Guest JudgeMental Posted January 7, 2013 Share Posted January 7, 2013 Spotted this on promobil web site may be of interest to some....probably a bit more practical then the ethanol fuelled ones? http://tinyurl.com/bkvqdug Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted January 7, 2013 Share Posted January 7, 2013 Might be more practical, but a suggested RRP of €7290 is a mite off-putting. Another LPG-fuelled fuel cell aimed at 'leisure' use has been developed by Protonex http://www.protonex.com/recreation/rv-power.aspx Not sure about Protonex prices, but they won't be cheap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clive Posted January 7, 2013 Share Posted January 7, 2013 Look in the latest MMM for some words on this and also the Protonex - and a few more! Makes the EFOY look cheap as a unit but not per amp generated. C. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted January 7, 2013 Share Posted January 7, 2013 Clive - 2013-01-07 4:55 PM Look in the latest MMM for some words on this and also the Protonex - and a few more! Makes the EFOY look cheap as a unit but not per amp generated. C. Thought I'd seen something about the Protonex product recently... MMM January 2013 issue, "Fuelling the Debate" article (by Clive) is on pages 189 and 90. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spospe Posted January 7, 2013 Share Posted January 7, 2013 A question for Clive. Not wanting to hijack the thread, but a question that interests me regarding the EFOY unit is, how long do the fuel containers last in practice? Or if you prefer, how many ampere-hours can you generate out of a 5 litre container of methanol? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clive Posted January 7, 2013 Share Posted January 7, 2013 The spec sheet says 0.9 L per KWH generated. so at 12 volts that's about 83 ampere hours. But if you also use solar and only use the EFOY when you actually need it a 5 litre canister will last a very long time. For us we have used nearly 10 liters in 6 years. Its a backup power source and was very useful when the alternator stopped working!! C. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spospe Posted January 8, 2013 Share Posted January 8, 2013 Clive - 2013-01-07 10:51 PM The spec sheet says 0.9 L per KWH generated. so at 12 volts that's about 83 ampere hours. But if you also use solar and only use the EFOY when you actually need it a 5 litre canister will last a very long time. For us we have used nearly 10 liters in 6 years. Its a backup power source and was very useful when the alternator stopped working!! C. Using the above data and rounding the figures, this means that 5 litres of methanol will produce about 460 a/h. The habitation battery in our Duetto is 90 a/h and so this equates to just over 5 complete recharges (assuming 100% efficiency), at a cost of about £60 per 5 litre container of methanol. You are right Clive, at this sort of consumption / cost, an EFOY unit can only be regarded as a backup. It would be far cheaper to idle the van's engine, or even (God forbid) use a generator. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul- Posted January 8, 2013 Share Posted January 8, 2013 Ok but but how much petrol would you use for a generator to charge a dead flat battery. Credit where credits due, Its not very often that we get dead flat batteries, the efoy does a good job of keeping the charge up & it does it very quietly, efoy compliments solar very nicely Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arthur Brown Posted January 8, 2013 Share Posted January 8, 2013 I was buying Methanol in Portugal last year at 32 Euro for 10 ltrs. And yes, it lasts a long time when you have other sources of charge like a solar panel. If you can get the unit at a good price then efoy is an excellent generator. Art Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spospe Posted January 8, 2013 Share Posted January 8, 2013 Paul- - 2013-01-08 6:05 PM Ok but but how much petrol would you use for a generator to charge a dead flat battery. Credit where credits due, Its not very often that we get dead flat batteries, the efoy does a good job of keeping the charge up & it does it very quietly, efoy compliments solar very nicely Agreed about the EFOY, but .... My generator (not used with the van) uses about half a litre an hour and produces about 500 watts. This equates to about 40 amps at 12 volts. Assuming 70% efficiency this means that my flat 90 a/h habitation battery would need about 3½ hours of charging, or very roughly 1 litre of petrol per full recharge of the battery. The cost of 5 litres of EFOY branded methanol from a UK supplier is about £60, the cost of 5 litres of petrol from a UK garage is about £6-50, i.e. about 10 times cheaper. I am going to stop here as I don't want to change the nature of this thread any further. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colin Posted January 8, 2013 Share Posted January 8, 2013 spospe - 2013-01-08 9:08 PM The cost of 5 litres of EFOY branded methanol from a UK supplier is about £60, the cost of 5 litres of petrol from a UK garage is about £6-50, i.e. about 10 times cheaper. The local Poles can knock you some out for couple of quid a gallon :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clive Posted January 9, 2013 Share Posted January 9, 2013 Without doubt the generator is a much cheaper option but over night charging the starter battery via Efoy was workable, via generator was not. But peace of mind it provides for sure. Its your money and your priorities. There is always the hookup! C. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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