Tested: EcoFlow WAVE 2

Reverse-cycle air-conditioners are fitted in just about every form of transport, as well as home and office buildings in Australia, but did you know you can now buy a portable battery-powered air-con unit that you can carry around to deliver climate-controlled comfort just about anywhere?

It was news to us too, so when we heard about the EcoFlow WAVE 2 arriving in the country – a trick new ‘smart’ appliance being touted as the most powerful and compact portable air-conditioner with heater on the market – we requested a review unit and put it to the test...

The WAVE 2 is one of the latest ‘off-grid’ appliances from the fast-growing, six-year old EcoFlow brand, which offers a wide variety of portable power solutions along with other cutting-edge appliances like the GLACIER, described as the “world's first 3-in-1 portable fridge, freezer, and ice maker”.

While the WAVE 2 isn’t the only off-grid portable air-conditioner you can buy, EcoFlow says it boasts the most grunt for its size, with 5100 BTU (1500W) cooling as well as 6100 BTU (1800W) heating in a package not much bigger than a small esky.

To put its output into perspective, a typical rooftop air-conditioner fitted to a large caravan puts out around 8800 BTU cooling and 8200 BTU heating, or about the same as one of the smaller wall-mounted home units.

Like fixed, plugged-in air-conditioners, you can run the WAVE 2 off 240V mains power, but its party trick is the optional 1159Wh rechargeable lithium battery that slots on to the bottom of the unit and seamlessly runs it for up to eight hours on a single charge, depending on usage.

We tested the battery-powered WAVE 2 inside a fixed-roof 20ft caravan; heating up an enclosed area measuring approximately 21 metres cubed, or just over the maximum space recommended by EcoFlow.

Firstly, the unit is pretty easy to set up, and comes with all the plugs and attachments to get it going including the two mandatory exhaust ducts and their clip-on attachments. There’s also a pre-cut foam vent board to make it easier to run the ducts out through a nearby window (or tent flap), and a drain pipe to empty any condensation collected while using the heater (there’s a flash distillation feature to eliminate any condensation when cooling).

The stretchy exhaust ducts pull out to around two metres long, which was sufficient to vent the exhaust air through a nearby window considering there needs to be some space around the unit for it to ‘breathe’. We used makeshift towels and tape to fill the gap left in the opened window next to the vent board, but there would be better DIY solutions.

There is a display panel and some buttons on top of the unit, but the Bluetooth smartphone app supplied by EcoFlow is far more clear and user-friendly and makes it child’s play to both operate and monitor all the functions.

With the outside temperature sitting at a chilly five degrees (and getting colder by the minute), we switched on the heating and cranked it up in ‘Max’ mode. According to the app, it went from pumping out 11 degrees of heated air at 50W output, to 31 degrees at 350W (maximum is 700W.). That left three hours battery life remaining in this high-output mode, with the unit sounding like a kitchen rangehood at initial start-up.

After a few minutes the temperature inside was up to a cosier 17 degrees, before we switched it to less frenetic Eco mode. According to EcoFlow, noise levels range from 44-56dB, or about the same as a home air-con unit, although it sounded a bit louder at times with a few extra noises coming from the built-in compressor, like trickling water.

About half an hour later and after playing around with a few other settings and modes, we noted 172W output to maintain the 17 degrees inside temperature, with 5.5 hours or 75 per cent battery charge remaining.

In theory we could have run it for most of the night in Sleep mode, although later on it automatically switched to manual, full fan mode (with no heater). This might have been caused by the icey outside conditions as EcoFlow says the WAVE 2 works best between five and 50 degrees Celsius, while the battery has an optimal operating temperature of 20-40 degrees C.

One way to over-ride this, according to EcoFlow’s troubleshooting guide, is to switch off the unit for five minutes, although that’s not ideal if you’re sleeping. It’s an issue common in other air-conditioners, with the heat pump in the caravan’s roof-mounted Telair unit not working as effectively below four degrees.

As far as cooling goes, we’ve done some preliminary testing at home inside a small 9sqm room that had been pre-heated to 26 degrees, with the WAVE 2 taking six minutes to get the temperature down to 20 degrees in Manual mode.

Like many of the latest lithium battery-powered products, pricing is a deterrent for buyers. The WAVE 2 is currently listed at $1999 on the EcoFlow webstore or $2999 with the add-on battery, which is about what you pay for a house or RV air-con, before installation.

However, the WAVE 2 is a bit more versatile in that as well as mains power, the battery can be charged up inside a running car or by hooking up some portable solar panels. It took about two hours to fully charge the WAVE 2’s battery when plugged into the wall at home.

EcoFlow says the WAVE 2 battery will run on a single charge for as little as two hours in extreme conditions, so another option is to carry additional batteries to keep things going when away for a few days on a remote Outback trip. There’s a timer on the app so you could stretch it out over a few days if you only ran it for a short time when going to bed each night, for example.

Lugging the WAVE 2 around with its two top grips also requires a bit of muscle, as it weighs a hefty 22.3kg combined, while its all-in-one packaging still takes up a chunk of valuable storage space in the car, boat or van.

As mentioned, it’s also a bit noisier at times than bigger fixed units. There’s the option to place the unit outside and run a duct inside, although that’s not ideal as the plastic-covered WAVE 2 isn’t water or dust proof nor particularly robust.

You also have to remember to attach the supplied drain pipe and run it into a nearby container to drain water from the unit when running the heater, as it won't run properly when over-full.

Although we’re yet to try it out in all conditions – a longer camping trip in hot conditions is on the cards later this year – the WAVE 2 shapes up as a well-designed and user-friendly unit that’s also relatively quiet and efficient, and pretty quick in heating up or cooling down smaller enclosed spaces.

It might suit someone with a multi-purpose vehicle like a van in which they want to move around equipment, depending on work or play. Or someone who wants to use it for camping on the week-end, and then heat or cool a home office or ‘man cave’ during the week.

The add-on battery also comes with USB-A and USB-C ports for charging up mobile phones and other electronic devices, while the WAVE 2 is designed to integrate with other EcoFlow products if you want to fully embrace the ‘off-grid’ movement.