Summer Van Life & Keeping the Dogs Cool: A Review of the EcoFlow Wave 2 Portable Air Conditioner
When I got the van at the end of January with the goal of moving in full time by March, my number one priority was investing in a portable air conditioner to keep the dogs cool in the summer months. I knew that at least for this first year, we wouldn’t be able to spend the entire summer in the high mountains where it’s cooler (certainly a goal for future summers), so having a method to stay cool when the van was parked would be a necessity. I’d actually been researching options for quite awhile (I’d been planning this transition for years), so I had a short list. The best option from a cooling standpoint is a roof mounted unit. However, the van I purchased has very little room left on the roof after solar panels, a large roof rack, and a Dometic vent/fan. Additionally, I wasn’t at a point yet where I felt comfortable cutting holes in the van. You can also put a home window unit in your van if you’re willing to remove a window and are okay with the aesthetic. That really wasn’t what I had in mind, either.
There are several other portable a/c options, from floor units to split units to table units, and I was looking for one that would take up the least amount of space while also requiring minimal installation. I’d made note of two companies that were making tabletop units, and that seemed to best fit my needs.
Zero Breeze and EcoFlow (referral link) both seem to market toward the outdoor industry, touting that their units can be used in a ground tent, a rooftop tent, or a vehicle.
At the time, the Zero Breeze Mark 2 was still a pre-order, so I went with EcoFlow Wave 2. That ultimately made my decision between the two; however, there are differences, and each has their winning (and losing) features.
With the EcoFlow Wave 2, the battery must be on the unit to charge. I had envisioned being able to purchase two batteries: one to have on a charger and one to have on the unit at any given time. With the Zero Breeze Mark 2 you can do exactly that. With the EcoFlow Wave 2, you cannot.
Since the EcoFlow Wave 2 battery must be on the unit in order to recharge, it cannot effectively be charged by solar, because a solar power connection only allows the unit to operate in fan mode (400 watts max power). Not a/c mode (820 watts max). Thus, it’s not really an air conditioner that can be powered by solar. It’s an a/c that operates as a fan when powered by solar. The only way to utilize the Wave 2 as an actual air conditioner is to use the 2-3 hours of available battery power (700 watts max) in Max a/c mode, and/or plug it into shore power. I feel like this is not very clear in their marketing. The unit also only operates in fan mode when plugged into 12-volt power (96 watt max). I did purchase the extra 12-volt charging cord so that I could potentially recharge the unit while driving, when the unit is not on.
Another significant difference between the two units is in the BTUs. Zero Breeze is only 2300 BTUs, while the EcoFlow Wave 2 is 5100 (with a 6100 BTU heater). While the van is small, it is not very efficient. It has some insulation, but when midday sun is beating down on that metal, it’s tough to keep it cool. The higher the BTUs, the better.
The EcoFlow Wave 2 has a smartphone app that provides information and can essentially be used as a remote. The unit itself is heavier than the Zero Breeze, at 32 pounds vs 16.5. It isn’t quite as loud, at 44dB vs 52dB, but it’s definitely not for very light sleepers. That said, the roof vent in my van is louder, so I don’t really notice.
Living in a van means paying particular attention to how much power you use. The Zero Breeze Mark 2, being a 2300 BTU a/c, has a max power consumption of 240 watts, while the EcoFlow Wave 2 uses 820 watts max (in a/c mode).
Size is roughly the same, with the EcoFlow Wave 2 measuring 20.4”L × 11.7”W × 13.2”H, and the Zero Breeze Mark 2 measuring 20"L x 10"W x 11"H. I do wish the EcoFlow Wave 2 had a handle like the Zero Breeze unit does, as it’s a bit cumbersome to lift the unit when you need to.
This brings me to my complaints with the EcoFlow Wave 2 portable air conditioner. While this may color my review as negative overall, I will say that I would rather have this unit than nothing at all.
A little over a month ago I started having issues with the drainage of the Wave 2. The unit doesn’t need to be drained unless the humidity is high. I believe the documentation says above ~70%, though mine definitely needs to drain at humidity levels around 60%.
Once the humidity started rising, water started leaking out of the base of the unit, all over my van. I had to take the entire unit outside and dump it, sometimes 3-4 times a day, and 1-2 times overnight. If I didn’t do this, hot air would start blowing out of the unit. It was not fun.
There’s a feature on the Wave 2 that enables automatic drainage. You press and hold the ‘fan speed’ button for three seconds to enable it. Once enabled, you connect the drainage hose to the port at the front of the unit, and it’s supposed to automatically drain out the hose. Mine never did. Instead, it leaked out the base.
I immediately reached out to EcoFlow customer service. After a rough start, where the representative sent back information about exchanging the unit for a refurbished power bank (an odd misunderstanding, I guess?), I was finally told that I could exchange the unit for a refurbished Wave 2. While I wasn’t thrilled that they wanted to replace my brand new unit with a refurbished unit (that I paid full price for), I decided that at least a refurbished unit might actually work correctly, so I responded that I wanted to go ahead and initiate the exchange. Long story short: my parents live in a very rural area, not near any shipping facilities (only drop off locations), and EcoFlow would not allow me to wait until I’d received the refurbished unit so that I could re-use their box and packing material to ship my (32-pound) unit back safely. So I’ve been unable to actually carry through with the warranty/exchange process. They did tell me that I could send in my unit any time within the warranty period; however, the reason I’m currently at my parents’ place is because the a/c wasn’t working and we needed a cool place to stay while it was resolved.
So I went to YouTube. After searching for “EcoFlow Wave 2 drain issue,” I found one video that someone had published about the same exact issue I was experiencing, and how they fixed it themselves. I made the quick decision to risk voiding the warranty on my unit and try what seemed like a quick and relatively simple fix.
The drain plug has a very narrow tip. It isn’t large enough for water to flow through while also maintaining an air vent. So I cut the narrow tip off the plug, wrapped the new wider end with some electrical tape (the only thing I had on hand; it worked as a seal), and stuck it back into the drainage port. I connected the hose, turned on the unit, and crossed my fingers. A few hours later, I had a partially full 2-liter bottle of water that had drained from the unit. Hooray! It finally works!
It’s been a couple of weeks now, and I’ve not had any other issues with the unit. While my overall thoughts are that the EcoFlow Wave 2 (and the Zero Breeze as well) should only be purchased for use in a very small, well insulated space, I am glad that I have it. It does cool the back of the van (the cab area, not so much) with a very directional flow of cool air. I’ve found that extra 12-volt fans help circulate that cool air quite a bit, and you must vent the hot air outside (mine is vented through the roof vent - I show this in a video here).
Another thing I’m looking into purchasing is a shade cloth (Amazon affiliate link) to use on the side of the van facing the late afternoon sun. These come highly recommended by those in the sport dog world, and I think it would be useful for the dogs and me as well.
To watch the video counterpart to this written review, click below.
I hope this helps someone out there who may be considering a portable a/c unit for their van/mobile setup. If you have any questions, feel free to comment below. I’m happy to help if I can.
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I don't have a van and I don't need a portable A.C. for that not van, but I do feel your pain of an appliance gone bad. Glad you are in the cool again.