Biolite Outdoors and Off-Grid Energy

[Num7]

I found this site a couple of weeks ago, they have cool products.

BioLite - Outdoor & Off-Grid Energy | Free Shipping on $99+ | Canada

At BioLite, we develop breakthrough technologies and deliver them through a market-based approach, empowering people to power themselves.

ca.bioliteenergy.com

Here's a tiny outdoor stove that has an onboard battery AND battery charger, that powers a fan for the fire. The fan boosts the fire. The fire charges the battery. The battery powers the fan! Neat! You can also connect an LED light to it, or use it to charge your phone. It's amazing! I almost ordered one, but I don't do any camping or survival stuff... So it would have been a super cool and super useless gadget. lol Maybe I'll get one next year, I'll see.

BioLite CampStove Complete Cook Kit | Grill, Boil, Cook, & Charge

Save $40 with this fully integrated cooking system - includes the BioLite CampStove 2+, KettlePot & Portable Grill. Wood-fired flavor with USB charging.

ca.bioliteenergy.com

They also offer a new firepit that has an integrated fan. It's supposed to be smoke-free when the fan runs. It's provides you with a super-optimal fire, that's efficient and as clean as it can be.

BioLite FirePit+ | Wood & Charcoal Burning Fire Pit

Enjoy the warmth, smell, crackle, and feel of a fire pit, without any of the smoke. FirePit transforms into a hibachi-style grill for the perfect outdoor dinner

ca.bioliteenergy.com

They have headlamps, and solar panels, all great products. Their primary objective is to bring sustainable and clean energy to the world, especially in poor countries. Imagine having a tiny stove that can generate electricity AND cook your dinner. Here we take electricity for granted. But in poor countries, this is a game changer.

Pretty cool stuff.

Do you guys have any of these products? Or anything similar?

 

[BlastTyrant]

The BioLite camping firepit is very well known for melting the fan and components. I was looking into it as i live in a RV Park and they dont always condone fires even in pits, but the negative reviews on it are huge, i haven't looked into anymore of their products.

 

[Beholder]

My family spent time and money building a large fireplace out of stone and cement, only to tear it down when nobody used it.

The 6W solar panel I bought for hobby projects can at least contribute some to lowering my electric bills, when it's sunny enough to charge faster than the battery's self drain.

 

[Num7]

The BioLite camping firepit is very well known for melting the fan and components. I was looking into it as i live in a RV Park and they dont always condone fires even in pits, but the negative reviews on it are huge, i haven't looked into anymore of their products.

That's too bad, but that's certainly something that's possible. I mean, the fire can get pretty hot with a fan and an air input system. I own a small wood BBQ that has a fan pushing air underneath the fire and on several occasions, the plates under the grill that are there to diffuse the heat became glowing orange! The fire pot on that BBQ is just a little bigger than a soda can! It can get VERY hot.

Here's another smoke-free firepit I saw last week, it looks good, but it's quite expensive.

The Original Smokeless Fire Pit - Breeo{sourceid}&nb_li_ms=&nb_lp_ms=&nb_fii=&nb_ap=&nb_mt=&gclid=Cj0KCQjwyOuYBhCGARIsAIdGQRN2I9Q4GPWgCurBvdjNKPdO0ZDFLAFnTO1KEyYJFkof_INmhAsZtCkaAu76EALw_wcB

They say it has an integrated, fanless airflow system that makes the fire smoke-free. No idea how good it is. The main point here is that it's smoke-free.

 

[Num7]

My family spent time and money building a large fireplace out of stone and cement, only to tear it down when nobody used it.

The 6W solar panel I bought for hobby projects can at least contribute some to lowering my electric bills, when it's sunny enough to charge faster than the battery's self drain.

Do you only have a solar panel for that hobby project? Do you plan to one day have more of them, in order to reduce your electricity bill, and power some devices in your home?

I think that's really cool. They're getting less and less expensive, but they have so many downsides. They always gotta be paired with adequate battery packs, that are super expensive as well...

 

[Beholder]

Do you only have a solar panel for that hobby project? Do you plan to one day have more of them, in order to reduce your electricity bill, and power some devices in your home?

I think that's really cool. They're getting less and less expensive, but they have so many downsides. They always gotta be paired with adequate battery packs, that are super expensive as well...

Bought a 6W panel just for learning, but light energy is exponential relative to the light we see, so unless it's a sunny day, you only get 10% effect and need much more panel capacity in order to function on a cloudy day.

The more you convert voltage and charge from one battery to another, the more power you lose. Connect an engine directly to a panel and it spins really fast. Connect the engine to the regulated power from a battery, and it hardly moves at all from all the waste. This shows that we could be at zero emission already if only we could convert voltage and time production and demand more efficiently. Heat tap water when the battery is full, et cetera.

If I had a sunny location, I would hook up two 50W panels to a controller and build a fireproof box around a pre-owned car battery. Not as efficient as the $300 Lithium batteries, but for only $50 and the savings can buy more $50 panels, chilling your freezer more while it's sunny. Then I can build a 12 volt reading light from high power LEDs. The rest can be powered using USB power, such as my emergency radio, 4G router, mobile phone and Raspberry Pi computers.

 

[Bones McCoy]

I always liked this idea.

 

[Bones McCoy]

I don't do any camping or survival stuff...

No camping or survival stuff?!!!

Have a look here:

https://www.youtube.com/c/PREPSTEADERS

 

[label]

As someone that lives in the third world that is dependent on a computer to generate an income I can truly and honestly say solar is a load of dog poop covered in sprinkles. BUT sadly it is all we have so I learned to live with mine. Yes I do have a small system nothing big but it works.

Truth is a home use about 5KW/h energy. The primary consumer of this power is the water-heater second only by the oven, microwave and toaster. Don't frown on the toaster that little beast can consume 1KWh every-time you make toast.

So you want a 5.5KWh 48 volt Hybrid inverter. This inverter has build-in charger for the four 12 Volt batteries and you can connect your solar panels to it. Now Batteries you want Deep-cycle GEL batteries 12Volt 200 AMP each will give you a good amount of power to run a small office. It however WILL NOT run water-heater, stove, microwave and toaster. Essentially anything with a heating element will drain the batteries.

It WILL drive a modest computer for a few hours. It will drive your lights TV and router for a while. The solar panels WILL charge in cloudy weather. The RULE here is if you don't feel the heat of the sun on your skin you probably will generate little to no power. But if you can feel the sun trough the clouds you will be fine.

The Hybrid inverter CAN charge the batteries from solar power. The Hybrid inverter CAN charge from grid power when available. Charging batteries from a petrol/diesel/propane gas generator IS problematic because the frequency the power is generated at CAN and DO mess with the charger and can cause it to burn out. So rather not do this.

Last thing thing NEVER go modified sine-wave it WILL mess with motors like your refrigerator. Speaking of refrigerator don't connect more then ONE unit at the time. The running power of any modern refrigerator is about 300Watts BUT to start the motor it can consume 1400Watts for a few seconds. Now most inverters can handle it BUT can't handle if two units start up at the same time. It will overload and burn out the inverter.

Your inverter will have a info sheet that will tell you how many solar panels you will need. I recommend staying within the recommendations as inverters are pedantic when it comes to its specifications.

Because our power is 230Volt AC at 50Hz there is no point recommending the stuff I have because I know some countries run on 120Volt but I know European power is the same as ours so just do a search "pure sine wave hybrid inverter"

 

[label]

Mine is a 3Kwh system it runs my small office and lights as you can see. It currently is charging from the grid as grid power is available. My batteries are inside a metal box so the only photo I can take is of the metal box but it will not tell you much. Point is just to show you that I know what I am talking about. But just know mine is a 24Volt system not 48Volt system because buying 2 batteries is cheaper then buying 4 of them. But you want the 5KWh 48Volt one it can do much much more.