Start from what has to stay on
Each page is one plan, run against every unit we track. The picks pass it; the rest are listed with the reason they do not.
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Home backupThe best portable power stations for home backup
A fridge, the internet, a few lamps and everyone's phones through a day without the grid, indoors, with no engine to run. Sized on the harder end of every range.
Buy the EcoFlow DELTA 2 Max.
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Camping and road tripsThe best portable power stations for camping
Two nights of phones, a laptop and a few lights is a small job with a wide range, and the range is what catches people out. All three picks cover the easy end of it on one charge; the hard end takes a panel at the site or a full charge before you leave.
Buy the Anker SOLIX C1000 unless you want something lighter to carry or more headroom for a longer stay.
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CPAPPortable power for a CPAP machine: one night, and three
A CPAP is a small, steady load, so this comes down to battery size and one switch: the heated humidifier. Covering a single night is settled; covering three, or running the heat, takes a bigger box.
Buy the Jackery Explorer 1000 v2 for one night, and the Anker SOLIX F3800 if the outage could run to three.
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Portable generators
The best portable generators for home backup
Three generators judged on the one number that decides the job: the watts on tap for the second a fridge and a chest freezer both restart at once. Not battery capacity, and not the running total.
Buy the Champion 201513 6500W Inverter.
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RefrigeratorHow much battery it takes to run a refrigerator, and which power station does it
A fridge is the appliance everyone wants kept running, and the one whose appetite varies most from house to house. Size it on the harder end of that range and the choice of station mostly makes itself.
Buy the EcoFlow DELTA 3 Classic (1024Wh) if your fridge is new and the kitchen stays cool, the EcoFlow DELTA 2 Max if you have never measured it and would rather not find out mid-outage, and the Anker SOLIX F3800 if the fridge is old, the kitchen is warm, or the power may stay off past a day.
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Sump pump
The best portable power stations for a sump pump
A sump pump is a motor that starts hard and then runs in bursts: the starting surge decides which station can start it at all, and the weather decides how much energy it drinks. Sized on the harder end of every range.
Buy the EcoFlow DELTA 2 Max.
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Furnace
The best portable power stations for a gas furnace
A gas furnace burns its own fuel and asks the grid only for the blower and the control board, which is the good news. The bad news is that both are wired into the house, so the battery is half the job and an electrician is the other half.
Buy the EcoFlow DELTA 2 Max for a winter night, the Anker SOLIX F3800 if your blower is an old hungry one or you want the rest of the house on the same battery, and the EcoFlow DELTA Pro 3 if the furnace is the first piece of a wired-in system rather than the only piece.
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Well pumpThe best backup power for a well pump
A well pump is the hardest start in an ordinary house, and it is wired in at 240 volts rather than plugged into anything. That is why this plan usually lands on a generator, and why every figure here is sized on the harder end of its range.
Buy the Westinghouse WGen9500DF: it clears the pump's worst-case starting surge with margin, puts out 240 volts, and is the only pick here with a retail listing whose model number matches our record.
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Camping with a fridge
The best portable power stations for camping with a fridge
Put a compressor fridge in the back of the car and it becomes most of the battery: it is the one thing in your kit that keeps drawing while you sleep. We size this page from the hard end of every range.
Buy the Jackery Explorer 1000 v2 for a weekend with a small fridge in mild weather, where the point is that at 10.8 kg it is the lightest unit here with a verified listing that still carries the easy end of this plan.
Or size your own list of appliances and see every unit judged against it.