Backup power, explained
Keep the lights on when the grid goes down.
Plain-English guides to home batteries, portable power stations and generators: what each one runs, how long for, what it costs and what installing it involves, with specs from the makers.
How much do you want to keep running?
Explore the guides
Whole-home batteries
Powerwall, Enphase, FranklinWH and more: wired-in batteries that back up your home.
Portable power stations
EcoFlow, Jackery, Anker SOLIX and Bluetti: plug-in backup for the essentials.
Guides coming soon
Sizing and battery basics
Kilowatt-hours, output, runtimes and battery chemistry, worked through step by step.
Guides coming soon
Solar and batteries
Solar generators, panels with power stations and batteries with rooftop solar.
Guides coming soon
Batteries vs generators
Whole-house generators, costs and runtimes, and how they compare with batteries.
Guides coming soon
Installation and incentives
Transfer switches, what an electrician does, and tax credits and rebates from official sources.
Guides coming soon
Latest guides
Common questions
How long will a home battery run my house?
It depends on how many kilowatt-hours the battery stores and how much power your home draws. Our sizing guides show how to work it out from the maker’s figures.
Is a portable power station enough for an outage?
For a few essentials, often yes. It won’t run a whole home or anything wired in, such as central air, unless it’s part of a system an electrician connects.
Battery or generator?
Batteries are quiet and switch over in moments but store a set amount of energy. Generators run as long as they have fuel but need servicing and must stay outdoors. Our comparison guides set out the trade-offs.
Do you install or sell batteries?
No. We explain backup power from the makers’ own specifications, manuals and official sources, cited and dated, so you can check every claim.