Efoy now uses 20 per cent less fuel

EdsMH said:

David

I like the thought of fuel cells for the motorhome but each time I have looked they do not make economic sense when compared with solar panels or a nice quiet gennie.

How much are the latest Efoy units and the 'special' methanol now, compared with running a 2kw gennie? I am also interested in the working life of the fuel cell membranes as I understand that is still quite limited?

Regards

Ed

Click to expand...

Hello Ed,

I haven't yet delved into the analysis on our website to update the figures which we worked out some time ago regarding running costs (and they had probably got out of date anyway because the fuel cost had risen).

And I've been at the swimming pool this afternoon thrashing about with very energetic grandchildren so right now everything is so h-e-a-v-y and t-i-r-e-d so I doubt my competence to do any sums.

But I would say that the economics (in running costs) of Efoy versus the others is not the main place to focus (although certainly not to be ignored).

The Efoy's advantages are unambiguous: their power is predictable, anywhere and anyplace and any time of the day or night and any weather. Solar panels are unbeatable on running cost but can't offer the Efoy's reliability.

Generators will produce much more peak power for a given fuel consumption but when that power is being used purely for battery recharging you can lose a large part of this economy if your charger doesn't make optimum use of the power. And most of all, there's no such thing as a truly 'quiet' generator: not so quiet that you can use it anywhere, anytime. Nor any weather, if it's deployed outside.

Having cried off from doing any sums at the moment, I'll nevertheless have a quick stab at something useful:

A 10 litre fuel cartridge will produce 925 Ah of charge at 12v (the revised Efoys have a methanol consumption of 0.91 lires per kWh).

The price of 10 litres is £37.98 (including VAT) which equals 4.11 pence per Ah; therefore £4.11 per 100Ah.

So if your power requirements are 100 Ah per day, then it's going to cost your around £4; if your requirements are 50 Ah per day then it's £2.

Neither is too outrageous compared with the cost of a hookhup (if you have the choice - and if you have the choice, just choose the hookup) but when there is no hook-up and you need the power you might view it as a very reasonable price to pay for the freedom to have power in the place you want to be.

Bear in mind that average running cost usage could be lower depending on your typical length of stop; if you are driving off the next day you might not need to run the Efoy at all if your battery will see you through to departure.

Efoys fit in very well with other charging methods so that all can contribute and be used for best efficiency and economy. Paying attention to the maximum outputs of the different models (in AH per day) and relating it to your typical usage will give you a good idea of running costs for your needs; and also tell you whether you could consider an Efoy as your main charging source; as a supplemental source; or not viable at all.

Regards

David