When many people think about home backup power, they often think of something like a Generac Whole-home generator like the one pictured at the top of this article. These are great generators – Lots of power to power your entire home, reliable, and great solutions. But they do have their drawbacks. These are costly, often running between $5,000 and $10,000 (Or more) for the unit plus installation. They do require regular maintenance, and do require either propane or liquid natural gas to operator. Don’t get me wrong – If you can afford the price and you are in an area with sufficient need due to blackouts, these can be the best option.
But – Are they the only option?
For me – my solution comes in the form of a 3000-watt portable generator that I can connect directly to individual appliances for limited emergency power. Why did I choose this much more limiting solution? Here are some of my reasons:
- In the communiity I live, we have had only 2 blackouts in 13 years, each of which lasted 8 hours or less.
- My solution is portable allowing me to carry it for camping or remote use. It’s in the back of my truck right now in fact.
- Less expensive – Mine is a $800 solution, so much more affordable.
- I can pick up a second for anout $800 and bridge the two together for 6,000-watts of power, so I can add to it.
- Runs on Gasoline – Easy to find and carry. Plus, mine can be upgraded to run off propane.
- I currently rent a home – so the portable is an ideal solution that is not permanently part of the home.
There are other solutions as well.
Whole-home Solar System
These are often installed in the home for grid-tied power. But – By adding a battery system to the system, you can have an off-grid power capability with power from the sun. To provide sufficient power for most use, you will need a LOT of batteries and a LOT of solar panels, but a system can be sized to provide critical power only. This is still expensive however depending upon how much power you need. The cost for whole-home solar, enough to keep the lights on for a day will easily run 20k to 50k, depending on how much power your home actually requires. There are so many factors here to take into account.
- How much power do you need or want? (Air conditioning, Water hearter, or Heating for instance?)
- How many Solar panels do you need and where will they be installed? (Roof or Yard?)
- How many batteries do you need. Size of the batteries, and Chemistry?
Small Solar Units (Aka: Battery Generators or Solar Generators)
There are many great smaller solar and battery solutions such as the Sol Donum that I have written about in this website, and the popular Ecoflow systems. These are smaller systems running from 2-kw of power upwards of 5-kw of power and are portable in design. The portability offers a tremendous amount of benefits, from being able to use indoors, or taking them with you (Sometimes) to a shelter. Some of the larger portable units will be more difficult to grab and take camping or to a shelter, much like a mini-fridge instead of a small cooler. But the fact that there is a level of portability allows you to take it to a new home or location with you.
These can be limiting. No – they will NOT power your entire home. Yes, you can keep your refrigerator and freezer running, and you can keep some lights and items powered such as a television. But they will not power everything, but nor should they have to. I have a 1000-watt older Inergy Apex that I can actually take camping in my 30-ft camper, and power the camper, less the refrigerator (Which runs on gas) or the Air Conditioning – for about 8 hours. This means TV and lights. After a full night of use, I have 500-watts of solar that will recharge the unit, or if necessary I can recharge it from a Gas generator during the day.
My Personal Power Solution
What do I use? Well, first of all if I need to go a week without full power I can easily, in part because I have a camper – I can fully power refrigerator, hot water, lighting, air conditioning, and entertainment from a small 3000-watt generator. Without the camper however, I am fine myself with limited power in the house, as long as I can keep my freezer and refrigerator cold, and some lights on in and around the house. I also have an Inergy Apex solar generator which can put out 550-watts of continuous power, and 4000-watts of external expansion batteries that can power other items in my home. I have sufficient solar panels to recharge my batteries during the day, or recharge from the generator running during the day.
My Minimal Recommendation
For anyone serious about budget power, I would suggest at least a 2-Kw Fuel-based generator easily purchased for under $800, and a small Battery generator that can store at least 1-kw of battery (Bigger of course would be better). The battery generator can be recharged from solar panels (Optional) or an AC charger provided you have access to AC power during the day. Make sure the Battery generator has a rapid enough charging rate so it can be recharged relatively quickly. Many early models would take 8 or more hours to recharge – often not enough if relying on Solar panels.
A good Gas powered generator gives you the high watts of power. The Battery/Solar generator gives you portable INDOOR power at night while the gas generator is locked up for security. Plus the Battery/Solar generator can go inside to a shelter with you.