Power banks may be the backpack essential to keep your devices charged on-the-go, but the pandemic and this year’s debilitating power outages demonstrated home backup batteries are even more indispensable to your charging arsenal.
Because you experience about six hours of power interruptions on average every year (USEIA). And that’s only increasing — both in duration and number of times the lights go out.
Modern eco-friendly generators have traded gas fill-ups for solar charging, wall-tethered installations for portability, and deliver enough power on one charge to silently power your home appliances for days.
Enter EcoFlow’s DELTA Pro, which, when you combine its 3.6kWh durable battery and 15 outlets with an ecosystem of power accessories like rugged solar panels, a smart generator, extra batteries – all of which you can monitor and control via an energy management app – delivers quite the backup solution for a blackout or offgrid setup.
It’s the exact type of setup one customer found he needed when the Texas energy crisis struck this February. Like so many, his family was without electricity, heat or hot water and food for days, and his wife’s medical condition required constant check-ins with her doctor. He fortunately was a recipient of EcoFlow’s Power for Change program in which they donated DELTA batteries to the Houston Food Bank for community use and distribution. Not only did it allow his wife to keep her phone charged to stay in touch with her physician, but he set up the DELTA in a local park where he cooked and distributed free tacos to the community so they could have a warm meal.
There are countless stories like that. With many working from home these past months – and even looking to continue a hybrid schedule – independent, sustainable power solution needs became even more acute. The numbers back that up. In 2020, extreme weather alone plunged the US into darkness as utility customers experienced 1.33 billion hours of outages – a 73% increase YOY (PowerOutage.US).
So it’s not surprising that more and more homeowners are taking power into their own hands – with 45% of Millennials and Gen X’ers now considering backup options (SolarBuilder).
Because it keeps happening. On the heels of its not-to-happen-again power outage this winter, Texas’ grid experienced unplanned outages to the tune of 12 million kWh of forced offline generation in June, leaving residents without electricity. Again. Had just 10% of Texas’ 29 million-strong population used one DELTA Pro battery for one charge each, it could have made up that deficit.
Even though EcoFlow had a number of industry-leading backup power batteries on the market at the time, one battery alone would not have been able to power residents through those energy crises – especially when there was no power to recharge it. So, the engineers at EcoFlow envisioned a self-sustaining solution: a core battery that on its own could provide one day’s worth of emergency power; but also one that could be expanded with additional batteries and bolstered with pop-up solar panels, smart generators and wind turbines to provide the power when utilities could not.
Why do you want this much power?
Its emergency backup for the home might be the most appealing aspect, but this power station isn’t simply meant to be hooked up to the refrigerator during blackouts. It’s practical and rugged enough to make RV living easy or to help you pull off the ultimate tailgate since it’s as silent as a library and portable due to its wheels.
Starting at 3.6kWh and stackable to 25kWh, the DELTA Pro has enough juice for an average homeowner’s week’s-worth of emergency power on 1 charge — lights, electronics like laptop and phone, a refrigerator and an air conditioner or space heater.
That’s because this battery powers pretty much everything: it can power up to 15 devices or appliances simultaneously, and with its 3600-7200W AC output, we’re talking high-power items that typically deplete batteries quickly.
Not to be overlooked is the fact that rechargeable batteries like this can be quietly used indoors — a safe alternative to the noise and gas leak or combustion issues that relegate gas generators to outdoor use only.
You’d expect something this tanky to take over a day to fully charge like comparable models. But you can charge the DELTA Pro in less than two hours via multiple sources. It’s the first battery that can be charged via Level 2 EV stations. It can also be charged via wall outlets, a gas generator — and when it’s humming at its best — foldable solar panels.
If you’re into battery technology, it utilizes LFP cells — the same type of battery cells Tesla announced it was making a long-term shift to earlier this year — as they’re safer, more durable and have greater longevity. Which is no joke considering the DELTA Pro gives you 3500+ cycles.
EcoFlow’s specially-designed solar panels can be upgraded with the industry’s first portable solar tracker. It tracks and follows the sun throughout the day, automatically adjusting the solar panel to the perpendicular position of the sun, improving solar generation by 30%.
When storing solar energy and using the smart home panel to manage a full complement of batteries and AC coupled solar system, the EcoFlow ecosystem can reduce electricity bills up to nearly 40%.
Is a portable battery right for you?
If you’re looking for peace of mind in your next power outage and are weighing if and how much backup power may be right for you, EcoFlow will be sharing expert opinions about home resilience and tips for how to prepare in advance for natural disasters and more common power outages. Additionally, the page has a map tracking recent utility outages around the US, state by state, to help homeowners monitor and stay up-to-date.
Sounds good?
Coupling DJI DNA with years worth of eco-friendly battery development, EcoFlow is back with its third Kickstarter launch, for both its heavy-hitter 3.6kWh DELTA Pro and a 2016Wh model, DELTA Max, suited for those with less-demanding power needs.
If you’re ready to take power into your own hands, save $600 on EcoFlow’s DELTA Pro, available for pre-order on Kickstarter until September 13.
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