation who will see much more .

First off , solar owner . Many people do n’t realise that solar jury on your cap are useless when the storage-battery grid is down unless they ’re connected to a barrage fire . This setup is probably one of the easiest direction to get that autonomy . And the comparatively limited storage of the basis configuration is less of an issue when you ’re incessantly teem in a fresh supply of sweet , clean solar power .

If you live on in an arena with frequent , abbreviated power hoo-hah , this frame-up could make much more sense than a consecrate author . It ’s clean , quieter , you ’ll never have to twist on it , and your friend will be jolly damn impressed when you play it to the next tailgate .

If you ’re prepping for calamity , the type that might last more than 24 hours , the limited storage on the Delta Pro Ultra will probably give you pause . But paired with even a $ 500 source , you have an unbeatable belt and suspenders that will have you pray for an water ice storm .