The 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. It carries a fridge, your internet, a few lights and phones through a day for most homes, recharges fast from a wall outlet when the grid comes back, and takes an expansion battery if you find you need more. Step up to the Anker SOLIX F3800 if you want the most output and the biggest solar input, or the EcoFlow DELTA Pro 3 if you may wire in an inlet later and want the outlets for it.
The Amazon links on this page are affiliate links: if you buy through one we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It does not change which units are picked. How that works.
| Model | Usable | Output | Short of worst case | Weight | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Our pick | EcoFlow DELTA 2 Max | 1,741 Wh | 2,400 W | 8,675 Wh | 51 lb | on Amazon |
| The upgrade | Anker SOLIX F3800 | 3,264 Wh | 6,000 W | 7,152 Wh | 132 lb | on Amazon |
| If you will wire it in later | EcoFlow DELTA Pro 3 | 3,482 Wh | 4,000 W | 6,934 Wh | 114 lb | on Amazon |
Who this is for
You want a fridge, the router, a few lamps and everyone's phones to survive an outage measured in hours to a day, indoors, without a generator to start or fuel to store. You can lift a heavy suitcase or you have someone who can. You are not trying to run a well pump, a furnace blower or central air; those are wired jobs and a different page.
If your outages run for days rather than hours, read the day-two section before you buy: past the first day the question stops being which box and becomes how you refill it.
How much battery you need
The whole plan hangs on the fridge. Wi-Fi, lights and phones together barely register; the compressor is most of the energy and all of the starting surge. A new, efficient fridge in a cool kitchen with the door mostly shut runs about a fifth of the time and needs 918 watt-hours over the day. An older fridge in a warm kitchen, opened often, runs half the time and needs 10,416. That is not a rounding difference; it is the difference between a battery you carry in one hand and one you wheel.
We size on the harder end, and none of the 58 units we track covers it on a single charge; 29 cover the efficient end. So the honest advice is to buy for the fridge you actually have, find out which end it sits on, and treat anything past the first day as a recharge problem rather than a bigger-box problem.
A wall outlet is not part of the plan: the grid is down. The refill is solar or a second unit, and each pick's figure for that is below.
Find your own fridge on that range. The yellow EnergyGuide label inside the door, or the model page on the maker’s site, gives kilowatt-hours per year. Enter it and we place your fridge in this plan. The federal test runs at a fixed room temperature with the doors shut, so the label is your fridge’s floor, not its average.
Adjust this plan to your house. Change the hours or the loads and the picks are re-scored here, with the same planner and the same maker figures.
Where the energy goes, load by load
| Load | Hours | Running watts | Duty cycle | Energy | Share of worst case |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Refrigerator/freezer | 24 | 100–700 | 20–50% | 480–8,400 Wh | 81% |
| Wi-Fi router and modem | 24 | 15–40 | 100% | 360–960 Wh | 9% |
| Phone charging and small USB devices | 24 | 10–40 | 20–60% | 48–576 Wh | 6% |
| A few LED lights | 8 | 15–80 | 25–75% | 30–480 Wh | 5% |
Energy = running watts × duty cycle × hours, at each end of the range. The right-hand end of every row is what the plan is sized on.
A refrigerator, Wi-Fi, a few LED lights and phone charging for 24 hours, run against all 58 units we track: 29 clear at least the best case, 26 do not, and 3 could not be judged (a missing maker figure or an unresolved recall identity). Every figure is from the maker’s own page or manual; nothing here was tested by us. The method.
Our pickEcoFlow DELTA 2 Max
The one most people should buy
$1,049 at Amazon, September 16, 20262,048 Wh (1,741 usable)2,400 W continuous4,800 W peak51 lb
The EcoFlow DELTA 2 Max carries the whole plan for an efficient home, has a verified listing at $1,049, and is the one of the three you can actually carry. Its maker documents an expansion battery for it, which is the honest answer to an old fridge: add capacity later rather than buy the biggest box now.
Against the worst case it is 8,675 Wh short: about 8.7 hours of full sun at its 1,000 W solar input, or roughly 43 hours from one 200 W panel, and real panels deliver less than their rating.
The listing we verified as the bare unit; the price is on Amazon.
A refrigerator, Wi-Fi, a few LED lights and phone charging for 24 hours:
- Energyonly in the best case
- Running loadyes, even in the worst case
- Starting surgeyes, even in the worst case
Three days (72 hours) of the same loads:
- Energyno
- Running loadyes, even in the worst case
- Starting surgeyes, even in the worst case
Living with it
It charges from a wall outlet fast enough that a partial top-up between rolling outages is realistic, and it takes wall and solar power at the same time. Plugged in between the wall and the fridge it passes grid power through and picks up the load when the grid drops; EcoFlow quotes a switchover of a few hundredths of a second, which a fridge does not notice and a desktop computer might. The manual is explicit that this is not a true uninterruptible supply for servers.
The thing owners learn the hard way is the idle cost. Leaving the AC outlets switched on draws power all night whether anything is plugged in or not, and an independent tester found the inverter is least efficient at exactly the small loads a router and a lamp make. Switch AC off when nothing needs it. The AC side also switches itself off after half a day with nothing drawing; a cycling fridge should never leave it idle that long, but during an outage set that timer to never in the app rather than find out. It will not charge below freezing, which matters in a cold garage.
Two expansion batteries take it to three times the capacity, and the maker documents a generator input. Five-year warranty.
- Switchover when the grid drops
- About 20 ms (manual says within 30 ms)ecoflow.com
- Pass-through charging
- Yes, via AC bypass; not a true UPS for serverswebsiteoss.ecoflow.com
- Wall recharge
- 0-80% in about 1.1 h on AC aloneecoflow.com
- Noise
- About 30 dBecoflow.com
- Charges between
- 0°C to 45°C (32°F to 113°F)websiteoss.ecoflow.com
- Low-load shutoff
- AC outlets shut off after 12 h with no load; adjustable in appwebsiteoss.ecoflow.com
- Expansion
- Up to 2 extra batteries, 6,144 Wh totalwebsiteoss.ecoflow.com
- Warranty
- 5-year warrantyecoflow.com
What owners report, from public threads and long-term reviews; not our own testing.
- One tester measured about 23W drawn just from leaving AC output switched on (versus about 5W with it off) and recommends switching it off when not needed.windinmyface.com
- At least one long-term owner reported USB output ports randomly stopped working, requiring a factory reset each time to restore them.4wdtalk.com
- Independent bench testing found real-world AC efficiency drops to about 77% at everyday 200W loads, well below the unit's rated sweet-spot efficiency.windinmyface.com
- One owner's 12V car outlet never worked from new, suspected to be an isolated manufacturing defect rather than a design-wide flaw.4wdtalk.com
- A one-year overlander who ran the unit daily calls it reliable and consistent, and a two-year owner says it still delivers its full rated 2,400W without dropouts.4wdtalk.com
What independent testers measured
We do not test units ourselves. These are figures published by testers who did, with the maker’s claim beside them where the tester gave it.
| Measurement | Result | Tester |
|---|---|---|
| Noise under load, measured | 52 dB measured fan noise during heavy loads/charging | Power Station Advisor |
| Wall charge, to 80% | 0-80% AC charge in 65 minutes, per the site's own spec/test line comparing it to the DELTA 2 (maker: EcoFlow rates 0% to 80% in 50 minutes (per a separate PowerStationAdvisor article on the same site)) | Power Station Advisor |
| Also measured | Real-world 14-hour power outage: ran fridge continuously, LED lights, charged devices, ran a space heater on low, finished with 23% capacity remaining, no add-on batteries | Power Station Advisor |
| Also measured | Refrigerator (full-size) runtime in personal testing: approximately 16-20 hours on a single charge (maker: EcoFlow-derived calculation elsewhere on the site put it at ~14.2 hours for a fridge cycling 100-400W) | Power Station Advisor |
- After eight months of testing, the DELTA 2 Max is their top pick for whole-home backup, striking the best balance of capability, longevity and value in its class. (Our Top Pick for Whole-Home Backup) Power Station Advisor
- Positioned as the better choice than the standard DELTA 2 for families needing whole-home backup, extended outages, and future battery expansion. Power Station Advisor
What you give up
Capacity. It is the smallest battery of the three and the first to run out if your fridge is old or the kitchen is warm. The Anker SOLIX C2000 Gen 2 sits beside it in the roster with the same battery and output; it is not the pick because its warranty term is not in our record and we could not verify its expansion pack's capacity.
Figures from us.ecoflow.com, captured August 12, 2026; recall screen: no published recall names this exact model (screened 2026-08-12), but a similarly named product was recalled; the dossier names it (how we screen, CPSC).
The upgradeAnker SOLIX F3800
If you want the most output
$2,200 at Amazon, September 16, 20263,840 Wh (3,264 usable)6,000 W continuous9,000 W peak132 lb
The Anker SOLIX F3800 has the highest continuous output of the three and the largest documented expansion path, six BP3800 packs. Choose it if you may add a 240-volt load later, want the largest solar input, or expect outages long enough that refill speed matters more than carrying weight.
Against the worst case it is 7,152 Wh short: about 3.0 hours of full sun at its 2,400 W solar input, or roughly 36 hours from one 200 W panel, and real panels deliver less than their rating.
The listing we verified as the bare unit; the price is on Amazon.
A refrigerator, Wi-Fi, a few LED lights and phone charging for 24 hours:
- Energyonly in the best case
- Running loadyes, even in the worst case
- Starting surgeyes, even in the worst case
Three days (72 hours) of the same loads:
- Energyonly in the best case
- Running loadyes, even in the worst case
- Starting surgeyes, even in the worst case
Living with it
This is a unit on casters with a telescoping handle, and every hands-on reviewer says the same thing about the weight: it rolls fine on a flat floor and needs two people or a ramp for stairs and a car. Decide where it lives before it arrives.
It has the outlets a house eventually wants, including two 240-volt sockets, and its switchover when the grid drops is quoted at a few hundredths of a second, confirmed in the manual's own table. Anker does not publish a wall-recharge time or a pass-through figure on the pages we captured; one three-week test measured a wall recharge to most-full in well under two hours, and solar input close to the rated figure with three large panels in good sun.
At light loads it is close to silent, but the fans come on past roughly forty percent load and get loud near the top; several testers were surprised by the jump. One tester ran a fridge through a full day after a hurricane on it, and another drained it in under two hours on a central air conditioner, which is the honest limit of a battery this size: it is not a whole-house substitute. Inverter losses were measured at around fifteen percent, so the usable figure above is the one to plan on. It charges down to freezing and runs well below it, a wider cold range than the EcoFlow picks. Up to six expansion batteries; five-year warranty.
- Charges between
- 0°C to 40°C (32°F to 104°F) while chargingsignaturesolar.com
- Low-load shutoff
- Shuts off after about 12 h idle with no loadsignaturesolar.com
- Expansion
- Up to 6 add-on batteries, 26.88 kWh added capacityankersolix.com
What owners report, from public threads and long-term reviews; not our own testing.
- Multiple reviewers report fan noise climbs sharply under heavy load — about 68 dB at 90% load versus 58 dB at 50% load — despite near-silent operation at lighter loads.backuppowerhub.com
- The roughly 132 lb weight is a recurring complaint; reviewers needed a second person or a vehicle ramp to move it anywhere the built-in wheels couldn't roll it.protoolreviews.com
- One long-term tester measured real-world AC recharge at about 1 hour 38 minutes to 80% (roughly 2h21m full) on a standard outlet, slower than a quick top-up.backuppowerhub.com
- A 2-ton central air conditioner drained the unit in only about 1.6 hours despite its 6,000W rating, so it isn't a practical all-day whole-home AC backup alone.backuppowerhub.com
- One tester measured real-world inverter efficiency at only about 85%, meaning a 3,000W draw actually consumes roughly 3,530Wh from the battery — more than the rated draw implies.backuppowerhub.com
What independent testers measured
We do not test units ourselves. These are figures published by testers who did, with the maker’s claim beside them where the tester gave it.
| Measurement | Result | Tester |
|---|---|---|
| Wall charge, to 80% | 1 hour 38 minutes from 0-80% on a standard 120V/15A outlet (max 1,440W input) | Backup Power Hub |
| Wall charge, empty to full | 2 hours 21 minutes from dead to full via AC | Backup Power Hub |
| Inverter efficiency, measured | ~85% inverter efficiency, measured during testing | Backup Power Hub |
| Solar input achieved | 1,850W peak solar input achieved with three 400W panels in ideal conditions (maker: 2,400W rated solar input (per generatorchecker.com spec listing, not stated by this tester)) | Backup Power Hub |
| Noise under load, measured | 58 dB at 3 feet at 50% load (3000W) | Backup Power Hub |
| Noise under load, measured | 68 dB at 90% load (5400W), 'comparable to a dishwasher' | Backup Power Hub |
- After a three-week real-world test running central AC, refrigerators, and power tools, the reviewer rated the F3800 9.2/10, calling it the best split-phase 240V whole-home option currently on the market. (Editor's Choice (per site homepage listing, 9.2/10)) Backup Power Hub
- The reviewer calls the F3800 a solid investment at $3,499 for whole-home backup power or off-grid adventures, despite it being the heaviest single-unit station they've tested. The Solar Lab
What you give up
Weight and price. Moving it is a two-person job or a wheel job, and it costs the most of the three. If you will never wire anything into the house and never add a 240-volt load, most of what you are paying for stays unused.
Figures from ankersolix.com, captured August 12, 2026; recall screen: no published recall names this exact model (screened 2026-08-12) (how we screen, CPSC).
If you will wire it in laterEcoFlow DELTA Pro 3
If you will add a battery later
$3,699 at Amazon, September 16, 20264,096 Wh (3,482 usable)4,000 W continuous8,000 W peak114 lb
The EcoFlow DELTA Pro 3 holds the most usable energy of the three on its own and names its extra battery, the DELTA Pro 3 Smart Extra Battery. Choose it for the biggest single box and the outlets to wire in later; choose the Anker SOLIX F3800 for output.
Against the worst case it is 6,934 Wh short: about 2.7 hours of full sun at its 2,600 W solar input, or roughly 35 hours from one 200 W panel, and real panels deliver less than their rating.
The listing we verified as the bare unit; the price is on Amazon.
A refrigerator, Wi-Fi, a few LED lights and phone charging for 24 hours:
- Energyonly in the best case
- Running loadyes, even in the worst case
- Starting surgeyes, even in the worst case
Three days (72 hours) of the same loads:
- Energyonly in the best case
- Running loadyes, even in the worst case
- Starting surgeyes, even in the worst case
Living with it
This is a floor-standing unit on wheels with a telescoping handle that reviewers call wobbly; decide where it lives, because you will not carry it up stairs. It has the outlets a house eventually wants, including a thirty-amp RV socket and a 240-volt outlet, which is why it is the pick for someone who may have an electrician fit an inlet later. It cannot put out 120 and 240 volts at the same time.
Its switchover is quicker than the DELTA 2 Max's on paper; one tester still saw a desktop PC click off during a transfer. Two things owners run into: when it is charging from the wall and powering loads at once, the pass-through in the US is limited by the wall socket, well below the headline output, and one long-term test hit a firmware bug that raised false short-circuit shutdowns needing a manual reset. Set the idle shutoff to never during an outage. Reviewers ran a fridge, a TV and a space heater through overnight outages on it without trouble, and found it quiet enough to sleep beside at ordinary loads.
Three-year warranty, five if you register it in the app.
- Switchover when the grid drops
- 10 ms rated; can still trip sensitive electronics per testersecoflow.ie
- Pass-through charging
- Up to 4,000W claimed, but bypass mode capped near 1,800Wus.ecoflow.com
- Wall recharge
- 80% in 50 min claimed; testers measured closer to 3 hoursus.ecoflow.com
- Noise
- As low as 30 dB claimed; whine noticeable at higher loadsecoflow.com
- Charges between
- 0°C to 45°C (32°F to 113°F)ecoflow.ie
- Low-load shutoff
- AC output auto-shuts off after idle; adjustable, can disableecoflow.ie
- Expansion
- Up to 2 extra batteries via one expansion portecoflow.ie
- Warranty
- 3-year warranty, extendable to 5 years by registeringus.ecoflow.com
What owners report, from public threads and long-term reviews; not our own testing.
- One long-term tester experienced repeated false 'electrical short' shutdowns over about 5 weeks, each needing a manual reset, until a firmware update appeared to fix it.cleantechnica.com
- A tester found the UPS switchover used a 'floating ground' that caused a desktop PC to click off during a transfer despite the advertised under-10ms switchover time.robbsutton.com
- The marketed 4,000W pass-through capacity is capped near 1,800W in US bypass mode, and one AC compressor's startup surge tripped a shutdown even though the unit handles 4,000W fine on battery alone.cleantechnica.com
- At about 114 lb with a telescoping handle described as wobbly when extended, reviewers call the unit 'movable' rather than truly portable, recommending a ramp or a second person to load it.robbsutton.com
- Despite the 4,000W rating, a 3-ton central AC unit fitted with a soft-start kit still triggered overload protection in one test, raising doubts about its use for whole-home HVAC backup.robbsutton.com
What independent testers measured
We do not test units ourselves. These are figures published by testers who did, with the maker’s claim beside them where the tester gave it.
| Measurement | Result | Tester |
|---|---|---|
| Inverter efficiency, measured | About 89% efficiency sustaining a near-maximum (~3,650W) load for 60 minutes | The Solar Lab |
| Wall charge, empty to full | About 2 hours 54 minutes (174 min) full AC charge, tester-measured (maker: 2 hours 20 minutes (140 min) advertised) | The Solar Lab |
| Also measured | Surge test: handled 5,100W for nearly a minute before shutting down as load approached 6,000W | The Solar Lab |
| Also measured | Qualitative noise: quiet under a 2,000W load, more noticeable at higher loads (no dB figure given) | The Solar Lab |
| Also measured | Pass-through charging tested and worked correctly | The Solar Lab |
| Weight, measured | 113 lb, noted by the tester as heavier than the original DELTA Pro | The Solar Lab |
- Scored 81/100, ranked #2 of 14 power stations tested, and named Best for Home Backup for its power output and expansion capability despite its weight and price. (Best for Home Backup) OutdoorGearLab
- A solid, worthy power station overall, but an incremental update that existing DELTA Pro owners have little compelling reason to upgrade to. The Solar Lab
What you give up
Portability, and the AC recharge rating on the page we captured, which the maker does not publish plainly. At the prices we captured it also costs more per watt-hour of battery than the Anker SOLIX F3800.
Figures from us.ecoflow.com, captured August 12, 2026; recall screen: no published recall names this exact model (screened 2026-08-12) (how we screen, CPSC).
Day two and three
Three days needs 2,754 to 31,248 watt-hours. No portable battery we track covers the top of that, and only the two big picks cover the bottom of it. Past the first day the plan is a refill: panels in the sun, an alternator charger in the car, or a generator running outside feeding the station indoors.
Each pick lists how many hours of full sun its solar input needs to close the worst-case gap. Real panels deliver less than their rating and a winter sky less still, so read those hours as a floor. If your outages are the multi-day kind, buy the expansion battery before the second panel; it works at night.
Hooking it up safely
The plug-in path is the plan on this page. The station sits indoors, the fridge, router and lamps plug into its outlets, and nothing touches the house wiring. That is the only path this page sizes.
If the station sits between the wall and the fridge in pass-through mode, the fridge keeps running when the grid drops and the station picks up the load. The switchover time and pass-through behaviour, where the maker publishes them, are listed under each pick above. A fridge tolerates a brief gap; a desktop computer may not.
Wired loads are a different job. A well pump, a furnace or a whole circuit needs a transfer switch or a power inlet installed by a licensed electrician. Never feed a station or a generator into a wall outlet: it backfeeds the line and can kill the crew restoring your power. The safety boundaries.
Output quality. A compressor wants a pure sine wave; that phrase belongs on the maker’s spec page, and a modified-sine inverter is the thing to avoid.
Buying it right
A search for any of these models returns bundles, sibling models and, often, the same unit under two listings at different prices. We link only a listing whose own title states the bare unit and its exact battery and output; the box should say the same. Check the seller is the maker or Amazon itself, and that the model number on the label matches the one on this page.
EcoFlow DELTA 2 Max
- The listing we verified: “EF ECOFLOW Portable Power Station DELTA 2 Max 2048Wh, 2400W LiFePO4 Battery”, $1,049 when checked. Title states 2048Wh and 2400W, matching our record exactly.
- “EF ECOFLOW DELTA 2 Max Power Station Extra Battery, 2048Wh LiFePO4 Battery”, $879: the same unit under a second listing at $879; we link the cheaper verified one.
- “EF ECOFLOW DELTA 3 Max Portable Power Station, 2048Wh LFP Battery, 2400W”, $1,199: a different model that a search for this one returns.
- “EF EcoFlow Delta 2 Max Portable Power Station with 800W Alternator Charger”, $1,249: a bundle, not the bare unit; the extra hardware is in the price.
- “EF ECOFLOW DELTA 2 Max Portable Power Station, 2048Wh, 2400W”, $1,399: the same unit under a second listing at $1,399; we link the cheaper verified one.
Anker SOLIX F3800
- The listing we verified: “Anker SOLIX F3800 Portable Power Station, 3,840Wh”, $2,200 when checked. Title states 3840Wh and the exact model name with no variant word; it does not state a wattage, so output was not cross-checked against our 6000W record. (previously verified ASIN, re-checked by direct lookup)
- “Anker SOLIX F3800 Portable Power Station and 400W Solar Panel, 3,840Wh”, $2,400: a bundle, not the bare unit; the extra hardware is in the price.
- “Anker SOLIX F3800 Portable Power Station, 3840Wh, LiFePO4 Batteries, Ultra-High 6000W AC Output with 120V/240V, Solar Generator for Home Backup and Outdoor Camping (Renewed)”, $1,759: Listing is renewed/refurbished, not the new base unit..
EcoFlow DELTA Pro 3
- The listing we verified: “EF ECOFLOW DELTA Pro 3 Portable Power Station, 4096Wh, 4000W AC Output”, $3,699 when checked. Title states 4096Wh and 4000W, matching our record exactly.
- “EF ECOFLOW Power Station 4096Wh DELTA Pro 3 with 400W Portable Solar Panel”, $3,099: a bundle, not the bare unit; the extra hardware is in the price.
- “EF ECOFLOW Portable Power Station 3600Wh DELTA Pro, 120V 3600W AC Output”, $1,899: a different model that a search for this one returns.
- “EF ECOFLOW 12kWh Portable Power Station: DELTA Pro 3 with 2 Extra Batteries”, $6,169: Listing title does not state a capacity, so base-unit identity cannot be confirmed..
What this page can’t promise
The fridge decides this plan. An old fridge in a warm kitchen can need several times the energy of a new one in a cool room with the door kept shut, which is why every pick covers the best case and none covers the worst. Know which end your own fridge sits on before you buy.
Nothing on this page is a hands-on test. The figures are the makers' own, read from their pages and manuals and linked under each pick; what owners report comes from public threads and long-term reviews and is labelled as such. Where a maker's marketing page and its printed manual disagree, we say so rather than pick the better number.
The competition
Every unit we track was run against the same plan. The ones that clear at least the best case are below with their own shortfall; the ones that do not are listed with the rule they fail.
Every unit that clears at least the best case (29)
| Model | Battery | Peak | Weight | Worst-case shortfall | Verified price | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zendure SuperBase V6400 | 6,438Wh | 5,000W | not captured | 4,944 Wh | no verified listing | Clears the best case only |
| Jackery Explorer 5000 Plus | 5,040Wh | 14,400W | 134 lb / 61.0 kg | 6,132 Wh | no verified listing | Clears the best case only |
| Zendure SuperBase V4600 | 4,608Wh | 5,000W | 55 lb / 25.0 kg | 6,499 Wh | no verified listing | Clears the best case only |
| EcoFlow DELTA Pro 3 | 4,096Wh | 8,000W | 114 lb / 51.5 kg | 6,934 Wh | $3,699 | Clears the best case only |
| Goal Zero Yeti PRO 4000 | 3,994Wh | 7,200W | 116 lb / 52.5 kg | 7,021 Wh | no verified listing | Clears the best case only |
| Anker SOLIX F3800 | 3,840Wh | 9,000W | 132 lb / 60.0 kg | 7,152 Wh | $2,200 | Clears the best case only |
| Anker SOLIX F3800 Plus | 3,840Wh | 9,000W | 132 lb / 60.0 kg | 7,152 Wh | no verified listing | Clears the best case only |
| Jackery HomePower 3600 Pro Max | 3,600Wh | not captured | not captured | 7,356 Wh | no verified listing | Clears the best case only |
| EcoFlow DELTA Pro | 3,600Wh | 7,200W | 99 lb / 45.0 kg | 7,356 Wh | no verified listing | Clears the best case only |
| Jackery HomePower 3600 Plus | 3,600Wh | not captured | not captured | 7,356 Wh | no verified listing | Clears the best case only |
| Anker SOLIX F3000 (UL9540 Certificated) | 3,072Wh | 7,200W | 91 lb / 41.5 kg | 7,805 Wh | no verified listing | Clears the best case only |
| EcoFlow DELTA 3 Ultra (3072Wh) | 3,072Wh | 7,200W | 72 lb / 32.7 kg | 7,805 Wh | no verified listing | Clears the best case only |
| Jackery HomePower 3000 | 3,072Wh | 7,200W | 60 lb / 27.0 kg | 7,805 Wh | no verified listing | Clears the best case only |
| EcoFlow DELTA 3 Ultra Plus (3072Wh) | 3,072Wh | 7,200W | 74 lb / 33.7 kg | 7,805 Wh | $1,599 | Clears the best case only |
| BLUETTI Apex 300 Home Battery Backup | 2,765Wh | 7,680W | 84 lb / 38.0 kg | 8,066 Wh | no verified listing | Clears the best case only |
| Anker SOLIX F2600 | 2,560Wh | 2,800W | 70 lb / 31.6 kg | 8,240 Wh | no verified listing | Clears the best case only |
| Zendure SuperBase Pro 2000 | 2,096Wh | 4,000W | 47 lb / 21.2 kg | 8,634 Wh | no verified listing | Clears the best case only |
| Anker SOLIX C2000 Gen 2 | 2,048Wh | 4,000W | 41 lb / 18.6 kg | 8,675 Wh | $1,000 | Clears the best case only |
| EcoFlow DELTA 2 Max | 2,048Wh | 4,800W | 51 lb / 23.0 kg | 8,675 Wh | $1,049 | Clears the best case only |
| EcoFlow DELTA 3 Max (2048Wh) | 2,048Wh | 4,800W | 45 lb / 20.3 kg | 8,675 Wh | no verified listing | Clears the best case only |
| Jackery HomePower 2000 Plus v2 | 2,048Wh | not captured | not captured | 8,675 Wh | no verified listing | Clears the best case only |
| BLUETTI AC200L | 2,048Wh | not captured | 62 lb / 28.3 kg | 8,675 Wh | no verified listing | Clears the best case only |
| EcoFlow DELTA 3 Max Plus (2048Wh) | 2,048Wh | 6,000W | not captured | 8,675 Wh | no verified listing | Clears the best case only |
| Jackery Explorer 2000 Plus | 2,043Wh | 6,000W | 62 lb / 27.9 kg | 8,680 Wh | no verified listing | Clears the best case only |
| Jackery Explorer 2000 v2 | 2,042Wh | 4,400W | 39 lb / 17.9 kg | 8,680 Wh | $999 | Clears the best case only |
| PECRON E2000LFP | 1,920Wh | 4,000W | 49 lb / 22.0 kg | 8,784 Wh | no verified listing | Clears the best case only |
| Jackery Explorer 1500 Ultra | 1,536Wh | 3,600W | 39 lb / 17.5 kg | 9,110 Wh | no verified listing | Clears the best case only |
| Jackery Explorer 1500 v2 | 1,536Wh | not captured | not captured | 9,110 Wh | no verified listing | Clears the best case only |
| Jackery Explorer 1000 Plus (JE-1000C) | 1,265Wh | 4,000W | 32 lb / 14.5 kg | 9,341 Wh | no verified listing | Clears the best case only |
What will not work, and why (26)
- Too little energy (13). Even the best case needs 918 Wh over 24 hours; these hold less than that: Jackery Explorer 1000 v2 (910 Wh usable); Anker SOLIX C1000 (898 Wh usable); Jackery HomePower 1000 v2 (870 Wh usable); EcoFlow DELTA 3 Plus (870 Wh usable); EcoFlow DELTA 3 Classic (1024Wh) (870 Wh usable); EcoFlow DELTA 3 (870 Wh usable); BLUETTI Elite 100 V2 (870 Wh usable); EcoFlow DELTA 2 (EFD330) (870 Wh usable); Anker SOLIX C1000 Gen 2 (870 Wh usable); Jackery Explorer 600 v2 (544 Wh usable); BLUETTI AC50B (381 Wh usable); Jackery Explorer 300D (245 Wh usable); EcoFlow RIVER 3 Plus (243 Wh usable).
- Cannot start the biggest motor (3). A compressor pulls several times its running watts for a split second; at minimum this plan needs 640 W of peak output, and these publish less: Anker SOLIX C300 (600 W peak); Jackery Explorer 300 v2 (600 W peak); EcoFlow RIVER 3 (600 W peak).
- Out of scope: 10 fuel generators. Not a failure of the numbers: this plan is indoors-only, and a generator burns fuel, so it must stay outside, far from windows, doors and vents. Honda EU2200i Super Quiet Inverter Generator, Honda EU3000iS Inverter Generator, FIRMAN WH03242 Dual-Fuel Inverter, Champion 201444 5500W Inverter, Champion 201255 5500W Open Frame Inverter (CARB), Champion 201254 5500W Dual Fuel Open Frame Inverter (CARB), Champion 201513 6500W Inverter, Champion 201598 8500W Wireless Start Tri Fuel Inverter, Champion 201176 9000W Tri-Fuel Open Frame Inverter, Westinghouse WGen9500DF.
Questions people ask
Will a portable power station really run my fridge for a full day?
For an efficient fridge in a cool room, yes: the EcoFlow DELTA 2 Max covers that day. For an older fridge running hard, no unit we track covers a full day on one charge; you would be recharging from solar or running a second unit.
What size power station do I need for a fridge, internet and lights?
Plan for 10,416 watt-hours in the worst case and a starting surge of 3,060 watts. The best case is 918 watt-hours; the gap between the two is your fridge's age and your kitchen's temperature.
Can I add a battery later?
The EcoFlow DELTA 2 Max, the Anker SOLIX F3800 and the EcoFlow DELTA Pro 3 all document an expansion battery from their makers. Each card above shows what one extra pack does against the worst case.
What if the outage lasts three days?
Three days needs 31,248 watt-hours in the worst case. The EcoFlow DELTA 2 Max no longer covers even the best case that long; the Anker SOLIX F3800 and the EcoFlow DELTA Pro 3 still cover the best case. Past a day, solar recharge is the plan, not a bigger box.
Other plans we sized
- 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.
- 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.
- Portable generatorsThe 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.
- ComparedThe home-backup class: DELTA Pro 3, SOLIX F3800, Explorer 5000 Plus and the rest
The largest portable power stations on one table, run against a full-day household plan, with expansion paths, 240V output and the makers' gaps marked.
- 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.
- Sump pumpThe 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.
- FurnaceThe 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.
- 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.
- ComparedAnker SOLIX F3800 vs F3800 Plus: the real differences
The Anker SOLIX F3800 and F3800 Plus side by side from Anker's own figures, judged against one full-day household plan, with the real differences marked.
- Camping with a fridgeThe 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.
- GuidePower station or generator: which do you actually need?
This is the decision that comes before choosing a product, and it is the expensive one to get wrong in either direction. A battery bought for a well pump is wasted money; a standby generator bought to keep a router alive is a great deal more of it.
- GuideHow to connect a power station to your house
These four methods differ less in how much power they move than in what they can reach: a cord reaches a plug, transfer equipment reaches a circuit. The fifth thing people try, a cord into a wall socket, can kill the line worker restoring your power.
- GuideSolar panels for a power station: how many, and how long
Panels are where the optimism creeps into a backup plan. The arithmetic is simple enough to do on the back of an envelope, and the answer it gives you is the best case, not the likely one.
- GuideExpansion batteries: what an extra battery for a power station actually does
An extra battery for a power station is the cheapest-sounding fix for the wrong problem about half the time. It buys hours, it does not buy watts, and the pack you buy has to be the exact one your station was built for.
EcoFlow DELTA 2 MaxOur pick
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