Question: has anybody used the 12V socket from an EV to offset the energy consumption from a portable power station?
More details on my use case below:
I'm sort of new to this game, but I've been looking at ways to keep at least one of my refrigerators running during outages.
Now, I live in the suburbs in the southeastern US, so we don't have issues with regular extended blackouts; but we had a hurricane last year which knocked out power for around 36 hours. I saved most of the food the low-tech way, in a cooler with ice cubes.
However, a few things occurred to me since then. My GE garage fridge (which is rated for up to 110F ambient temp) has low power consumption - averaging ~50wh per hour according to the energy guide, I will confirm this in a few days when my Kill-a-watt arrives, so I can determine the running/surge watts required.
As of now, I'm assuming the Ecoflow River could handle this since it's known to handle larger refrigerators.
Ecoflow River Max should give about ~10 hours on this fridge; but I'll assume 6 hours due to defrost cycles, as well as frequent opening of the refrigerator since we will have to relocate food during an outage.
I also have a Tesla Model 3 sitting in the garage... it's a shame to let that massive battery go to waste during an outage! However, Model 3 has no inverter, and the best power output is only via the 12V socket. Technically you can bypass the socket and directly hook up to the 12V battery, but then you risk draining the 12V auxiliary battery. It does not recharge quickly from the high voltage battery.
Per the Tesla manual, continually powering a 12V accessory will not drain the auxiliary battery. You do have to leave the car on (which can be done by enabling Sentry Mode). So parasitic losses will also drain the car's high voltage battery, but that's no concern unless the outage is longer than a few days.
So, napkin math: it *should* be possible to keep the refrigerator running for a very long time (days) by charging the River via 12V car adapter while powering the refrigerator.
Ecoflow accepts up to 96W DC via the car charger. So that's 96wh per hour.
In theory, it should be about break-even. The River would handle spikes in power consumption from the refrigerator, the Tesla would keep it supplied with a steady (albeit low) current, with enough buffer to occasionally drive the car to a nearby Supercharger if needed. Even the smaller 288wh River might work in this use case.
Again, this would be a very rare use case where I live, as these extended outages only last every few years. I'm talking about spending a few hundred dollars to keep food from spoiling, while making the best use of a massive EV battery that I already have.
Also the River Max is only $420 on Amazon right now... which is why I'm considering this option.
More details on my use case below:
I'm sort of new to this game, but I've been looking at ways to keep at least one of my refrigerators running during outages.
Now, I live in the suburbs in the southeastern US, so we don't have issues with regular extended blackouts; but we had a hurricane last year which knocked out power for around 36 hours. I saved most of the food the low-tech way, in a cooler with ice cubes.
However, a few things occurred to me since then. My GE garage fridge (which is rated for up to 110F ambient temp) has low power consumption - averaging ~50wh per hour according to the energy guide, I will confirm this in a few days when my Kill-a-watt arrives, so I can determine the running/surge watts required.
As of now, I'm assuming the Ecoflow River could handle this since it's known to handle larger refrigerators.
Ecoflow River Max should give about ~10 hours on this fridge; but I'll assume 6 hours due to defrost cycles, as well as frequent opening of the refrigerator since we will have to relocate food during an outage.
I also have a Tesla Model 3 sitting in the garage... it's a shame to let that massive battery go to waste during an outage! However, Model 3 has no inverter, and the best power output is only via the 12V socket. Technically you can bypass the socket and directly hook up to the 12V battery, but then you risk draining the 12V auxiliary battery. It does not recharge quickly from the high voltage battery.
Per the Tesla manual, continually powering a 12V accessory will not drain the auxiliary battery. You do have to leave the car on (which can be done by enabling Sentry Mode). So parasitic losses will also drain the car's high voltage battery, but that's no concern unless the outage is longer than a few days.
So, napkin math: it *should* be possible to keep the refrigerator running for a very long time (days) by charging the River via 12V car adapter while powering the refrigerator.
Ecoflow accepts up to 96W DC via the car charger. So that's 96wh per hour.
In theory, it should be about break-even. The River would handle spikes in power consumption from the refrigerator, the Tesla would keep it supplied with a steady (albeit low) current, with enough buffer to occasionally drive the car to a nearby Supercharger if needed. Even the smaller 288wh River might work in this use case.
Again, this would be a very rare use case where I live, as these extended outages only last every few years. I'm talking about spending a few hundred dollars to keep food from spoiling, while making the best use of a massive EV battery that I already have.
Also the River Max is only $420 on Amazon right now... which is why I'm considering this option.
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