For quite a few years I have been powering my ARB refrigerator with a small Goal Zero battery, charged from either the Jeep engine or a solar panel. It does not take much to power an ARB refrigerator, so the Goal Zero did just fine and actually had plenty of room to spare. Now that I am taking longer trips, though, I have decided to switch off gas backpacking stoves and move to electric appliances.
To be perfectly clear, this is a change of convenience and not necessity. I loved my Jetboil for several years, but finally got to the point where a water boiler was a bit to limiting and replaced it with a Primus pocket stove. That worked great for both boiling water for coffee and cooking (with the addition of a heat diffuser), but now that I am doing week-long trips and putting in 100-mile days, I wanted something quicker and easier.
Fortunately, it is a great time to go electric, as power systems have made some pretty significant leaps in the past two years. I was in the middle of putting together my own system with two 100Ah mini LifePO (Lithium iron phosphate) batteries, and a host of Redarc components for charging, monitoring and converting the DC power to AC. Just as I was about to pull the trigger, along comes Ecoflow with a $1,650 package ($1,699 with a $50 discount for signing up for their emails) that provided all the functionality that I was putting together, in a relatively small package that is fully self-contained.
The Delta 2 Max is 2400 watts so about the same capacity as two 100Ah LifePO batteries. Keeping it charged is an Ecoflow Alternator Charger, aka DC to DC charger, aka DCDC charger. This device takes the amps generated by the Jeep’s alternator and scales up the voltage to recharge the LifePO batteries, which take more voltage (as opposed to amps) to charge, than lead acid batteries. It will provide 800 watts to the batteries, but I have it scaled back to 600 Watts just to be on the safe side. The Jeep does have a 160 amp alternator and the rule-of-thumb is to not exceed 50% of the alternator’s output. It will support 800 watts, but in my opinion, there is no need to stress the alternator to its capacity. At 600 watts, the DCDC will recharge the Delta 2 Max in just a few hours of driving.
The big question of course, is could the Ecoflow stand up to the abuse of a 900-mile Backcountry Discovery Route and three days of running trails in Moab? I am happy to say (since I spent $1,650 on it!) that it never skipped a beat. The DCDC charger worked so well, that I am now relegating the solar panels to the garage. There is just no need for solar, for the kind of travel that I do – which is driving most of the day. On the way to Utah I did spend several days in eastern Washington at a family reunion, and the solar panels were great in that scenario.
So, what about the switch from gas stoves to electric appliances? That has also been a real benefit, at least for the way that I travel. For most evening meals I am using the HotLogic (seen in the photo, above) to heat something while I am driving. But I am also carrying a Nuwave Pro Chef induction cooktop – not because I am a “pro chef” but because it has adjustable power, from 900W to 1,800W. This is not a common feature on induction cookers, but even at 900W (which is all that I ever use) it works great. I was a bit worried about an induction cooker holding up to the trail abuse, but it did just fine.
The other appliances that I carry are a small rice cooker, and an electric kettle. On my last trip, a dinner meal in the rice cooker followed by breakfast on the induction cooker and coffee with the kettle, brought the Delta 2 Max down to about 80% of its capacity. I also carry a small space heater that I keep plugged into the Ecoflow when the overnight temperatures are going to drop. One nice feature of the Ecoflow is the phone app, which allows me to turn the AC power output on from my sleeping bag. 10 minutes later, the interior of the Jeep is warm enough to get up and get dressed! I have always envied those folks with the diesel heaters that keep their interiors warm, but the little space heater does the job without the hassle of diesel fuel and plumbing. I do not know if the one I use is the best or smallest for the job, but so far, I like it, and it is just small enough to stash away when it is not needed (Lasko is the brand).
The switch from gas to electric was not easy or inexpensive. In addition to the Ecoflow Delta 2 Max and their Alternator Charger, I had to source new cookware that was compatible with an induction cooker, and other small appliances that would perform tasks previously done by the backpacking stove and its various containers. Please note that at the time of this post, September of 2024, the Delta 2 Max was arguably the “state-of-the-art” solution for its size. This technology is evolving rapidly, though, so if you are reading this at a later date be sure to do your due diligence.
