Bernd D. - Fully independent wherever you are with EFOY
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This happened to us once in winter in Oberhof. It was the middle of the night, and when it’s -20 degrees outside, that’s no small matter. The heating went off. It runs on gas, but the control unit and fan need electricity!
Although we had a solar system, it does not supply enough electricity from October to March to balance the daily consumption. So, to prevent this from happening again, we needed to find an alternative power source. A diesel or petrol engine is out of the question due to its noise, and since comparable gas engines were in such a high price range, we looked at a fuel cell for the first time.
“We never leave without it”
Do without anything in the motorhome because electricity is running low, that was yesterday!
Jürgen R., travel blogger & camper
Currently there is only one such system for the camping market: The EFOY is a fuel cell that generates electrical energy from methanol through a chemical process without any noise or combustion gases. All that remains is a little CO2 and water. So little, that a small hose is enough to lead the residue to the outside. And the very best thing about it is: You can’t hear it. Absolute peace and quiet! No comparison to neighbour’s rattling generator that won’t let you sleep.
Ingeniously simple to operate and fill. Ideal for every camper. One safety canister of methanol, which cannot leak either, will last us months. Safe and simple. That’s the way it has to be!
The installation is easy to do yourself:
The EFOY must be securely installed and must not come loose during braking, but in winter it must still be removable. An air hose is used for the exhaust air and for the water and CO2 a small hose is routed to the outside. The fuel cell is connected to the battery with two cables. Connect a control box and, if you wish, you can also connect a Bluetooth adapter. That’s it. If you can’t do it all yourself, the manufacturer can recommend a wide range of specialist companies who can find individual solutions for every motorhome. These fuel cells have been installed on entire sailing boat fleets for many years and many convinced repeat buyers can also be found in motorhomes. The technology is therefore mature and has been tried and tested over many years!
Only the purchase price of about Euro 3000 made us hesitate at the beginning, but after one year of successful use we are convinced that the EFOY was the right choice. We’d put her back in our motorhome any time.
On no campsite did we have to book more electricity, and on all our trips, every day and every night, we always had enough electricity. Even if we charged our two eBikes daily and were still free. So, without a pitch, camping site, at the winegrower’s, in the middle of the forest under dense trees, at a lake, on a mountain. And this type of eBike draws the battery very, very quickly when charging! And then there’s a coffee machine, the TV, the satellite system – you quickly reach the battery’s capacity limit!
The world looks different with our EFOY: Even now in winter we don’t waste a thought on our battery. It’s just always full. Thanks to Bluetooth, the system informs us in good time if a canister change is due.
Methanol is the fuel used to generate electrical energy. It’s so effective that you can be self-sufficient for around four weeks with a 10-litre container. Methanol may be toxic, but the manufacturer has taken precautions here too. The canisters supplied have a non-return valve and are leak-proof. Only the interaction between the solar system and the EFOY could be optimised, but there are already suitable solar chargers that can switch on the EFOY only when the sun no longer provides enough electricity.
Really that straightforward? Really didn’t have any problems? Yes, it is. More than once I nervously checked the power consumption of our motorhome. I doubted whether the data on the battery monitor is really correct. The canister with methanol has been checked more than once to ensure that it is not already empty. Trust the technology? Yes, that was hard for me. But the EFOY just works. Switched on, set to automatic. Done.
And since then the EFOY has been running in our motorhome. And runs and runs and runs. When we make the motorhome winterproof, we remove the EFOY, otherwise it could freeze. And when it goes on tour again, the EFOY comes back first. We never leave without it. Because to do without something in the motorhome because there is a shortage of electricity is so yesterday!
