We recently had a prolonged power outage. Our power went out due to a storm and it was restored 3 days later. I have a plan in place for such situations and I wanted to share it here.
I have a couple of Ecoflow portable power stations that I bought over the years. These portable power stations are are great to have when you have a power outage.
If you plan to use your Ecoflow power station during a prolonged outage, you’ll need a reliable way to recharge it.
There are four options: solar power, a fuel generator, charging it at someone else’s place, or charging it via your car (which is very slow).
While I do have some solar panels in my garage for emergencies, I opted for a petrol generator as a backup. The great thing about generators are that they can supply power as and when needed, whereas with solar power, you are often at the mercy of factors beyond your control.
During our recent power outage, I used my petrol inverter generator to charge my EcoFlow units (River Max, River 2, and Delta Max). I could quickly charge them and then turn the generator off. After that, I could use the EcoFlow units for several hours to provide power to my essentials.
When deciding on a generator to charge your power station make sure that you get a pure sine wave generator.
(generator charging my Ecoflow units)
My first priority was to prevent my frozen food from spoiling.
I chose a box freezer, which retains cold temperatures for longer during a power outage. Upright freezers, on the other hand, tend to lose more cold air when the door is opened. Additionally, some upright freezers have heating elements to prevent frost buildup (known as frost-free freezers), which can consume additional power.
I used my River Max to keep my freezer running, which it could power on a single charge for around 5-6 hours. Although I could keep it running for much longer with my Delta Max, I chose to reserve the Delta Max for larger, more power-hungry appliances.
I also have a backup external 12v 50ah Lifepo4 battery that I can connect to the River Max witch will add a couple of hours to the runtime.
With my fridge I use frozen 2L cool-drink bottles that I rotate in and out of the fridge as needed to keep it cool. We also moved some of the items from my fridge to my box freezer. I decided not to keep my fridge running during the outage because it consumes much more power than my box freezer, and there wasn’t much in it that I was concerned about spoiling.
I also monitor my freezer temperature by using a ‘Digital Aquarium Thermometer’ that is set up with an alarm to alert me when the temperature exceeds a certain level. This way I can make sure that the food never spoils.
In addition, I also setup an IP camera so that I could monitor it remotely, which I could use along with the Ecoflow app to make sure that my freezer is running when I am not at home.
My second priority was to be able to wash (ourselves, clothes, dishes etc.)
For this purpose, I have a 20L bucket, a 2000W heating element that I can power either with my Delta Max or my petrol generator (and I could also use a gas stove to heat up water if needed). Additionally, I have a camping shower with a 12V cigarette lighter connection.
I heated water in the bucket and powered my camping shower using the 12V socket on my River 2, which worked great and provided us with lovely warm showers.
I could also use my Delta Max to power my washing machine and dishwasher as needed.
My third priority was cooking.
While this wasn’t a big issue for us because we could always braai 
, cook on gas or get takeaway, it was nice to still be able to use my microwave, kettle, or air fryer when we wanted to.
We also have a large flask to keep water warm once it has boiled.
Other items we needed to power from time to time were my internet/Wi-Fi routers, smartphones, and some lights, but these hardly use any power, so it wasn’t a problem.