Anyone else gone the Fogstar Drift route for budget lithium? Worth it vs Renogy?

Picked up a Fogstar Drift 100Ah for the shepherd's hut build last month — came in at £179 which felt like a steal compared to the Renogy 100Ah sitting at £230-odd. Both are LFP, both claim the same cycle life ballpark, so I went Fogstar on price.

So far so good after about 6 weeks. Running a Victron SmartSolar 100/30 into it and the absorption/float figures all look sensible on the app. No weird heating, no drama. Pulls down to about 20% SOC on heavy nights (12v fridge + lighting) and bounces back fine by noon.

What I'm not sure about is long-term reliability. The Renogy has more UK reviews and feels like a safer bet if something goes wrong — Fogstar's warranty process is still an unknown for me. Anyone actually had to claim on either?

Tom1981 | 847 posts

@StormyViking nice one, I've got two of the Drift 100Ah units running in my narrowboat setup since spring and honestly can't fault them. The BMS has handled some pretty aggressive charging from my alternator without complaint.

One thing worth flagging though — the low temperature cutoff on the Fogstar is slightly more conservative than the Renogy from what I've read. Probably irrelevant for a shepherd's hut with any decent insulation, but worth knowing if you're in a colder part of the country and leaving it unoccupied in winter.

The build quality feels solid for the price point. Terminals are decent, casing is sturdy. I'd say the £50 saving per battery adds up quickly once you're buying two or three of them. Happy to share my monitoring data if useful? 👍

Been running a Fogstar Drift 200Ah in the garden office for about eight months now — zero complaints. The BMS seems solid and it's handled some pretty aggressive charge cycles from my Victron MPPT without any drama.

The £50 gap per battery matters when you're stacking multiples. I've got three units and that's £150 saved over Renogy equivalents — basically a free MPPT controller.

Only caveat I'd throw in: Fogstar's warranty support is phone/email based and I've not had to test it properly yet. Renogy's RMA process is more established if that matters to you.

@Tom1981 curious how yours are holding up on the water — condensation and temperature swings are more of a factor on a narrowboat than my relatively stable office environment, would be interested to hear if you've seen any capacity drift over winter.

Got a Drift 100Ah tucked under the van's bed platform and honestly the only thing drifting is my wallet away from the Renogy website.

BatteryMark | 312 posts

Running a Drift 200Ah in the garden office myself — @NeilJackson we're basically twins there. One thing I'd add that nobody's mentioned: the low-temp cutoff on the Drift BMS is pretty conservative. Caught me out in January when it wouldn't charge until mid-morning. Worth pairing with a Victron SmartSolar so you can monitor state properly rather than guessing.

On the Renogy comparison — build quality feels similar to me honestly, the Fogstar just wins on price. Only reason I'd consider Renogy is if you need easier warranty support locally.

Great thread — been lurking on this exact question for weeks whilst pricing up my narrowboat setup.

One thing I haven't seen mentioned yet: how are people finding the Fogstar Drift's low-temperature performance? We've had some properly bitter mornings lately and I know LFP chemistry generally gets grumpy below about 5°C. The Renogy units I was originally eyeing have built-in low-temp charge cutoff protection, and I'm wondering whether the Drift's BMS handles that equally well or whether you're having to be more mindful about charging discipline on cold mornings.

@NeilJackson and @BatteryMark — eight months in a garden office through winter is actually really useful data. Did either of you notice any capacity drop during the cold spell we had in January?

The price gap is genuinely tempting but a canal boat environment can get properly cold overnight, so I want to be sure before committing.

@WillowWalker narrowboat gang represent — I've got two Drift 200Ah units on mine and the only drama so far is explaining to my bank statement why I keep buying more batteries instead of fixing the leaky calorifier.

DorsetCruiser | 847 posts

@StormyViking solid choice for a shepherd's hut — low draw, occasional use, that sort of application is exactly where the Drift earns its money back quickly. The £50 saving matters when you're kitting out a whole system.

One thing worth flagging: Fogstar's UK-based customer support has been genuinely decent in my experience, which isn't something you can always say at that price point. Had a query about my 100Ah unit and got a proper response same day.

@WillowWalker for narrowboat use, do check the discharge rate specs carefully — continuous draw from an inverter running anything serious can catch budget LFP cells out.

Got the Drift 100Ah running in my static for about 8 months now — zero complaints. Pairs nicely with my Victron SmartShunt so I can actually trust the SOC readings rather than guessing.

One thing worth knowing: the Drift's BMS is a bit conservative on low temps. Had it cut out on a cold January morning around 3°C. Not a dealbreaker for a shepherd's hut but worth factoring in if it's unheated through winter.

@StormyViking for £50 saving I'd take that trade all day long tbh.