The AC200P is a 2000 watt-hour power station, with long-lasting Lithium Iron Phosphate cells. It has a pure sine wave AC inverter capable of 2000 watts sustained current, and will surge up to 4800 watts. There are 6 AC outlets, 4 standard 5 volt/3 amp USB outlets, one USB C with up to 60 watts output, two 3 amp barrel outlets for 12 volt, one 10 amp “cigarette lighter” outlet for 12 volts, a 12 volt 25 amp aviation port (aviation refers to the type of plug, not the intended use), and two 15 watt wireless charging stations on top. That’s a lot of capability!
The AC200P is similar in every detail to the wildly popular AC200, which sold thousands of units on an Indiegogo campaign in the summer of 2020. The only difference is the switch to Lithium Iron Phospate cells, with an increase of 300 watt-hours over the 1700 available on the AC200.
The AC200/P is the successor to the EB150 and EB240 power stations, which took the world by storm when they were released in 2019. The combination of large capacity, portability and price still make them a popular choice. Their AC inverter is limited to 1000 watts (1200 surge), which for some applications is not sufficient. Maxoak got the message loud and clear, and put a much more powerful inverter (and more AC outlets) in the AC200/P. For many people, the EB series is still preferable.
The AC200P weighs in at 60.6 pounds. This is at the high end of what I’d call a portable power station. The built-in handles work great, and one reasonably fit person can move it around, but I plan to find a good location and leave it there, and I reckon most people will do the same.
The AC200P has a built-in fan to keep it cool when needed. It seems my CPAP doesn’t draw enough current to cause the fan to kick on, so it is perfectly quiet all night long. In situating the unit, be sure to leave space for the fan to draw air without straining. A four-inch margin on all sides will be sufficient.
I’m not going to go further into technical specifications. For those who are unfamiliar with these products, there are numerous reviews on YouTube which go into considerable detail on the technical aspects. I highly recommend two channels for this purpose: DIY Solar With Will Prowse, and Hobotech. Both of these presenters are kind of quirky, but their information is impeccable and thorough.
My goal is to provide information on usage rather than specs. In my world, that boils down to 4 principal uses: CPAP, ham radio, emergency preps, and camping. Rather than do one long video covering all of those, I’ll present several short videos, focusing on one use-case at a time. I’ll post links here as the videos are published. Today, we’re looking at the CPAP.
I live in hurricane country, in Eastern North Carolina. We have been through some doozies in the decades I’ve lived here, including Hurricanes Floyd and Florence, which devastated the whole region, and several smaller ones like Fran and Irene which had a major impact but not as wide-spread. In addition to hurricanes, we have power outages due to occasional severe storms, ice storms, and sometimes for no discernible reason. If the power goes out at night, I don’t want my CPAP to stop working. So I use a power station at all times for the CPAP. Some of you may want to do the same, and came here for information on how to do this.
I’ve had the AC200P for a month and have been using it for my CPAP that entire time. Every night before turning on the CPAP I take a photo of the screen, and again upon waking up, so I have a series of photos showing the percentage of battery used each night. My conclusions are drawn from that data.
My CPAP is a Philips Dreamstation. It is a quiet and efficient machine. With the humidifier, it draws an average of 50 watts per hour over an 8 hour period. When first turned on, as the humidifier heats up the water, the current is higher. After the water has heated up, the current drops. Without the humidifier, the average power needed is 10-12 watts. Clearly, for a long-term power outage or off-grid camping (boondocking), if you can get along without the humidifier, you will extend the usage considerably.
I’ve powered the CPAP with both the AC power brick that came with it, and with a 12 volt adapter which I purchased separately. I also ran the CPAP with and without the humidifier. While I prefer the humidifier for everyday use, in a lengthy power outage I would disconnect it, as the humidifier more than doubles the current needed.
On average, with the humidifier, on the 12 volt outlet, I will lose about 20% battery capacity per night, so it could run at least 4 and maybe 5 nights without recharging. On the AC inverter, it loses 25% or more, which would be 3-4 nights. If your CPAP has a 12 volt adapter cord, that’s the way to go.
Without the humidifier, at 10-12 watts per hour on the 12 volt port, I could get easily 10 days’ use. In a power outage situation, if it went on this long, we would bug out to another location, as there would be other issues affecting our safety and comfort besides just the lack of electricity. For camping, this would be very useful.
For everyday use, I leave the AC200P turned on all the time. If I were maximizing it, I would turn it off when not using it, since with the 12 volt system turned on, it loses around 1% per hour when nothing is drawing current. The 12 volt regulation circuitry takes some power and produces this loss. If the AC inverter is turned on, the drain is much higher. This is another good reason to invest in a 12 volt power cord for your CPAP.
The AC200P has pass-through charging, which means you can use it while it is plugged into either the wall charger or solar power. In my current home, I don’t have a solar power set-up, so I use the wall charger to keep it powered. I prefer not to leave the wall charger active at all times, and it will shorten the life of the battery cells to keep them at 100%. So I have the wall charger plugged into a smart outlet, which is programmed to recharge the AC200P for a couple of hours, every other day. Basically, I run the unit between 20-80% state of charge, which is recommended by many experts as providing the greatest longevity for batteries with a lithium chemistry. Lithium Iron Phosphate batteries already have a great lifetime, so I’m not so worried about that. But since it’s simple enough to do, why not? The smart outlet I use is rated for 3 times the amperage that the wall charger draws, which is a generous safety factor. If you choose to use a smart outlet, I suggest you follow this plan.
We had a brief power outage during the night, the first week I had the AC200P. The only way I know this is that the clock on the stove and microwave were blinking when I got up. The CPAP never stopped, because it wasn’t plugged into the grid.
Prior to getting the AC200P, I was using a Bluetti EB150 for the CPAP. While the EB150 has nominally 500 watts less than the AC200P, I get a couple more nights of CPAP use out of it under the same conditions described above. I believe, although I can’t prove, that the 12 volt regulation circuitry is more efficient in the EB150 and thus the drain during the day is less. Again, in a long-term power outage or boondocking situation, I would turn either battery off during the day to avoid parasitic loss.
Either of these – the AC200P or the EB150 – would do the job for my CPAP over a week’s use or more. I see the EB150 as better for 12 volt usage, and the AC200P as optimized for AC. For that reason, I will be moving the AC200P downstairs where I would have a need for AC in a power outage, and return the EB150 to CPAP service.
Full disclosure: I received an AC200P from Maxoak in order to do this review. The testing is all mine, and they did not ask to see this review before it was published. You might be seeing it before they do.
I hope this review is helpful for all of my fellow CPAP users. I will also be testing other power stations, such as the newer Bluetti AC30, a light-weight, mid-range power station with different applications. That’s all for now.
| Brand | BLUETTI |
|---|---|
| Wattage | 2000 Watt-hours |
| Fuel Type | Electric |
| Power Source | Solar Powered |
| Recommended Uses For Product | Camping |
| Item Weight | 60.6 Pounds |
| Voltage | 120 Volts |
| Output Wattage | 2000 |
| Special Feature | Portable |
| Included Components | Solar_panel |
| Color | Black, Grey |
| Product Dimensions | 16.5"L x 11"W x 15.2"H |
| Material | plastic |
| Model Name | AC200P |
| Engine Type | 4 Stroke |
| Tank Volume | 1 Gallons |
| Engine Displacement | 79 Cubic Centimeters |
| Total Power Outlets | 6 |
| Frequency | 50 Hz |
| Starting Wattage | 4800 Watts |
| Manufacturer | BLUETTI |
| Part Number | AC200P |
| Item Weight | 60.6 pounds |
| Item model number | AC200P |
| Batteries | 1 Lithium Ion batteries required. |
| Size | 16.5"L x 11"W x 15.2"H |
| Style | BLUETTI AC200P |
| Item Package Quantity | 1 |
| Special Features | Portable |
| Batteries Required? | No |
| Battery Cell Type | Lithium-Phosphate |
| Warranty Description | 2 year manufacturer |
