We’ll admit, we didn’t think much of the original Ecoflow Wave. How much cooling power can a little thing like that deliver, after all? Still, their portable ACs have proven to be invaluable for delivering climate control inside campers, tents, and similarly confined spaces, making them a viable solution to a very real need for many individuals. The EcoFlow Wave 3 is the newest iteration of their portable AC.
Like its predecessor, the new portable AC can both heat and cool a space to for year-round climate control, ensuring you can stay comfortable in both hotter and colder seasons. It’s more powerful this time around, though, with a 1,000 BTU increase in cooling capacity and a 700 BTU increase in heating, which should allow it to heat or cool a room faster, while being able to work in bigger spaces than before.
The EcoFlow Wave 3 now has a 6,100 BTUs for cooling and 6,800 BTUs for heating. According to the outfit, that new cooling power translates to a 15-degree Fahrenheit drop over 15 minutes inside a 10 cubic meter space, which is three degrees lower than its predecessor under the same conditions. It also boasts a maximum cooling area of 180 square feet, a big jump from the Wave 2’s 107.6 square feet. Granted, it’s always questionable how usable it can be really be in that big a space, but this one is definitely much more capable than the last iteration.
As for heating, it claims to raise the temperature by 17 degrees Fahrenheit in the same 15-minute duration inside that same space, making it an ideal camping companion during chilly nights in the outdoors. Suffice to say, it’s very capable for both heating and cooling functions. Adjustments can be made directly from the device’s interface, of course, although it also comes with a companion app for those times you don’t want to crawl over the portable AC’s exact spot.
The EcoFlow Wave 3 now uses insulated intakes and exhaust ducts, ensuring they shouldn’t add heat to the room when you’re trying to cool it, while the app now sends notifications when you need to need to drain the water tank during those humid days outdoors. There’s an automatic mode that will automatically switch to cooling or heating depending on temperature changes, a pet care mode that manages temperature specifically to prevent heatstrokes indoors, and a dehumidification function that can manage humidity to your desired levels.
The portable AC can be powered in different ways. There’s a removable 1024Wh LFP battery that, the outfit claims, is enough to keep it running for up to eight hours continuously (no word on the temperature setting, though). You can also use an AC wall jack, in case you have a powered RV or a portable power station. If you opt to go with the battery, you can charge it fully from an AC outlet in two hours, a car power outlet in just under 11 hours, a 400W solar charger in around three hours, and EcoFlow’s alternator charger in 1.7 hours.
The EcoFlow Wave 3 comes out April 25th, priced starting at $1,299.
