There’s a great deal of hype surrounding portable power stations, but what are they, and do you really need one? Peter Rosenthal delves beneath the surface of these fancy – but handy – boxes
PORTABLE POWER BANKS have really taken off recently – for many people who post online, they’ve become a must-have item that promises to transform your caravanning life. But what exactly are portable power stations – and do you need to buy one?
The first point to bear in mind is that over the years, caravan manufacturers have refined their products to the point where the modern tourer is a pretty powerful bit of kit, which can generally offer you at least a weekend’s camping on its built-in battery power.
If you find yourself in need of more off-grid capability, the cheapest way to achieve this is simply to double or triple your battery bank.
However, power banks are still very popular – so what are they all about?
What is a power bank?
A portable power station doesn’t replace the caravan’s electricity source, but is designed to be used as a standalone, all-in-one box, which usually features an inverter (so you can have 240V mains power), several 12V and USB sockets, all powered from an internal battery.
The amount of power that you can have will depend very much on the size of your power bank’s internal battery.
The internal battery is usually a small lithium iron phosphate unit, which has the benefit of being able to be drained down to a low level without damage, while still maintaining constant voltage. Some caravans are already fitted with these types of batteries and they are an excellent choice for a leisure battery.
A few power banks link to folding solar panels, while others are modular, allowing you to easily add more battery power to the power station should you need it.
The key point to be aware of here is that the size of the internal battery determines every aspect of the unit; while your tourer might have a large battery bank of 100-200Ah, for a battery bank to be portable and compact, they usually use much smaller battery packs.
Larger power banks do offer much longer running times for electrical equipment, but they’re bulky and heavy, making them trickier to handle and taking up storage space and payload.
What can they power?
One of the most common themes relating to power supplies is that many people struggle to envisage the amount of power that certain items will need.
For example, a domestic electric kettle is around 3000W. To power it from your leisure battery or power station, you would need a 3000W continuously rated inverter, which
