EcoFlow RIVER 2 FAQs: Everything You Need to Know
The EcoFlow RIVER 2 is our most compact portable power station. It’s a lightweight solution, perfect for that hiking, backpacking trip, or off-grid camping trip you’re planning for.
Check out the answers to some of the most frequently asked questions about RIVER 2 from our community website and retailers like Amazon.
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How Long Can the RIVER 2 Power My Appliances?
The amount of time that the RIVER 2 PPS can power your appliances between charges depends entirely on your appliances’ starting and running wattages and how many devices you run simultaneously.
To figure this out, you’ll need to divide the storage capacity of the RIVER 2, which is 256Wh, by the wattage of the appliances you want to charge.
Here’s a simple formula to help you estimate this:
Storage Capacity (Wh) / Running Wattage (W) = run time (h).
If you plan to power multiple appliances simultaneously, you’ll need to add up the sum of their wattages.
For example, if you want to power a 50W laptop and a 200W 20” (50.8 cm) box fan, you’d get a total wattage of 250W. Divide the 256Wh capacity by 250W of power needed, and you could run these appliances for roughly one hour.
However, if you’re powering something like a lightbulb at 60 running watts, you could get over 4 hours of power.
The other crucial determining factor in what appliances a portable power station can run is its AC Output. RIVER 2 offers 300W (running wattage) and surge power of 600W (starting watts) thanks to X-Boost. The additional starting wattage gives you the flexibility to run up to 99% of consumer electronics.
Can the RIVER 2 Be Used as an Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS)?
Any EcoFlow PPS can serve as an emergency power source (EPS) with a 30-millisecond switch time when using power from an AC wall outlet.
If the RIVER 2 or any other EcoFlow PPS is plugged into a household AC outlet, the connected devices and appliances draw power from the grid. During a power outage, the PPS automatically switches to backup battery mode. Any electronics plugged into the PPS will draw power from the PPS battery.
However, EcoFlow portable power stations don’t support 0ms switching. For most electronics, a 30-ms interruption in power is negligible. You may not even notice it. However, there IS an interruption — unlike with a UPS.
You shouldn’t rely on a portable power station as a UPS for sensitive electronics such as workstations or data servers that require an uninterrupted power supply. Typically, these devices don’t have a built-in battery backup; even a 30-ms interruption can lead to data loss or damage.
However, a laptop (for example) will be unaffected by the 30ms switchover as it has its own battery.
Can the RIVER 2 Handle High-Wattage Appliances?
No, RIVER 2 can’t power high-wattage appliances.
RIVER 2 has an operating AC output of 300W (running watts) and a surge power AC output of 600W (starting watts) using X-Boost.
X-Boost enables RIVER 2 to power up to 99% of consumer electronics (smartphones/tablets/ laptops etc).
But a maximum operating AC output of 300W severely limits the kind of appliances you can run with RIVER 2. Essentially, anything with an operating wattage above 300W — or a starting wattage requirement of 600W+ — simply won’t work.
Even if your appliance has an operating wattage of 300W, RIVER 2 could only run that one appliance. And, due to the battery storage capacity of 256Wh, RIVER 2 can’t even run your 300W device for an hour (watt-hours and kilowatt-hours measure electricity consumed over time).
If your off-grid electricity needs exceed RIVER 2’s AC output capabilities, check out another PPS in the RIVER 2 or DELTA series. EcoFlow’s off-grid power solutions can output up to 7200W of AC (running watts) and 14,400W (starting watts).
Additionally, you can expand a PPS like the DELTA Pro to provide up to 25kWh of electricity storage — enough to run many households for a full day.
Check out the whole home generator to see just how much electricity the right off-grid power solution can provide.
Back to the RIVER 2.
It’s the perfect PPS for portability and charging your essential personal devices. But if you want to operate even relatively low-wattage camping appliances on extended trips (more than a day or two), RIVER 2 Pro or DELTA 2 is likely a better option.
Keep in mind that all EcoFlow portable power stations offer solar charging. Connect a 110W portable solar panel to the RIVER 2, and you can keep your smartphone and laptop charged off-grid indefinitely.