The EcoMove Wave 2 is an air conditioner, heater, and fan that may uniquely be powered by a battery and photo voltaic panel. This transportable warmth pump packs lots of cooling and heating for its dimension and could possibly be a recreation changer for some or a disappointment for others. It all is determined by whether or not you consider EcoMove’s advertising.
A warmth pump’s skill to switch warmth out and in of a room is what makes these more and more in style home equipment so environment friendly, however EcoMove’s pitch for the diminutive Wave 2 is absurd and deceptive. It exhibits individuals utilizing it inside a spacious front room, a big RV, on the deck of a ship, and outdoors at a campsite. Some backpacker even carried it into the mountains to make use of with a tent.
After a yr of testing, I can guarantee you that the Wave 2 won’t cool or warmth these areas in any significant approach as depicted. It actually gained’t elevate or decrease the temperature by 18 levels Fahrenheit (8 levels Celsius) in simply 5 minutes, as EcoMove claims.
I’ve examined the $799 Wave 2 to each warmth and funky a shipping-container-sized surf shack, and to chill each a campervan and a tiny bed room in an outdated Portuguese farmhouse. The quickest temperature change I’ve seen is an 8F (4.6C) drop in half-hour, properly under EcoMove’s declare. But it additionally stored a room at 72F (22C) or under on a day that reached 99F (37C) outdoors. Its worst efficiency resulted in no temperature change in any respect.
Notably, in some climates, a 400W photo voltaic panel might conceivably preserve the $1,199 Wave 2 with battery add-on operating constantly with out ever needing to plug it right into a wall socket. The Wave 2 is actually progressive and a really succesful gadget in some restricted eventualities — nevertheless it’s not the little miracle EcoMove makes it appear.
EcoMove’s Wave 2 is fitted with a compact compressor, condenser, and warmth exchanger with air exhaust and consumption pairs on each side of the gadget that kind two closed loops. The system works by transferring warmth from one loop to the opposite to both cool or warmth the house you’re in. This skill to switch warmth as an alternative of producing cold and warm air is what makes warmth pumps so environment friendly. JerryRigEverything has a great Wave 2 teardown that additionally explains how every thing works in additional element.
The Wave 2 could be very small for an HVAC unit which is each a power and a weak spot. It measures simply 20.4 x 11.7 x 13.2 inches (518 x 297 x 336mm) and weighs solely 32 kilos (14.5kg). It’s rated for 1500W / 5100BTU hours of cooling capability and 1800W / 6100BTU hours of heating capability, but solely pulls about 200W to 450W in my testing. But anybody who’s ever bought an air conditioner can let you know that 5100BTUs isn’t lots of cooling capability.
Basic window-mounted A/Cs generally bought within the US normally begin at round 8000BTUs. They price lower than half the worth of the Wave 2 however devour way more energy over time. You can even purchase a a lot much less transportable 14000BTU A/C and heater combo unit from Midea for $100 lower than the Wave 2 in case you can afford the additional house it requires.
But solely the Wave 2 will be fitted with an non-compulsory battery that provides 17.2 kilos (7.8kg) to the full weight and as much as eight hours of untethered run time. Uniquely, that battery will be charged by an environment friendly 700W DC-to-DC connection from lots of EcoMove’s big energy stations. Or benefit from the battery’s XT150 jack to cost it from nearly any energy station or DC-to-DC charger. It can be charged from a typical AC wall jack (820W max), photo voltaic (11-60V / 13A, 400W max), or a car’s cigarette lighter outlet (200W max).
Placement of the Wave 2 is restricted by a number of elements, together with the moderately brief AC energy twine and the 55.1-inch (140-cm) lengthy ducts that require five- and six-inch (12.7-cm and 15.2-cm) diameter openings in a window. You may additionally want a bucket inside attain of the drainage hose to seize any gathered condensation.
Last yr I attempted utilizing the Wave 2 to warmth and funky a single-room surf shack measuring about 800 cubic toes. I wasn’t impressed because it didn’t successfully regulate the temperature in each circumstances. I did, nevertheless, profit from the nice and cozy or cool air blowing instantly on me, particularly when falling asleep, nevertheless it didn’t do sufficient to justify the worth.
Then I learn the tremendous print. Ecoflow says the Wave 2 works greatest in areas measuring lower than 350 cubic toes (10 cubic meters), which is simply sufficiently big to suit a double mattress and two aspect tables. Heating and cooling efficiency is roughly the identical in such compact locations — it’s a wee bit louder when cooling and makes use of barely extra energy when heating. But the Wave 2 just isn’t a heater for very chilly winters. Instead, it’s designed to function in temperatures between 41F and 122F (5C and 50C). And since EcoMove says it’s “the trade’s strongest and compact transportable A/C,” I primarily examined its cooling talents throughout a very popular summer season.
So, with my expectations reset, I’ve been utilizing the Wave 2 for the previous couple of weeks to chill down a small 500-cubic-foot bed room and a 364-cubic-foot Sprinter van in central Portugal, the place cloudless skies have repeatedly produced temperatures too excessive for my Scottish ancestry.
Setting up the Wave 2 within the Sprinter requires extra persistence than in a house — however that’s true with every thing in vanlife. After parking, I’ve to lug the unit out of the van’s storage to put it in entrance of the passenger seat. Then, I connect the battery, drain hose, and receptacle and thoroughly run the paper-thin ducting up and out via the window utilizing a thick foam insert I created. I’ve acquired the entire thing all the way down to below 10 minutes.
I examined the Wave 2’s cooling contained in the van at evening and in direct daylight. For the daylight check, I closed the doorways and coated the within of the home windows with insulated and reflective covers. With the cooling set to most on the unit’s lowest doable temperature (16C / 61F), the within of the van remained roughly the identical as the skin, which ranged from 86F to a sweltering 99F (30C to 37C). That’s not dangerous contemplating the inside might have simply surpassed 120F (49F) with out the Wave 2 operating, nevertheless it’s nonetheless a fail in my e-book since larger capability rooftop A/Cs (costing greater than $2,000) from firms like Dometic and Coleman would have tamed that warmth.
Of course, I suspected the Wave 2’s meager 5100BTU capability would fail this check, however EcoMove’s pitch to vanlifers is that the Wave 2 will “cool or heat, anyplace, anytime” which simply isn’t true, particularly for RVs — lots of that are a lot bigger than a class-B Sprinter van — that should park within the solar to recharge their leisure batteries off rooftop photo voltaic.
Cooling the Sprinter after the solar went down yielded a lot better outcomes. On the warmest evening of my testing when it was 72F to 77F (22C to 25C) outdoors, I used to be in a position to decrease the inner temperature to about 66F (19C) and keep it into the morning. The van acquired so chilly that I wanted a down-filled cover at one level. That’s a serious win, with one caveat.
The Wave 2’s non-compulsory 1159Wh battery solely lasts about two and a half hours on max mode in my testing, or over eight in eco mode, its most energy-efficient setting. That wasn’t sufficient juice to maintain the A/C operating all evening in a mixture of max and eco cooling modes, so I needed to plug the Wave 2 into the a lot bigger photo voltaic generator I carry to energy issues like my van’s lighting, induction cooktop, and low maker. When I wakened, that larger battery had drained to 10 %, leaving me with valuable little energy to begin my day.
My last check was to chill a small room in a restored Portuguese farmhouse. Here the Wave 2 acquired an help from the room’s one tiny window minimize right into a construction with two-foot thick stone partitions. On one more 99F (37C) day I managed to maintain the room between 68F and 72F (20C to 22C) with the Wave 2 working in a mixture of low to medium settings, even because the temperature inside the home peaked at 83F (28C). Impressive.
Over the final yr of on and (principally) off operation I’ve observed two issues with my evaluate unit. First, the buttons on the bodily management panel now solely work intermittently, maybe as a result of they acquired squashed from all of the transferring round. It’s not likely a problem, although, as a result of I choose to regulate the unit with the superb EcoMove app which works properly over Bluetooth and Wi-Fi.
Of larger concern is the very loud and worsening noise the Wave 2 generally produces. I believe it’s associated to the water pump because it generally occurs when the water receptacle is full or the drain hose is looped in a approach that reduces gravity’s assist. The squeal is similar to the sound reported by a number of different customers. EcoMove tells me that there’s a recognized subject associated to the water pump clogging because of particles or trapped air. Affected homeowners can request a alternative below guarantee.
- When initially cooling a room on max setting the Wave 2 is a loud 53dB from a meter away, which drops to an affordable 45dB in Eco mode — that’s in keeping with the quietest of fundamental window A/Cs.
- The Wave 2 can robotically evaporate condensation that develops in the course of the warmth alternate course of, however solely in environments with lower than 70 % humidity.
- The non-compulsory battery contains 100W USB-C and 18W USB-A charging ports to your devices.
- IPX4 water resistance makes it okay for the Wave 2 (and IP65 battery) to get caught within the rain.
- The prime hose duct warms up significantly when exhausting warmth outdoors the window (and thereby cooling the room). Good concept to wrap it in insulation for extra everlasting installations as an alternative of bleeding that warmth (or chilly) again into the room.
The Wave 2 warmth pump is a reasonably area of interest however attention-grabbing product that works greatest to chill and warmth small areas positioned in temperate climates. It may even cool a small room in a really heat local weather if the insulation is sweet sufficient. It’s additionally a good selection for vanlifers on the lookout for some occasional DIY temperature management, particularly at evening and when touring past the grid. But in case you repeatedly have to warmth or cool a residing house bigger than 350 cubic toes (10 cubic meters) in additional excessive climates, it’s best to contemplate extra conventional cooling and heating choices.
Still, as a budding vanlifer and off-grid adventurer, I’m excited by the way forward for battery-powered warmth pumps. The Wave 2 already improved upon the unique EcoMove Wave, and EcoMove tells me {that a} third technology is coming in 2025.
All images by Thomas Ricker / The Verge
