- Why a Home Backup Matters During Storms
- How Battery Backup Systems Keep Your Home Safe During Power Outages
- Choose Indoor-Friendly Energy Storage for Quiet, Fume-Free Use
- Understanding Battery Capacity, Output, and Run Time
- Winter-Ready Battery Backup Tips to Ensure Reliable Power
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Ready to Discover With Ecoflow’s Portable Power Stations and Solar Generators?
Household Battery Backup Tips for a Safe and Comfortable Home During Storms
- Why a Home Backup Matters During Storms
- How Battery Backup Systems Keep Your Home Safe During Power Outages
- Choose Indoor-Friendly Energy Storage for Quiet, Fume-Free Use
- Understanding Battery Capacity, Output, and Run Time
- Winter-Ready Battery Backup Tips to Ensure Reliable Power
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Ready to Discover With Ecoflow’s Portable Power Stations and Solar Generators?
Storms can strike any time of year, leaving homes without power for hours or even days. Without reliable backup, you risk losing heating, refrigeration, internet, and essential medical equipment, which can be especially dangerous in freezing temperatures. A correctly sized battery backup ensures your home stays powered and safe until the grid is restored. In this guide, we’ll cover how battery backups work, sizing your system, and practical tips to stay storm-ready.
Why a Home Backup Matters During Storms
Storms can hit any time of year, but winter storms are notorious for causing blackouts that can last for hours or days, especially in remote areas.
Solar panels, when grid-tied, shut down during grid failures to protect engineers working on the grid. This is why having a solar battery backup is essential to deal with disruptions to the grid, including:
We often rely on electric heat in winter, which increases power demand and can lead to power outages or rolling blackouts.
Snow and ice accumulate on power lines, poles, and trees, causing physical damage and outages.
High winds knock down trees and power lines, which can take days or weeks to repair.
Freezing rain can coat everything with ice, collapsing infrastructure.
Grid-tied solar panels switch off automatically during grid failure to protect workers repairing the lines.
How Battery Backup Systems Keep Your Home Safe During Power Outages
Home battery backups store excess energy, whether it comes from solar panels or the grid, and then save that energy for use at night or when the grid goes down. They help:
Keep essential equipment like refrigerators, freezers, internet, and medical equipment running.
Keep lights, security systems, and the internet running so you can stay safe and connected.
Allows you to run electric heat and air conditioners to keep your family comfortable.
It can supply a UPS (uninterruptible power supply), allowing you to continue working without interruption.
Depending on the size of your backup, your home solar system can provide power for hours, days, or longer while you wait for the grid to be restored.
Choose Indoor-Friendly Energy Storage for Quiet, Fume-Free Use
Traditional gas generators were once the primary source of backup power. However, they are smelly, noisy, and carry very serious dangers of lethal carbon monoxide poisoning that kills 400 people every year in the USA.
This is why more and more people are turning to indoor-friendly battery storage systems, such as the EcoFlow DELTA 3 Max Plus, for quiet, fume-free use without worrying about noise or toxic side effects.
Understanding Battery Capacity, Output, and Run Time
How much battery capacity you need, measured in watt-hours (Wh), depends on how many appliances you need to run.
Suppose you plan to run a few essential appliances, such as a refrigerator, freezer, internet, or medical equipment. In that case, you can simply add up the running watts of those appliances and then multiply each by the number of hours a day it needs to run to determine your capacity in watt-hours. Then, you can use a portable power station like the EcoFlow DELTA 3 Max Plus to plug in those appliances as needed or set it up to turn on automatically in the event of a grid failure.
If you plan to purchase a whole-home backup system, consider the total kWh of usage on your monthly electricity bill. You can then use that to determine how much you require for a day or a week and decide which capacity you need. Whole-home backups, including power for electric heat and air conditioning, typically require capacities in the 20kWh to 40kWh range, which can keep your home powered for days.
Winter-Ready Battery Backup Tips to Ensure Reliable Power
Now, let’s take a look at some practical tips to ensure reliable emergency energy this winter:
Use a weather app to stay up-to-date on the weather and anticipate power outages. Recharge your device using the EcoFlow RAPID Magnetic Power Bank (25,000mAh) and stay connected anywhere.
Check your battery state of charge and capacity before a storm hits.
Schedule regular maintenance for your backup system to address wear and tear, loose connections, and other issues.
Ensure your current capacity fits with your current needs.
Perform a system test to ensure your solar panels and battery backup switch seamlessly between grid and battery power.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are Whole Home Battery Backups Worth It?
With increases in extreme weather events, aging grid infrastructure, growing population centers, and increased demand for electricity, we experience more outages every year. Battery backups keep essential appliances or your entire home powered up while the grid is repaired.
How Much Battery Backup Is Needed to Run a House?
How much backup you need depends on your energy usage and how long you might need backup. Generally speaking, a 10kWh battery will run essential appliances for 1-3 days, while a 20-40kWh capacity can run a whole-home backup solution, including an air conditioner or electric heating.
How Long Can You Run a House on Battery Backup?
You can run a house on batteries for hours, days, or indefinitely. For basic essentials like lights, refrigeration, and charging devices, a battery may last hours to days, depending on its size. Add solar recharging abilities, and you can last indefinitely.
How Much Does a Battery Backup for a House Cost?
A typical residential solar battery system costs between about $3000 and $15,000 before installation and incentives. However, your costs vary significantly based on your energy needs and how long you may need to supply battery power during an outage.
Ready to Discover With Ecoflow’s Portable Power Stations and Solar Generators?
Preparing your home for storms doesn’t just give you peace of mind; it keeps your family safe, comfortable, and connected when the power goes out. By choosing a properly sized battery system, maintaining it regularly, and pairing it with solar, you can stay powered for hours, days, or even indefinitely. Explore EcoFlow’s home solar systems to find a solution to help you weather the next storm.