The EcoFlow Wave 2 is an air conditioner, heater, and fan that may uniquely be powered by a battery and photo voltaic panel. This transportable warmth pump packs lots of cooling and heating for its measurement and may very well be a sport changer for some or a disappointment for others. All of it relies on whether or not you imagine EcoFlow’s advertising and marketing.
A warmth pump’s skill to switch warmth out and in of a room is what makes these more and more fashionable home equipment so environment friendly, however EcoFlow’s pitch for the diminutive Wave 2 is absurd and deceptive. It exhibits folks utilizing it inside a spacious lounge, a big RV, on the deck of a ship, and outdoors at a campsite. Some backpacker even carried it into the mountains to make use of with a tent.
After a yr of testing, I can guarantee you that the Wave 2 is not going to cool or warmth these areas in any significant means as depicted. It definitely received’t increase or decrease the temperature by 18 levels Fahrenheit (8 levels Celsius) in simply 5 minutes, as EcoFlow claims.
I’ve examined the $799 Wave 2 to each warmth and funky a shipping-container-sized surf shack, and to chill each a campervan and a tiny bed room in an outdated Portuguese farmhouse. The quickest temperature change I’ve seen is an 8F (4.6C) drop in half-hour, properly under EcoFlow’s declare. Nevertheless it additionally saved a room at 72F (22C) or under on a day that reached 99F (37C) exterior. Its worst efficiency resulted in no temperature change in any respect.
Notably, in some climates, a 400W photo voltaic panel might conceivably maintain the $1,199 Wave 2 with battery add-on operating constantly with out ever needing to plug it right into a wall socket. The Wave 2 is definitely modern and a really succesful system in some restricted situations — nevertheless it’s not the little miracle EcoFlow makes it appear.
EcoFlow’s Wave 2 is fitted with a compact compressor, condenser, and warmth exchanger with air exhaust and consumption pairs on either side of the system that kind two closed loops. The system works by shifting warmth from one loop to the opposite to both cool or warmth the area you’re in. This skill to switch warmth as a substitute of producing cold and hot air is what makes warmth pumps so environment friendly. JerryRigEverything has a very good Wave 2 teardown that additionally explains how all the pieces works in additional element.
The Wave 2 could be very small for an HVAC unit which is each a energy and a weak spot. It measures simply 20.4 x 11.7 x 13.2 inches (518 x 297 x 336mm) and weighs solely 32 kilos (14.5kg). It’s rated for 1500W / 5100BTU hours of cooling capability and 1800W / 6100BTU hours of heating capability, but solely pulls about 200W to 450W in my testing. However anybody who’s ever bought an air conditioner can inform you that 5100BTUs isn’t lots of cooling capability.
Primary window-mounted A/Cs generally offered within the US normally begin at round 8000BTUs. They price lower than half the value of the Wave 2 however devour much more energy over time. You too can purchase a a lot much less transportable 14000BTU A/C and heater combo unit from Midea for $100 lower than the Wave 2 in case you can afford the additional area it requires.
However solely the Wave 2 could be fitted with an optionally available battery that provides 17.2 kilos (7.8kg) to the full weight and as much as eight hours of untethered run time. Uniquely, that battery could be charged by an environment friendly 700W DC-to-DC connection from a lot of EcoFlow’s big energy stations. Or benefit from the battery’s XT150 jack to cost it from nearly any energy station or DC-to-DC charger. It will also be charged from a regular AC wall jack (820W max), photo voltaic (11-60V / 13A, 400W max), or a automobile’s cigarette lighter outlet (200W max).
Placement of the Wave 2 is proscribed by a number of elements, together with the relatively brief AC energy twine and the 55.1-inch (140-cm) lengthy ducts that require five- and six-inch (12.7-cm and 15.2-cm) diameter openings in a window. You may also want a bucket inside attain of the drainage hose to seize any accrued condensation.
Final yr I attempted utilizing the Wave 2 to warmth and funky a single-room surf shack measuring about 800 cubic toes. I wasn’t impressed because it did not successfully regulate the temperature in each circumstances. I did, nevertheless, profit from the nice and cozy or cool air blowing instantly on me, particularly when falling asleep, nevertheless it didn’t do sufficient to justify the value.
Then I learn the fantastic print. Ecoflow says the Wave 2 works finest in areas measuring lower than 350 cubic toes (10 cubic meters), which is simply large enough to suit a double mattress and two aspect tables. Heating and cooling efficiency is roughly the identical in such compact locations — it’s a wee bit louder when cooling and makes use of barely extra energy when heating. However the Wave 2 shouldn’t be a heater for very chilly winters. As an alternative, it’s designed to function in temperatures between 41F and 122F (5C and 50C). And since EcoFlow says it’s “the trade’s strongest and compact transportable A/C,” I primarily examined its cooling talents throughout a very popular summer time.
So, with my expectations reset, I’ve been utilizing the Wave 2 for the previous few weeks to chill down a small 500-cubic-foot bed room and a 364-cubic-foot Sprinter van in central Portugal, the place cloudless skies have repeatedly produced temperatures too excessive for my Scottish ancestry.
Establishing the Wave 2 within the Sprinter requires extra persistence than in a house — however that’s true with all the pieces in vanlife. After parking, I’ve to lug the unit out of the van’s storage to put it in entrance of the passenger seat. Then, I connect the battery, drain hose, and receptacle and thoroughly run the paper-thin ducting up and out by the window utilizing a thick foam insert I created. I’ve bought the entire thing right down to underneath 10 minutes.
I examined the Wave 2’s cooling contained in the van at night time and in direct daylight. For the daylight check, I closed the doorways and coated the within of the home windows with insulated and reflective covers. With the cooling set to most on the unit’s lowest potential temperature (16C / 61F), the within of the van remained roughly the identical as the surface, which ranged from 86F to a sweltering 99F (30C to 37C). That’s not dangerous contemplating the inside might have simply surpassed 120F (49F) with out the Wave 2 operating, nevertheless it’s nonetheless a fail in my ebook since greater capability rooftop A/Cs (costing greater than $2,000) from corporations like Dometic and Coleman would have tamed that warmth.
After all, I suspected the Wave 2’s meager 5100BTU capability would fail this check, however EcoFlow’s pitch to vanlifers is that the Wave 2 will “cool or heat, wherever, anytime” which simply isn’t true, particularly for RVs — a lot of that are a lot bigger than a class-B Sprinter van — that should park within the solar to recharge their leisure batteries off rooftop photo voltaic.
Cooling the Sprinter after the solar went down yielded significantly better outcomes. On the warmest night time of my testing when it was 72F to 77F (22C to 25C) exterior, I used to be in a position to decrease the inner temperature to about 66F (19C) and keep it into the morning. The van bought so chilly that I wanted a down-filled cover at one level. That’s a serious win, with one caveat.
The Wave 2’s optionally available 1159Wh battery solely lasts about two and a half hours on max mode in my testing, or over eight in eco mode, its most energy-efficient setting. That wasn’t sufficient juice to maintain the A/C operating all night time in a mixture of max and eco cooling modes, so I needed to plug the Wave 2 into the a lot bigger photo voltaic generator I carry to energy issues like my van’s lighting, induction cooktop, and low maker. Once I wakened, that greater battery had drained to 10 p.c, leaving me with valuable little energy to start out my day.
My last check was to chill a small room in a restored Portuguese farmhouse. Right here the Wave 2 acquired an help from the room’s one tiny window reduce right into a construction with two-foot thick stone partitions. On one more 99F (37C) day I managed to maintain the room between 68F and 72F (20C to 22C) with the Wave 2 working in a mixture of low to medium settings, even because the temperature inside the home peaked at 83F (28C). Spectacular.
Over the past yr of on and (principally) off operation I’ve observed two issues with my assessment unit. First, the buttons on the bodily management panel now solely work intermittently, maybe as a result of they bought squashed from all of the shifting round. It’s probably not a problem, although, as a result of I desire to regulate the unit with the superb EcoFlow app which works properly over Bluetooth and Wi-Fi.
Of better concern is the very loud and worsening noise the Wave 2 generally produces. I feel it’s associated to the water pump because it generally occurs when the water receptacle is full or the drain hose is looped in a means that reduces gravity’s assist. The squeal is equivalent to the sound reported by a number of different customers. EcoFlow tells me that there’s a identified difficulty associated to the water pump clogging as a result of particles or trapped air. Affected homeowners can request a substitute underneath guarantee.
- When initially cooling a room on max setting the Wave 2 is a loud 53dB from a meter away, which drops to an affordable 45dB in Eco mode — that’s according to the quietest of fundamental window A/Cs.
- The Wave 2 can routinely evaporate condensation that develops through the warmth change course of, however solely in environments with lower than 70 p.c humidity.
- The optionally available battery contains 100W USB-C and 18W USB-A charging ports in your devices.
- IPX4 water resistance makes it okay for the Wave 2 (and IP65 battery) to get caught within the rain.
- The highest hose duct warms up significantly when exhausting warmth exterior the window (and thereby cooling the room). Good concept to wrap it in insulation for extra everlasting installations as a substitute of bleeding that warmth (or chilly) again into the room.
The Wave 2 warmth pump is a reasonably area of interest however fascinating product that works finest to chill and warmth small areas situated in temperate climates. It might even cool a small room in a really heat local weather if the insulation is sweet sufficient. It’s additionally a good selection for vanlifers searching for some occasional DIY temperature management, particularly at night time and when touring past the grid. However in case you repeatedly have to warmth or cool a dwelling area bigger than 350 cubic toes (10 cubic meters) in additional excessive climates, you need to contemplate extra conventional cooling and heating choices.
Nonetheless, as a budding vanlifer and off-grid adventurer, I’m excited by the way forward for battery-powered warmth pumps. The Wave 2 already improved upon the unique EcoFlow Wave, and EcoFlow tells me {that a} third technology is coming in 2025.
All images by Thomas Ricker / The Verge
