Got power and water

Received my Jackery 1000 battery and the accompanying solar panels a few weeks ago. I have been testing it with various gadgets I plan to take on the road. It came about 35% charged, so the first order of business was to hook it up to the solar panels on a sunny day on the patio. It took most of the afternoon to get it all charged up. The battery itself was nicely compact and not too heavy for the amount of power that it packs.

The first test was during a cold night in the house: ran my twin electric blanket from the Jackery. It ran most of the night (about 6 bours) on a low setting -- the battery level went down to 83%. On a recent weekend road trip to visit friends in Delaware, the Jackery powered my Setpower AJ40 40 qt portable freezer/fridge. The 3 hour drive barely made a dent on the battery, the power level was still at 97% and the fresh trout fillets in the fridge were kept nice and cold.

The last test was a 250-watt personal heater in case I run into a cold snap while camping. The heater used up about 35% of the power in an hour. Clearly not something to run the whole night. On an interesting note, the solar panels have USB ports that can charge cell phones, etc. while the panels are charging the battery. The panels did not come with a carrying case; fortunately my daughter has a number of art portfolios from her undergraduate days and the two folded panels fit into one of them (see below). Azula, one of our cats, insisted on being in the photo.

It would be a challenge finding space for the portfolio in Mille. It looked like I will have to put the portfolio standing on the floor of the front passenger seat. Or, I could leave the solar panels at home since most of my campsites have electricity and the Jackery can be charged using Millie's DC outlet. I also prep'd for water supply. Got a 5-gallon water bottle and a manual dispenser, to avoid using lots of bottles. Thought about getting an electronic dispenser (charged via USB) but after reading stories about rogue electronic dispensers turning themselves on when the owners were not around, I decided it was safer to get a manual one. My daughter helped to put the dispenser in place, there was a little spillage in the process. It will be interesting to see if I can replace the water bottle (or refill it) by myself on the road. The bottle is currently in the dining room, did not want to move it into the minivan because the night temperatures have been going down to freezing.

I am so ready to hit the road. The weather was rainy with sleet in the forecast, so I have delayed my departure until Saturday.