Ceremony Power, It’s All Abuzz

Lacking power. Sometimes a ceremony battery it’s the only thing between delivering ceremony services and not being able to do it at all. But batteries come and go and there are some good choices to make, and some that are less so.

I am going to list what I see as the best options for ceremony power. Now the run times of these are going to vary drastically on how your ceremony rig consumes power. For instance I have been running larger mic options for my ceremonies for a bit, but I also have battery powered speakers that takes the burden off the battery. Someday I may make a calculator to help people determine just what is the right-size that one needs, but the general rule of thumb is the more Wh (Watt-Hours) the unit can deliver the longer runtime you have. Also note if your rig is too big (like say trying to run a reception option) then you may trip or drain these batteries very quickly.

Note that prices will fluctuate drastically, including when Amazon Prime days happen.

Too Many Abbreviations!

Wh, Ah, mAh, Total Watts, it’s a lot to take in for those not initiated in power. Let’s try to break this down into some basics for things you’ll see while researching.

• Wh = Watt-hours. Power over time. This represents capacity.
• Ah = Ampere-hours. Current over time. This represents charge.
• mAh = Milli-Ampere-hours. Current over time (in a smaller value). This represents charge.

Now you can do some calculations to get Wh out of Ah (Ah x Voltage = Wh). For instance if you had a 100Ah battery and you had a 12Vdc battery, that means you have a 1200Wh battery.

How Much Do I Need?

This is a much harder question to answer. Every device draws power differently. If you had all DC you can gain even more efficiencies in your power consumption. For my use with 4 mics, IEM, router, and mixer my draw is around 53W from the meter I added in-line.

The math is somewhat straight forward. Watts / Watt-hours = Potential runtime. But consider that a battery will always only output a max percentage of it’s runtime, typically around 80%.

That would come up to 3.6 hours of runtime in the most ideal conditions. In my video as a real world test I got a little over 3.4 hours (at the 80% of Wh number) so it’s pretty on point.

But that 53W draw is my personal draw. All equipment is different, and to get an accurate number of this having an in-line meter is your best option to know the exact numbers.

…But I Need Reception Stuff

Receptions require considerable power. And while you can use a UPS (listed below) to help with power interruptions, don’t expect much run time. If you really need a battery option for a reception your best bet is a modular battery system to help scale your needs or consider a gas powered option instead.

• eGO 56X 3000W bare station – $599.00 (7/12/23)
• eGo PST3042 Power Station with 2x 7.5 Ah batteries) – $1099.00 (7/12/23)
• eGo PST3041 Power Station (with 4x 5.0 Ah batteries) – $1299.15 (7/12/23)

UPS Option

While I don’t do this anymore, there is always the option of using a UPS battery. It is a heavier option, and you likely will not get as long as a runtime for other battery solutions, it does serve a purpose and it’s a plausible scenario.

• APC BR1500 MS2 UPS 1500VA – $269.99 (7/12/23)

Battery Power Stations

While there used to be just a couple, this market has exploded since 2020. And while model numbers come and go, and thanks to post-COVID supply chain issues some great models can be hard to find. For instance my Energizer 240Wh model was only available for a couple months till it seemed to be a unicorn.

Below is a list I will try to maintain as best as possible. The general guidance on this is try to find models of at least 200Wh or greater and Pure Sine Wave has been indicated. If a brand you discover looks a little cheap then it’s likely not-so-reliable. LiFePO4 models will have safer batteries in extreme conditions but will take longer to charge and are a little less dense than a LiOn battery.

• ALLWEI 280Wh Lithium Ion – $229.00 (7/12/23)
• Anker 521 256Wh LiFePO4 – $209.99 (7/12/23)
• Anker 535 213Wh LiFePO4 – $349.99 (7/12/23)
• Anker 523 289Wh Lithium Ion – $199.99 (7/12/23)
• Anker 555 1023Wh LiFePO4 – $629.99 (7/12/23)
• BLUETTI 268Wh LiFePO4 – $199.00 (7/12/23)
• BLUETTI 716Wh LiFePO4 – $449.00 (7/12/23)
• BLUETTI 1152Wh LiFePO4 – $799.00 (7/12/23)
• EF ECOFLOW 256Wh LiFePO4 – $179.00 (7/12/23)
• EF ECOFLOW 512Wh LiFePO4 – $358.00 (7/12/23)
• EF ECOFLOW 768Wh LiFePO4 – $499.00 (7/12/23)
• GRECELL 288Wh Lithium Ion – $219.99 (7/12/23)
• GRECELL 519Wh Lithium Ion – $399.99 (7/12/23)
• GRECELL 888Wh Lithium Ion – $549.98 (7/12/23)
• Jackery 240Wh Lithium Ion – $167.99 (7/12/23)
• Jackery 293Wh Lithium Ion – $219.00 (7/12/23)
• Jackery 515Wh Lithium Ion – $359.20 (7/12/23)
• Jackery 1002Wh Lithium Ion – $799.00 (7/12/23)
• Powkey 260Wh Lithium Ion – $151.99 (7/12/23)
• Powerness 296Wh Lithium Ion – $159.99 (7/12/23)
• Powerness 515Wh Lithium Ion – $299.99 (7/12/23)
• Powerness 1166Wh Lithium Ion – $699.99 (7/12/23)