EcoFlow – The Ultimate Load Shedding Battery

At this stage (no pun intended) I don’t think there’s much more to be said about load shedding. The government’s “solution” to dealing with a lack of power supply is nothing short of futile, particularly because it’s entire existence is due to corruption.

With that, ever resilient South Africans are always finding a way around the lack of management of South Africa – which includes finding alternative power solutions for load shedding. Enter: the EcoFlow.

EcoFlow for Home Use

While most South Africans are in their 11th year of load shedding, we have only started experiencing it over the past 2 years. It has been an incredibly frustrating, no less because we live in a building with 13 floors! So when the power’s out, the lifts are out. It’s positively dangerous for anyone elderly.

For us, the two main factors impacting our everyday wellbeing include:

1. Al-John’s sleep apnea machine going off in the night and impacting his health.
2. My remote working office where my second screen and laptop die.

While watching TPD TV, they shared their experience of using an EcoFlow at a music festival. Immediately we were interested for 2 main reasons:

1. These batteries are able to charge up to full in under 2 hours.
2. They are also solar compatible – meaning less money going back to Eskom. (SA power’s supplier.)

We’d found our solution!

EcoFlow in South Africa

We immediately went on the hunt to find an EcoFlow and purchased an EcoFlow River Max from One Day Only. Instantly it was a success and we’ve absolutely loved being able to continue working remotely, as well as allowing Al-John to sleep throughout the night uninterrupted.

EcoFlow River 2

With that, we decided to buy a second one. The first to leave next to the bedside (the River Max weighs 8kgs (heavy to lug around) as we were concerned about wearing it down for smaller uses like charging my laptop. The second would be to leave in our office to power our laptops and second screens. (We already have a UPS that keeps our internet on.)

Keeping an eye on prices, the new series came into play in March 2023 and I was able to secure a smaller EcoFlow RIVER 2 (our first of their new series) for R6500 on the EcoFlow South African website – lower than any other offer I’d seen anywhere else.

EcoFlow River 2 – First Impressions

This machine is much smaller than the River Max series 1. It also buzzes when it charges, which I only learnt yesterday can actually be turned off! But it will slow the charging so buzz away little machine!

I only has 1 plug so you need to plug in a multiplug in order to have more than 1 machine running. The little bronze plastic button feels sturdy and strong and an extension cable for a solar panel was also included (not included in the 1 series).

I charged it up (worked within an hour) and then ran my laptop and second screen simultaneously. I turned it on at 4:45pm (100% to start) and off at 6:30pm (62% remains) – below you can see how the battery performed.

Through this, I realised it wouldn’t be able to run both our setups like this for more than 2 hours. So I can run either mine alone for 4 hours or add AJ’s and run it for 2 hours.

EcoFlow Discount Code

Before making my first purchase, I also received a pop-up on site offering me a 10% discount. It was absolutely what assisted my final purchase decision.

If you would like to save R500 on your own EcoFlow purchase, click my code or cut and paste the following: http://ecoflowsouthafrica.refr.cc/gotthepassports

Using the above link should take you through to their website and trigger a discount that will present on your cart when you check out. (They may provide a word in a grew block, type that block when you check out. Under your cart there will be a box for Discount codes.)

EcoFlow Purchasing Tips

While we are using the EcoFlow for home uses, it’s also the ultimate battery for camping (goodbye snorers! Now you can keep your sleep apnea machine on all night, as well as power lights, mobiles, sound devices, etc.

Before you make a purchase though, keep these 4 tips in mind:

1. HEAT: The only thing they recommend to slightly avoid is anything that heats up. Heat is a power sucker so we do not and have not used ours on kettles, GHD’s, hairdryers, etc.
2. PLUG TYPE: Some websites sell the EcoFlow with USA/UK plugs. They say an SA adapter will be included but, accordingly to the reviews, they aren’t. So before you go cheap, check that.
3. DELIVERY TIME: There has been a delay in shipment coming from abroad, so it took a month for mine to arrive (unlike buying from an SA store where it took less than 2 weeks).
4. RUN DOWN: It’s not advised to run the machine to 0 at any point. Try to keep it above a charge of 15 for healthy battery maintenance.

EcoFlow Review

We absolutely love our River Pro Max (series 1) and are really hoping to series 2 will deliver as good of a service. It’s arriving this week and I’ll be setting up ASAP! The official EcoFlow website seems to be the most affordable place to acquire a machine and is a route we’re happy we chose.

If you’d like any extra support, feel free to join the EcoFlow South Africa Facebook Group.