Ecoflow River 2 Pro portable battery power station test with domestic fridge

[Singletracker]

For those that may be on the road and/or off the grid for days, conserving the Rivian battery is certainly a concern. Running a DC fridge 24/7, for days, having the vehicle power always on could be a problem. I have a Dometic CFX40 fridge that I use for camping. It was never an issue with my Toyota FJ. I could always fire up the engine, if need be, or at some point I would be driving. The Dometic has always proven to sip power, but still….

So, I purchased an Ecoflow River 2 Pro power station, even got a solar panel, all on sale. The power station is very compact with almost 800 Wh capacity.

After watching a bunch of YouTube videos on run times with similar setups, I was still not sure how long it would run. I am now in the middle of a test to see how long it will power the Dometic. I was hoping for close to 3 days. What I noticed in all of the reviews was that the reviewers did not do real world testing. They just plugged the power station into an empty, room temperature fridge and got less than stellar results, IMHO. Well, duh If you‘ve got a warm fridge full of 40L of nothing but air, what can you expect?

So, I put the fridge on the kitchen counter, plugged it into the wall and got the temp down into the 30’s and let it sit for a bit. Then, I loaded it up with a normal amount of drinks, food, etc. and let it all cool for a while. Once I had everything cooled down to about 37 degrees, I plugged into the Ecoflow. I even open the fridge periodically to replicate real world usage. To my very, very pleasant surprise, I’m now at 30 hours and still have 69% charge in the battery!!!

It appears that this puppy is going to go a solid 4 days without recharging the battery. That is insane!! Call me a happy camper The only variable I couldn’t control was the ambient outside temperature. If the fridge is sitting in a 120 degrees car, well that will have some negative effect. If that be the case, a little insulation around the fridge should help.

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[kylealden]

That should last you quite a while. I use a Delta Mini which has similar capacity and it can usually keep my ICECO 20L frunk fridge cool for a couple of days - longer if I have it in the gear tunnel or bed (the frunk heats up fast which tends to cause a bit of a feedback loop with both the batteries and fridge running really inefficiently). I leave it plugged into the truck's 12V so I can top it off while I'm driving, or (if I'm stationary for a while) by turning on the outlets.

 

[Singletracker]

Mine is a 40L and it will reside on a platform in the rear seat area of my R1T. I can be in the boonies for days at a time, I need all the range extenders I can get. Battery is now at 59% after 41 hours

 

[jjswan33]

As long as you can charge your River periodically with your truck or while on the move I imagine you could go indefinitely with this setup.

I have a 1.5kWh Goal Zero battery but I also have a smaller truck and run a variety of other stuff with it. I have 300W of solar but if need be I can turn on the Rivian inverter and recharge it at 600W, a couple hours is usually sufficient.

 

[Singletracker]

I can’t charge it with the truck, without sacrificing range. There is no way to go indefinitely, without access to on shore power. That’s the whole point of the power stationI If the power station runs low, I can recharge it with solar.

 

[jjswan33]

I can’t charge it with the truck, without sacrificing range. There is no way to go indefinitely, without access to on shore power. That’s the whole point of the power stationI

The real thing to avoid is keeping your truck on all the time, using it periodically to power something is going to have very little effect on range.

 

[Singletracker]

Well, I will definitely test that theory. After I finish my current power station/fridge test. I will plug it into the truck and see how much recharging from the truck affects range. It may take a substantial amount of time to recharge it from the truck. I just don’t want to be in a situation, a long ways from a vehicle charger, where every single mile of range becomes critical. Better safe than sorry. I realize having the truck power outlets on all the time is a no no.

 

[jjswan33]

Well, I will definitely test that theory. After I finish my current power station/fridge test. I will plug it into the truck and see how much recharging from the truck affects range. It may take a substantial amount of time to recharge it from the truck. I just don’t want to be in a situation, a long ways from a vehicle charger, where every single mile of range becomes critical. Better safe than sorry. I realize having the truck power outlets on all the time is a no no.

In an ideal case you could recharge your battery from 12V directly while driving. In this scenario there would be limited wasted energy, so range lost would be equivalent to the battery size. You said about 800Wh for you battery, If you assume an efficiency of 2.2mi/kWh or just under 2 miles of range lost each time you fully recharge your battery.

I hope you are not cutting it that close but I can't say I never have....

 

[LongJoSilver]

If I'm on a short trip or easy access to DC chargers, I just use truck power. However, I do the same as you with a small Bluetti battery that can run the cooler for ~48 hours. I then just recharge the Bluetti off the AC plug in the truck in an hour or so -- it uses barely anything off the truck. I think the major drain on truck battery is leaving the AC power on for days and days, but a 1-2 hour stint is nothing. Another way to save truck power is to make sure your HVAC is off, etc- so things are not draining when you open the doors, etc.. TLDR - I wouldn't worry about recharging your battery every couple days off the truck.

 

[Singletracker]

jjswan33 - I’m hoping to not cut it that close, as well. But, the margin for error is a lot less with an EV versus my previous rig, and I want all the peace of mind I can muster. To throw another saying out there - an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. You may be absolutely correct in that recharging from the truck will be no biggie, but I can’t know that without testing. I was unable to find any real world testing and answers regarding this issue, so here I am. When I travel off the beaten path, whether hiking, biking or wheeling, I try to over prepare. I‘ve seen what can happen when you don’t.

 

[solaskaze]

AFAIK, you can chain those solar panels, guaranteeing a full battery.
My setup is a tad too small (original Eco from Kickstarter, and one 110W panel set)

 

[Singletracker]

Yeah. With the 160w solar panel, I have no worries. If need be, I can run the fridge off the Ecoflow while charging from the panels.

 

[Singletracker]

48 hrs and 10 minutes. Power station is only down to 52%.

So, if nothing else, I know, now, that I’m not going to run out of cold beer

 

[Hillbilly]

I feel like the only human on here that uses a cooler with ice in it. It's a yeti though, so it's pretty fancy if that helps.

 

[Lobo]

I have the Ecoflow River Pro and CFX3-35. Hot weather will drop the run time noticeably, but if it is hot then normally there is sun, so a few hours on a foldable solar panel or two will boost the power in the Ecoflow to allow pretty much indefinite run time of the fridge.

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