AlphaESS AP1000 Power Station – Worth the Money?

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Having a reliable energy source during an emergency is a crucial part of personal preparedness. Off-grid electrical power comes from either short or long-term sources. Long-term would be sources like domestic solar panels and wind turbines. Short-term would be things like generators and battery banks.

In this article I’m looking at a short-term backup energy solution: the AlphaESS Portable Power Station AP1000. AlphaESS, a newcomer in the portable power station market, seems poised to take on the more well-known Jackery line of products. Their main strategy to doing this – better pricing.

Portable power stations of this type don’t come cheap, so AlphaESS’s ability to shave a few hundred dollars off the purchase prices when compared to competitors might give them the edge they need. But how do their products stand up? Are they worth the money?

First, are power stations of this type even necessary?

Energy Needs in an Emergency

I’m fortunate in that we have a wood stove to heat our house in cold weather. The unfortunate thing is that because it’s actually a fireplace insert, we need a small amount of electrical power to run the fan that blows the hot air. A traditional wood stove would just sit in the room emanating heat. The fireplace insert actually sits inside the fireplace.

In order to get that heat into the room, a fan sucks air in through the bottom, sends it around the back of the stove warming it up, and then spits the heated air out the top. You can run the wood stove without the fan, but the heat efficiency plummets. We need a small amount of electricity to heat the house.

Puerto Rico found the importance of grid-down communication after Hurricane Maria struck. Of course, even if you have a ham radio to communicate when the grid goes down, you still have to power that radio. Unless you want to rely on smoke signals and flags, you need power to have a communications system.

Some durable medical equipment also requires power. Do you need a CPAP machine? What about a nebulizer? Do you have the backup energy to power these devices if the grid goes down? Small, portable power stations are the perfect solution for these devices.

What about a traditional generator, you ask? Gasoline/propane portable generators certainly have their place. I own a big Briggs and Stratton generator that I can wheel out to power the entire house if the power goes out. It offers significantly more amp than any battery-sourced portable power station. They have drawbacks, however. Gas generators are loud and they pollute. They poison thousands every year.

Running gas generators outside the home is the obvious safety solution, but what if you want to silently power a light or charge electronic devices? What if you want to a power source inside your home? What if you want to use something inside a tent?

There are plenty of times that you want power but not the noise and pollution of a traditional generator.

Non-Emergency Uses

Portable power stations that run off of a large, charged battery are perfect for many non-emergency uses. Because prepping costs can add up, I like products that have dual uses. I can justify buying a product that I’ll only use in a collapse, but it’s easier to justify a product that will help in a collapse but that can also be used today.

Prepper products can often get dual use through recreational activities. Take for example stackable water storage containers. What makes these products great? I use them to store water in an emergency, but I also get to use them every summer and fall for off-grid camping. If a long-term collapse doesn’t come in my lifetime, the money wasn’t wasted. I still got plenty of use out of them.

Going tailgating? Who wants to listen to a generator running as you’re partying at a festival or grilling burgers in the parking lots of a stadium? Worse – who wants to inhale the exhaust?

Portable power stations like AlphaESS and Jackery products can get emergency and recreational use. I can take one of these camping and not have to worry about fiddling with propane or white gas lanterns. I can just plug in a conventional lamp. I don’t have to run the vehicle to charge a cellphone, I can just set it on top of the AP1000 for wireless charging. We can run the radio off it. Heck, we can even power a toaster!

AlphaESS AP1000 Product Specifications

• Large capacity with 1036Wh
• 2000W surge power
• 4 charging inputs (AC, solar, USB-C, and car charger)
• 3 AC outputs
• 4 USB outputs
• 2 wireless charging pads on top of the unit
• 2 DC outputs
• 1 car port: 12V/10A
• 2 large LED light panels with 3 brightness settings and SOS mode

The chart below lists the run times of different devices. These are specifications from the manufacturer, so they are likely from ideal conditions in a controlled environment.

Light (5W)	80 hours
Phone (12Wh)	60 charges
Laptop (50Wh)	12-15 charges
Camera (5W max)	150 charges
Television (60W)	13 hours
Coffee Maker (550W)	100 minutes
CPAP Machine (80W Max)	20-40 hours

My Findings

For some real world, real world data, I ran a few tests on the AP1000.

That picture I took of the running the lamp? I ran that 30W CFL bulb from 9pm to 6:30am, 9.5 hours. It used 22% of the battery’s power. That means it could power the light for about 43 hours on a single charge. That looks consistent with the company’s claim of 80 hours on a 5W bulb.

If it was winter when I wrote this, I would have tried the fan on my woodstove, but I’ve powered that overnight with a larger Jackery unit. I’m sure the Alpha could power it overnight as well.

Sometimes the power might go out and I need to keep working. If I don’t want to drag out the large gas generator and hook it up to the house, I can plug key components directly into the small power station and keep working.

In this test I worked the day using the AlphaESS to power my laptop and a second monitor.

I started the laptop and monitor at 7:30 AM and stopped at 7:00 PM. There were about 4 hours of down time in that span, so it was was a solid 7.5 hours of use. It started at 100% charge and by the time I was done it was at 62%. Not bad! I could easily get two days of full computer use with a second monitor off of one charge.

I plan to take this unit camping this summer. I can set it on the picnic table on Friday and let kids charge cellphone, run a lamp, run a radio, and pack it up on Sunday, all without having to recharge. If I needed it longer, I could just charge it in the truck.

AlphaESS AP1000 vs Jackery Explorer 1000

This is my first time handling an AlphaESS product. I have reviewed the Jackery Explorer 1500, but I have not handled the 1000 model. The Jackery 1500 and 1000 models are functionally the same, so I feel equipped to compare the AlphaESS 1000 to the equivalent Jackery model.

Pricing

The AlphaESS is, on average, about $200 less than the equivalent Jackery.

You can prep on the cheap, but that doesn’t mean prepping is cheap. Is the AlphaESS worth the savings? Could you use the $200 on some other preps? You need to decide that for themselves. Having handled both products, however, I can say they’re both of good quality.

Performance

The chart below provides manufacturer performance data for both the AlphaESS and the comparable Jackery unit. You can see that they are very similar in size, design, and performance. It could be a case of a half dozen of one, six of the other; however, the AlphaESS is the clear winner in the price department.

	AlphaESS AP1000	Jackery 1000
Charging Inputs	AC Adapter Solar Panel(s) Car Charger USB-C Cable	AC Adapter Solar Panel(s) Car Charger
Simultaneous Charging	12 devices	8 devices
Wattage	1036	1002
Voltage	110 Volts	110 Volts
Dimensions	13.5 x 10 x 10.5 inches	13.1 x 9.2 x 11.1 inches
Weight	25 lbs	22 lbs
Color	Black and Yellow	Black and Orange
Price*	$899	$1,099

One thing I will say is that the light on the AlphaESS is far more robust. It has 3 different levels of brightness plus a flashing “SOS” setting that could be a lifesaver in certain situations.

Summary

Portable power stations that build up a charge in a large battery bank are unique pieces of survival equipment that can also be used in the here and now, regardless of whether a catastrophe strikes. If a disaster did strike, however, their value would be immense. You can run lights off of them, communication equipment, medical equipment, etc. Best of all, the batteries can be recharged in a wall outlet, in the car, with optional solar panels, etc.

The AlphaESS AP1000 appears to be a quality product at a reasonable price. I would recommend it for people who want a portable power station and are willing to compromise on name brand in order to save money on the purchase price.

Do you have experience with AlphaESS or similar products? Let us know in the comments section.