If you plan on spending a decent amount of time camping without a mains hookup, you may want to invest in a camping power pack. These are essentially large lithium batteries which can store electricity and generate AC and/or DC power to power your electrical camping gear. Contact online >>
If you plan on spending a decent amount of time camping without a mains hookup, you may want to invest in a camping power pack. These are essentially large lithium batteries which can store electricity and generate AC and/or DC power to power your electrical camping gear.
The best camping power packs can be trickle charged using solar panels and therefore allow you to essentially live off-grid for many days and weeks at a time if the sun is shining reasonably brightly. Of course you can also charge a power pack directly from the mains or your car battery if required.
Camping power packs are useful in a tent or awning to drive equipment such as fridges, electric grills and lights. You can even boil water if the power pack can output 300 Watts or more, but it may take up to 20 minutes – for faster results, we recommend at least 1000W capability.
Smaller camping power packs are also available which are more suited to recharging less power-hungry devices such as phones, GPS, smartwatches, or even rechargeable hand warmers. These are fairly familiar to most people and can be bought quite cheaply. Owing to their small and portable size, these camping power packs are very useful and easy to travel with.
W or Watts is the power or oomph which a camping battery can supply to a gadget or appliance. For instance, if your hair dryer runs at 1800W AC, it means you need a power supply capable of supplying at least 1800W (1.8kW) of alternating current (i.e. like a regular mains supply). Typically it’s also worth having a bit of headroom above this value too – we would therefore recommend a 2000W battery pack for the above case.
The larger power stations can have high capacity – for example the EcoFlow Delta 1300 has a whopping 1260Wh and can supply a maximum power of 1800W to an appliance. This means that if you were running an 1800W hair dryer continuously using this power pack, it would last ~1260/1800 = 0.7 hours or 42 minutes before it was empty. Not that long, but then again you would normally only use a hairdryer or kettle in short 2-3 minute bursts.
After examining several of the leading battery packs on the market, we present our top 5 Camping Secrets recommendations for the best camping power pack available in the UK currently as well as an in depth buying guide to help choose the best option for your particular camping requirements.
Before we get into details, it’s worth pointing out that Bluetti are a well known and reputable manufacturer of portable power stations and solar panels who also own the UK brand name Poweroak. Sometimes you may see the same product advertised with either of brand name, depending on which country you’re in.
We’ve owned the EB70 for several months now and have used it extensively in our Mercedes Marco Polo campervan. One advantage that Bluetti have over other power pack manufacturers is the cell technology used for the electrical storage. Bluetti use LiFePO4 (Lithium Iron Phosphate) cells which allow almost four times as many charge/decharge cycles as standard lithium-ion cells. This means it will last much longer in terms of lifetime of the battery if you are going to be using it alot. For occasional camping use then the advantage of LiFePO4 is lessened.
LiFePO4 is also much safer in terms of fire risk, and due to the battery not containing nickel and cobalt (which are difficult to mine), is better for the environment. A downside of the LiFePO4 tech is that it doesn’t contain quite as high energy density for the same weight as standard lithium-ion. The packs are either bigger, or have less capacity than their standard Li-ion equivalents.
So what features do you get with the EB70 power pack? Well there are a plethora of outputs for starters. You’ve got 2 x 240V AC outputs (3-pin sockets) which allow you to drive your bigger electrical items. There are four USB sockets (2 x USB-C high power 100W sockets and 2 x USB-A), two regulated 5.5mm 12V outputs and also a car cigarette 12V output. The USB-C sockets are excellent because at 100W they are perfect for charging modern laptops. You also have wireless charging for your phone on top of the EB70 in conjunction with a robust folding carry handle
Dimensions and weight are where the EB70 shines against the competition in our opinion – it’s at a very nice sweet spot between being too big and bulky versus being so small that it cannot supply or store enough power. The EB70 measures only 32 x 21.6 x 22.1cm and weighs just under 10kg. With the folding carry handle on top, it’s a doddle to pick up by anyone.
We found that charging via the mains power pack takes around four hours from flat which is ok, if not groundbreaking compared with the new ‘fast-charge’ offerings from Ecoflow and Jackery (see below). The AC mains power supply for the EB70 is also a bit of a brick itself, but when camping you’re unlikely to take this with you – if you’ve got power at the site then why would you need a power pack?
The EB70 comes with standard connectors to take a range of solar panels. We tested with the Bluetti PV200 solar panel which is a foldable four panel product, supplying up to 200W in full sunshine. Together, the EB70 with the PV200 make a great solar generator combination.
In conclusion, the Bluetti EB70 is our current favourite power pack for camping on the UK market when you take price into the equation. It covers a wide range of camping requirements for devices requiring up to 1000W of power with an ample amount of storage in a reasonably sized package. We’ve boiled kettles, charged phones, laptops and even made toast with it – check out our video review below or our in depth Bluetti EB70 review.
The EcoFlow Delta 2 is a fantastically capable mid-range power station, which is able to drive all your power-hungry appliances. In our view it has more than enough power for any camping trip with an 1800W onboard inverter – meaty!
The original Delta 1300 was crowd-funded by Ecoflow back in 2019 to great success, having an insanely fast charging capability via mains. The Delta 2 continues this tradition and is a fantastic option if charge time is a major consideration for you.
The form factor (case size) is exactly the same between the Delta and the Delta 2, and so is the 1800W of power which can be supplied to your gear. The main change to the newer model is the battery technology which moves from standard lithium-ion to the safer and much longer lasting lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO4) batteries. The new batteries in the Delta 2 can take at least 3000 cycles before dropping to 80% of their original capacity, whereas those in the original Delta would only need ~500 for the same drop.
The Delta 2 is also cheaper, 2kg lighter at 12kg and has 2 x 100W USB-C ports instead of 2 x 60W on the original. The only negative change with the Delta 2 is that actual storage capacity has dropped slightly from 1260Wh to 1024Wh owing to reduced energy density of LiFePO4. However, bear in mind that the Delta 2 has an expansion port to add on more EcoFlow battery packs if you need more storage, whereas the original Delta didn’t.
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