Help me to understand watts

[DashCamUser123]

Dumb question time. In one post someone said the Viofo VS1 draws 2 watts in normal recording. How many watts are used in 1 hour? 2 wh? I'm trying to calculate how long the VS1 will run on an EcoFlow River 2 256wh battery.

 

[Finnegan]

Dumb question time. In one post someone said the Viofo VS1 draws 2 watts in normal recording. How many watts are used in 1 hour? 2 wh? I'm trying to calculate how long the VS1 will run on an EcoFlow River 2 256wh battery.

You are correct. When we say something uses 2 watts, that is a snapshot, an instantaneous figure.
If you continue to use the 2 watts for 1 hour, that is 2wh. You just multiply.

If you have a battery capable of supplying that 2 watts for 10 hours, that is a 20wh battery.
So the battery can supply 1 watt for 20 hours, or 2 watts for 10 hours, or 20 watts for 1 hour.

 

[DashCamUser123]

Thanks. In the case of the EcoFlow River2 256wh battery and the VS1 which draws 2w. I calculated the following and it works out to about 5 days of continuous running time. Give or take an hour or two if the watts used by the VS1 fluctuates.

Is the following correct?

256wh / 2wh = 128 hours of run time capacity. 128 hours / 24 hours = 5.33 days of continuous use.

 

[Finnegan]

Thanks. In the case of the EcoFlow River2 256wh battery and the VS1 which draws 2w. I calculated the following and it works out to about 5 days of continuous running time. Give or take an hour or two if the watts used by the VS1 fluctuates.

Is the following correct?

256wh / 2wh = 128 hours of run time capacity. 128 hours / 24 hours = 5.33 days of continuous use.

Your math works, so the only question is whether the battery will keep up, and in all conditions, heat, cold, etc.
So the battery could have been manufactured to provide an ideal 'minimum' of 256wh, or an ideal 'maximum' of 256wh.
In the former you should be OK, and in the latter you might never quite make it to 256 hrs. Either way you should test
this and find out which way the battery leans so you know what to expect before you really need it.

 

[DashCamUser123]

Thanks again. In the case of the 256wh, I'm ok with it being maximum or minimum. That is plenty of runtime and the EcoFlow recharges in one hour or faster. The EcoFlow will display the percentage of capacity left on the battery LCD screen or in the app.

I may get the EcoFlow River2 MAX as well which is double the wh at 500wh. I will purchase it at Costco Canada (90 day return policy for electronics) for peace of mind. If I purchase it thru the manufacturer's website there is no return unless it is defective.

 

[Finnegan]

Good choice, Costco is awesome. Good luck!