Today, extreme weather events are more extreme and more frequent. After an unusual ice storm this year left my house without power for several days, I found myself feeling oddly vulnerable with no way to heat my home, so I decided to look into backup power options.
While a whole home solution wasn't in the budget, I knew I would at least need enough power to keep myself warm and power my phone, laptop, and modem (in case the internet didn't go out as well). While portable power stations and solar generators are an option, they are somewhat limited in the volts/watts they can sustain and how long they last. To actually achieve something that would keep me going for a few days, I needed to go bigger—to a power station. Luckily, Anker was willing to let me try out its new F3800 device , which might be just what I'm looking for, but it comes with a hefty price tag.
serious unit
The first thing to understand about the F3800 is that it is portable only in the loosest definition. UPS struggled to get the box to my door, I struggled to get it out of the box, and I struggled to move it from the front door to the energy panel. Sure, there are wheels and handles, but it still weighs over 130 pounds. If you're dreaming of lugging something like this to camp, forget it.
However, the unit is tall and has a compact footprint, so it can fold up neatly and be placed in a closet at home, for example. It also requires zero installation. Right out of the box, you just plug it into the wall to charge. It also comes with a daisy chain cable with extra batteries. In fact, the only thing you need to do is open the Anker app and pair the device, although the device will work just fine without it. The app just adds some handy features like fine-tuning how the device works and remote monitoring.
At $4,000, the F3800 is a substantial investment, but one that will grow with me. While the F3800 can be plugged into a wall and wait for a power outage, it can also be connected to a home's solar panels, making it more attractive as a long-term option. The real bonus is that I can now or in the future install a subpanel on the electrical panel and connect the F3800 to it. This way, if the power goes out, my home will immediately start using power from the backup unit.
In addition to the F3800, I also received two PS400 portable solar panels ($899 each), and while they don't weigh as much as the station, they are substantial for their size and weight. I waited for a sunny day and dragged the charging station close enough to the patio so I could charge it via the solar panel. We went on an unusually early run in 70-degree, cloudless weather, and after seven hours of sunshine, the F3800 was at 80 percent charge. The rate at which the Sun charges such objects is highly variable, depending on factors such as location and weather conditions. According to Anker, if you maximize the number of solar panels the unit can accommodate (2,400 watts total), it can be fully charged in 1.5 hours.
At 6,000 watts, the F3800 is quite powerful, but you may need more. Anker says the system is expandable to 53.8 kWh, which is impressive if you have the space and money.
Impressive point of sale portfolio
In order to use backup equipment, you need enough outlets to power all the equipment you want to use. Fortunately, the F3800 is well equipped with six 120v sockets. Of these 120V sockets, three are UPS sockets, which means they have uninterruptible power supply. I've mentioned in the past that I like a UPS as a way to keep your internet stable when the power is spotty, and I'm going to take it a step further here and say that the F3800 can be the one that keeps your entire smart home up and running. a way. Experience a brief power outage.
Then, there's also a 240v NEMA 14-50 AC port and an L14-30R AC port, which will allow you to run larger appliances like a clothes dryer, but it also brings a second kind of power station like this Purpose: Provide power where you don't have it. This could include a workplace, for example, or just a garage workshop with poor electrical service. Again, I wouldn't recommend lugging this unit around town, but I keep coming up with scenarios where the F3800 would be useful, like powering an electric car or a garage freezer. There are also multiple USB ports for quick charging of phones and accessories.
Overall, this is a solid Plan B for a power outage if you can afford it
There isn't much to compare the F3800 to, as there aren't many power stations of this capacity available to the everyday buyer, but so far I'm impressed. (EcoFlow does have a new station, the Pro Ultra , which has a slightly higher capacity than the F3800, at 7,200 watts. It's also more expensive, at $5,199. I haven't tested it, but it appears to be the same expandable system.)
While I was thinking about how to actually test the F3800 under the conditions it was expected to have (an actual power outage), a storm rolled through me, causing me to lose power. Once I was sure the outage was not temporary, I moved the F3800 into position. I hooked it up to my modem, TV, router, laptop, cell phone, refrigerator, heater, and—with a ridiculously long cord running through the dog door—the garage freezer. For the next two hours, my dog and I were happy, warm, and entertained.
As night fell the power came back on and I checked my power station. I only used 18% of my energy. If I'd been a little more conservative on launch, I could have kept this party going for eight hours or more. In fact, the biggest obstacle is the extension cord.
