The one-kilowatt-hour class: Jackery 1000 v2, Anker C1000, EcoFlow DELTA 3
These three hold near enough the same battery, so the thing that separates them is whether your refrigerator's compressor gets going on the first try.
Buy the Jackery Explorer 1000 v2 unless you plan to add a battery later, in which case buy the Anker SOLIX C1000 instead. All three land on the same verdict against 8 hours on a refrigerator: each covers the best case, an efficient fridge in a cool room with the door kept shut, and none covers the worst, which needs a recharge, added solar or a bigger unit partway through. The split between them is the start, because this plan's compressor can ask anywhere from 600 to 2,900 watts to get moving, and the peak output of the Jackery Explorer 1000 v2 and the EcoFlow DELTA 3 Plus covers the top of that range while the Anker SOLIX C1000's covers only the bottom. So take the Anker SOLIX C1000 when growing the system matters more than a clean start, and the EcoFlow DELTA 3 Plus when panels are part of the plan.
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| Model | Usable | Output | Short of worst case | Weight | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Our pick | Jackery Explorer 1000 v2 | 910 Wh | 1,500 W | 1,890 Wh | 24 lb | on Amazon |
| The one that grows | Anker SOLIX C1000 | 898 Wh | 1,800 W | 1,902 Wh | 28 lb | on Amazon |
| The one that refills | EcoFlow DELTA 3 Plus | 870 Wh | 1,800 W | 1,930 Wh | 28 lb | on Amazon |
Who this is for
You have narrowed it to these three, or to the shelf they sit on: about a kilowatt-hour of battery, one refrigerator and an outage that ends before bedtime. The plan on this page is deliberately narrow, the fridge alone with nothing else on the circuit for 8 hours, because at this size the fridge is the entire load and every other question follows from it.
Leave if you need a hard-working fridge carried through that window without a refill. None of the six stations here does that, and our home-backup page lists the 8 we track that clear the worst case. Leave too if you want a well pump, a furnace blower or central air kept running; nothing on this shelf answers those. If you have already settled on EcoFlow, our DELTA 3 family comparison covers that row.
Side by side, from the makers’ own documents
“Not captured” means the maker’s page we captured does not state it: a gap in our record, not a zero, and never filled from a sibling model. “No verified listing” means no Amazon listing for the bare unit passed our identity check yet.
| Model | Battery | Continuous output | Peak output | Weight | Solar input | Expandable | Warranty | Chemistry | Verified listing |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jackery Explorer 1000 v2 | 1,070 Wh | 1,500 W | 3,000 W | 24 lb / 10.8 kg | 400 W | no (maker states not supported) | not captured | LiFePO4 | $559 |
| Anker SOLIX C1000 | 1,056 Wh | 1,800 W | 2,400 W | 28 lb / 12.9 kg | 600 W | yes: Anker SOLIX BP1000 Expansion Battery (1056Wh) | 5 years | LiFePO4 | $560 |
| Anker SOLIX C1000 Gen 2 | 1,024 Wh | 2,000 W | 3,000 W | 25 lb / 11.3 kg | 600 W | not captured | not captured | not captured | no verified listing |
| EcoFlow DELTA 3 Plus | 1,024 Wh | 1,800 W | 3,600 W | 28 lb / 12.5 kg | 1,000 W | documented by the maker (accessory not named on the page we captured) | 5 years | LiFePO4 | $719 |
| EcoFlow DELTA 3 | 1,024 Wh | 1,800 W | 3,600 W | 28 lb / 12.5 kg | 500 W | not captured | not captured | LiFePO4 | $629 |
| BLUETTI Elite 100 V2 | 1,024 Wh | 1,800 W | 2,700 W | 25 lb / 11.5 kg | 1,000 W | not captured | not captured | LiFePO4 | no verified listing |
Against the same plan
A refrigerator for an 8-hour working-day outage, sized on the harder end of every range.
Nearly all of this plan is one compressor. Running, a fridge sits somewhere between 100 and 700 watts, and all three picks carry that without effort; continuous output is not what separates them. What separates them is the instant the motor kicks in and pulls several times its running draw for a fraction of a second. A station's peak rating is the only headroom it has for that moment, which is why at this size the surge figure, not the battery, decides who is in and who is out.
The energy side is a range for the same reason the start is. An efficient fridge in a cool kitchen with the door mostly shut cycles about a fifth of the time and needs 160 watt-hours across the window; an old one in a warm kitchen, opened all day, runs half the time and needs 2,800. That spread is wide enough to swing the outcome on its own, and it is why every station here lands on clears the best case only rather than a clean fit.
Then subtract what you never get to use. None of these makers publishes a usable-energy figure, so the site works from a conservative share of the nameplate instead, 910 watt-hours of the Jackery Explorer 1000 v2's 1,070, and sizes from that. Of the 58 stations checked against this plan, 45 cover the easy end and 8 clear the hard one, and not one of those 8 is on this page.
| Model | Covers the energy | Carries the running load | Clears the surge | Worst-case shortfall | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jackery Explorer 1000 v2 | best case only | worst case | worst case | 1,890 Wh | Clears the best case only |
| Anker SOLIX C1000 | best case only | worst case | best case only | 1,902 Wh | Clears the best case only |
| Anker SOLIX C1000 Gen 2 | best case only | worst case | worst case | 1,930 Wh | Clears the best case only |
| EcoFlow DELTA 3 Plus | best case only | worst case | worst case | 1,930 Wh | Clears the best case only |
| EcoFlow DELTA 3 | best case only | worst case | worst case | 1,930 Wh | Clears the best case only |
| BLUETTI Elite 100 V2 | best case only | worst case | best case only | 1,930 Wh | Clears the best case only |
Where the energy goes, load by load
| Load | Hours | Running watts | Duty cycle | Energy | Share of worst case |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Refrigerator/freezer | 8 | 100–700 | 20–50% | 160–2,800 Wh | 100% |
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.
Our pickJackery Explorer 1000 v2
The one most people should buy
$559 at Amazon, September 16, 20261,070 Wh (910 usable)1,500 W continuous3,000 W peak24 lb
The Jackery Explorer 1000 v2 clears this plan's start at both ends of the range and is the lightest of the six stations here, which is why it is the default. It suits the person buying one box for one job, a fridge and an outage that ends the same day, with no plan to grow the system later, because Jackery's own page states it takes no add-on battery: what you buy today is what you own for good. If that is a corner you would rather not paint yourself into, buy the Anker SOLIX C1000.
Against the worst case it is 1,890 Wh short: about 4.7 hours of full sun at its 400 W solar input, or roughly 9 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 for an 8-hour working-day outage:
- Energyonly in the best case
- Running loadyes, even in the worst case
- Starting surgeyes, even in the worst case
Living with it
Jackery's own pages do not agree on how long a wall recharge takes. The product page markets an emergency fast-charge mode and a time for it, the spec table on that same page gives a longer time for ordinary charging, and the FAQ gives a third, longer again. Two independent testers measured it and did not agree either, and the quicker result needed the emergency mode switched on by hand, which that reviewer warned against using habitually.
Between the wall and the fridge it passes grid power through and takes the load when the grid drops, a handover Jackery rates at a few hundredths of a second and says plainly is not a no-break supply, nor for a desktop or a server. One reviewer's outage test is the warning: it did not hand over on its own, and devices had to be plugged back in by hand. Treat that as one report rather than a pattern, and try yours before you need it. Pass-through works, though one review found a heavy load on the outlets drags the charging rate right down.
It draws standby power the whole time it is switched on, so leave the AC side off when nothing needs it, and it will not charge below freezing. The app, over Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, toggles the outputs and holds the auto-shutdown timer. Two things owners find out late: Jackery advertises more solar across a six-panel array than the DC input can accept, so it is easy to buy panels this box cannot use, and the FAQ's very quiet noise figure did not survive one tester's meter at higher output. Our record carries no warranty term; Jackery's page markets three years with two more free, from its own site only.
- Idle draw
- About 18W idle power drawfaq.jackery.com
- Switchover when the grid drops
- Switches to battery in under 20 ms; not a true UPS for serversfaq.jackery.com
- Pass-through charging
- Yes, can power devices while recharging with no battery-life impactfaq.jackery.com
- Wall recharge
- About 1 hour claimed; spec sheet says 1.6 to 1.7 hoursjackery.com
- Noise
- Rated 22dB; one tester measured about 55dB under loadfaq.jackery.com
- Charges between
- 0°C to 45°C (32°F to 113°F) for chargingjackery.com
- Low-load shutoff
- Outputs auto-shut off after 12h with no load; adjustable in appr.jackery.net
- Expansion
- No add-on battery pack option availablefaq.jackery.com
- Warranty
- 3-year warranty, extendable to 5 years totalfaq.jackery.com
What owners report, from public threads and long-term reviews; not our own testing.
- Independent testers measured real AC recharge between about 1 hour 2 minutes and 1 hour 35 minutes, sometimes slower than Jackery's marketed 1-hour figure unless Emergency Charging Mode is manually enabled.thesolarlab.com
- One reviewer reported the unit did not automatically switch to battery backup during a power-outage test and had to manually reconnect devices, despite the advertised 20 ms UPS switchover spec.backuppowerhub.com
- Reviewers disagree on noise under load: one called it fairly quiet, while another measured about 55dB and the case growing noticeably warm once output passed 1000W.backuppowerhub.com
- One review found Jackery advertises up to 600W of solar input across six panels, but the unit's actual maximum DC input is only 400W, unchanged from the prior generation.thesolarlab.com
- Under heavy pass-through loads, charging input power drops significantly; only light loads around 100W let the unit keep charging near its full rated rate.thesolarlab.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 |
|---|---|---|
| Usable capacity, measured | 910 Wh measured output (vs 1,070 Wh advertised) (maker: 1,070 Wh) | OutdoorGearLab |
| Also measured | 85% capacity efficiency, calculated by OGL from their measured 910Wh output vs the 1,070Wh advertised rating (not an inverter/AC conversion efficiency spec) | OutdoorGearLab |
| Wall charge, empty to full | Measured charging rate of 563 Wh/hr; took almost 2 hours for a full recharge (charging method/AC vs other not specified in text) | OutdoorGearLab |
| Weight, measured | 24.4 lbs (listed as "Measured Weight" in OGL's spec table) | OutdoorGearLab |
| Noise under load, measured | No dB figure given; qualitative observation only - fans stayed nearly silent even near max wattage | OutdoorGearLab |
- OGL scored it 67/100 (#7 of 14 in their power station category), calling it a decent, user-friendly option for camping/emergency backup for brand-loyal Jackery buyers, but says slower charging and a limited feature set make it less compelling in the crowded 1,000Wh class. OutdoorGearLab
- Concludes the Anker Solix C1000 (Gen 2) wins on outright performance, but says the Jackery Explorer 1000 v2 is a dependable, rugged choice for buyers who value its lighter weight (23.8 lbs) and slightly higher base capacity (1070Wh); NOTE: page shows no first-person testing language (no "we measured/tested") - appears to be a spec-sheet comparison, not hands-on lab testing. PowerStationLab
What you give up
Expansion, entirely. Jackery states there is no add-on pack for this model, so its capacity is fixed on the day it arrives. It also takes the least solar of the three picks, which makes it the slowest to recover after a long outage, and its warranty term is missing from our record where the other two picks document five years.
Figures from faq.jackery.com, captured August 12, 2026; recall screen: no published recall names this exact model (screened 2026-08-12) (how we screen, CPSC).
The one that growsAnker SOLIX C1000
If you will add a battery later
$560 at Amazon, September 16, 20261,056 Wh (898 usable)1,800 W continuous2,400 W peak28 lb
The Anker SOLIX C1000 is the only station on this page that names its own add-on pack outright, the SOLIX BP1000, so you know exactly what a second battery would be and what it gets you. That makes it the buy for someone who suspects one box will not be enough and would rather not replace the whole thing to find out. The trade is the start: its peak output covers the easy end of this plan's surge and not the hard end, and it is the heaviest of the six here.
Against the worst case it is 1,902 Wh short: about 3.2 hours of full sun at its 600 W solar input, or roughly 10 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 for an 8-hour working-day outage:
- Energyonly in the best case
- Running loadyes, even in the worst case
- Starting surgeonly in the best case
Living with it
Its handover when the grid drops is rated at the same few hundredths of a second as the others', and pass-through charging runs at a high rate. Read Anker's own note on that twice, because the surge boost is switched off while the unit is in bypass, and a fridge on a pass-through setup is exactly the case that would want it. If a hard start is possible in your kitchen, do not lean on bypass mode to cover it.
Wall charging is quick with the fast mode enabled in the app, and a long-term reviewer found that top-up genuinely useful in the field rather than a spec-sheet flourish; another tester clocked an ordinary full charge noticeably slower than the fast-mode claim. The same testing put real usable capacity within a whisker of the conservative share this page already sizes from, and ran the unit at maximum continuous draw for barely half an hour before it shut off. Six months of regular camping left one reviewer with no failures, a Starlink Mini alongside other loads included.
It powers itself down after half a day with everything idle, and the AC outlets drop out if nothing is plugged into them for a quarter of an hour; both timers live in the app, which also carries firmware updates over Wi-Fi or Bluetooth. It charges only above freezing but runs far below it. The complaints are consistent: the fan is loud at sustained full output, there is no way to stop charging short of full to spare the battery, and there is no wireless charging pad. Anker publishes no idle draw and no noise figure anywhere we could reach. Five-year warranty.
- Switchover when the grid drops
- Under 20 mscdn.solarpowersupply.eu
- Pass-through charging
- Yes, via Bypass Mode; supports up to 2160W while chargingcdn.solarpowersupply.eu
- Wall recharge
- 0-80% in about 43 min; full charge under 1 h with UltraFastankersolix.com
- Charges between
- 32°F to 104°F (0°C to 40°C) while chargingcdn.solarpowersupply.eu
- Low-load shutoff
- Shuts off after 12 h idle; AC outlets off after 15 min unusedcdn.solarpowersupply.eu
- Expansion
- Yes, one add-on battery doubles capacity to 2112 Whcdn.solarpowersupply.eu
- Warranty
- 5-year hassle-free warrantyankersolix.com
What owners report, from public threads and long-term reviews; not our own testing.
- Several reviewers say the cooling fan gets notably loud under maximum sustained power draw — the unit's main real-world annoyance.outdoorgearlab.com
- One tester clocked a full AC charge at about 88 minutes in real use versus 65 minutes in UltraFast mode — slower than marketing implies without the fast mode enabled.outdoorgearlab.com
- OutdoorGearLab found real-world usable capacity was about 897Wh of the rated 1056Wh (roughly 85%), running about 33 minutes at max continuous power draw before shutting off.outdoorgearlab.com
- A six-month overlanding tester reported no failures or performance degradation, running a Starlink Mini and other loads simultaneously without voltage drops.4wdtalk.com
- Reviewers note the unit can't cap charging at a custom percentage to protect battery health, and has no built-in wireless charging pad.outdoorgearlab.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 |
|---|---|---|
| Usable capacity, measured | 897Wh delivered in OutdoorGearLab's own capacity test (maker: 1056Wh advertised) | OutdoorGearLab |
| Also measured | Ran for 33 minutes before shutting off when load-tested at max power output | OutdoorGearLab |
| Also measured | Ran a refrigerator for 14 hours during an actual power outage (real-world field test, not lab load) | Power Station Advisor |
| Also measured | Powered a CPAP machine for 4+ nights while camping (real-world field test) | Power Station Advisor |
| Also measured | Solar recharge (0-100%) took nearly 5 hours using 400W of portable solar panels on a camping trip, tested side-by-side against Gen 2 under identical conditions | Power Station Advisor |
- OutdoorGearLab calls the C1000 one of the best mid-sized portable power stations on the market, though it scored a middling 66/100 overall across their Power Output, Portability, Charging Speed, and Features criteria. OutdoorGearLab
- Power Station Advisor concludes that for buyers who mainly charge from AC outlets and want maximum value, the discounted Gen 1 C1000 is hard to beat versus the newer Gen 2. Power Station Advisor
What you give up
The start. Its peak covers the easy end of this plan's surge only, so a fridge that starts hard is a gamble. Two near-equal units sit beside it unpicked: the Anker SOLIX C1000 Gen 2 has more continuous and peak output and weighs less, but has no verified listing and neither its warranty nor its expansion option was captured, and the BLUETTI Elite 100 V2 falls short on the hard start the same way, with the same blanks.
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).
The one that refillsEcoFlow DELTA 3 Plus
Most solar input among the picks
$719 at Amazon, September 16, 20261,024 Wh (870 usable)1,800 W continuous3,600 W peak28 lb
The EcoFlow DELTA 3 Plus takes the most solar of the three picks, ties the BLUETTI Elite 100 V2 for the most on the page, and its peak output clears the hard start just as the Jackery Explorer 1000 v2's does. It is the pick for the person whose outage plan includes panels, since refilling is the only way past the best case at this size. It is the dearest of the three at $719, and it documents an expansion battery without naming the accessory, so confirm the exact pack before you count on it.
Against the worst case it is 1,930 Wh short: about 1.9 hours of full sun at its 1,000 W solar input, or roughly 10 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 for an 8-hour working-day outage:
- Energyonly in the best case
- Running loadyes, even in the worst case
- Starting surgeyes, even in the worst case
Living with it
Its rated handover when the grid drops is the quickest of the three on paper, and a bench test measured it quicker still than the rating. Pass-through engages by itself, and an app setting forces the unit to run appliances off its own battery and inverter instead of passing raw grid power along. A wall refill is fast, though the same bench test found it pulls appreciably more out of the socket than the battery ends up holding, which matters if the refill comes from a generator.
The AC sockets switch themselves off after an idle stretch rather than at some low-wattage threshold, and that timeout can be set to never, which is what a fridge needs; do it before the outage, not during it. The app runs over Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, and this is the only pick here that also talks to desktop software over a cable. Two gaps: no idle draw for this exact model appears in anything we could verify, and we will not borrow a sibling's, and no charging temperature window for it reached our record either.
Heat and fan noise are the recurring complaint, and they are where the marketing parts from the measurements. EcoFlow publishes one quiet decibel figure with no load or distance attached to it, while a bench test found the noise floor climbing well above that at higher output. More than one reviewer heard the fan clearly under real load and found the case warm on light duty; one heard it over a vacuum running nearby. A reviewer charging from an older car found the vehicle could not deliver the rated input, so the advertised car-charge time never happened, and one owner in EcoFlow's official group reported the battery draining unusually fast with the AC inverter left on. Five-year warranty.
- Switchover when the grid drops
- 10 ms rated; bench-tested at just over 8 mscdn11.bigcommerce.com
- Pass-through charging
- Yes, automatic Bypass Mode; app can disable grid pass-throughcdn11.bigcommerce.com
- Wall recharge
- 0-100% in about 56 minutes at 1500W AC inputus.ecoflow.com
- Noise
- About 30 dB claimed; bench test found under 40 dB above 1200Wus.ecoflow.com
- Charges between
- 0°C to 45°C (32°F to 113°F)cdn11.bigcommerce.com
- Low-load shutoff
- AC outlets auto-shutoff after idle; adjustable, can disablecdn11.bigcommerce.com
- Expansion
- Yes, via XT150 port; expandable up to 5 kWh totalcdn11.bigcommerce.com
- Warranty
- 5-year warrantyus.ecoflow.com
What owners report, from public threads and long-term reviews; not our own testing.
- Several reviewers found fan noise stays near the claimed 30 dB under light loads but climbs to about 40 dB above 1200W, with thermal management flagged as a recurring weak point.storagereview.com
- A buyer in EcoFlow's own owner Facebook group reported the battery drained unusually fast whenever the AC inverter was left switched on.facebook.com
- One reviewer's older vehicle could not deliver the full rated 800W car-charging input, so 12V recharge fell short of the advertised roughly 1.3-hour full-charge time.tech.yahoo.com
- A bench test clocked the UPS transfer time at just over 8 ms, beating the 10 ms spec, though the same reviewer said the unit ran warmer than expected even during light use.storagereview.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.
- Rated 8.5/10 and called the sweet spot between capacity and expandability in EcoFlow's DELTA 3 lineup, but the review itself is spec-based rather than lab-tested. Backup Power Hub
- In its DELTA 3 vs DELTA 3 Plus comparison, recommends the Plus specifically for buyers who value the doubled solar input and broader battery/USB-C support over the base DELTA 3. Backup Power Hub
What you give up
The money. It is the dearest of the three for the same clears-the-best-case-only verdict, and if panels are not part of your plan the extra input buys nothing. The plain DELTA 3 sits beside it matching it on continuous and peak output for less, and misses being a pick only because it takes in less solar, has no verified listing, and its warranty was not captured either.
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).
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.
Jackery Explorer 1000 v2
- The listing we verified: “Jackery Explorer 1000 v2 Portable Power Station,1070Wh,1500W”, $559 when checked. Title states 1070Wh and 1500W, matching our record exactly.
- “Jackery Explorer 1000 v2 and Extension Cable,1070Wh,1500W AC”, $499: a bundle, not the bare unit; the extra hardware is in the price.
- “Jackery Explorer 1000 v2 Portable Power Station,1070Wh,1500W (Dune White)”, $589: the same unit under a second listing at $589; we link the cheaper verified one.
Anker SOLIX C1000
- The listing we verified: “Anker SOLIX C1000 Portable Power Station (Black), 1,056Wh, 1,800W, Camping”, $560 when checked. Title states 1056Wh and 1800W, matching our record exactly. (previously verified ASIN, re-checked by direct lookup)
- “Anker SOLIX C1000 Portable Power Station with Car Charging Cable, 1,056Wh”, $600: a bundle, not the bare unit; the extra hardware is in the price.
- “Power Cable Replacement for Anker SOLIX F2000 C1000 Portable Power Station 8ft AC Cable”, $15: Listing is an accessory or part that names this model, not the unit itself..
EcoFlow DELTA 3 Plus
- The listing we verified: “EF ECOFLOW Portable Power Station DELTA 3 Plus 1024Wh, 1800W, LFP Battery”, $719 when checked. Title states 1024Wh and 1800W, matching our record exactly.
- “EF ECOFLOW Delta 3 Portable Power Station, 1024Wh 1800W”, $629: a different model that a search for this one returns.
- “EF ECOFLOW Solar Generator DELTA 3 Plus with 400W Solar Panel, 1024Wh 1800W”, $1,459: a bundle, not the bare unit; the extra hardware is in the price.
What this page can’t promise
This page cannot tell you which end of the fridge range your own kitchen sits on, and that is the question deciding whether any of the three is enough. It cannot promise the worst case either: no station here covers it, and the answer to that is a recharge, panels or a bigger battery rather than a different badge.
Nothing here was tested by us. The spec figures are the makers' own, read off their pages and manuals; what reviewers and owners found is labelled as theirs, and a single report is flagged as a single report. Where a marketing page and the spec table behind it disagree, and Jackery's do, we say so rather than quote the better number.
Questions people ask
Will the Jackery Explorer 1000 v2 start my refrigerator's compressor?
In the easy case, yes. Depending on the fridge, this plan's starting load runs anywhere from 600 to 2,900 watts, and the Jackery Explorer 1000 v2's peak output covers both ends of that. The Anker SOLIX C1000 covers the low end alone. If you know your fridge starts hard, or you simply do not know, the Jackery Explorer 1000 v2 or the EcoFlow DELTA 3 Plus is the safer buy.
What is different between the Anker SOLIX C1000 and the Anker SOLIX C1000 Gen 2?
The Gen 2 has more continuous and peak output than the Anker SOLIX C1000, and it weighs less. It is not a pick here because this page has no verified listing for it, and neither its warranty nor its expansion option was captured, so there is no way to set those gains against what it costs to own. If you go looking, note that the two are different units under nearly the same name.
Which of these can I add a battery to later?
Only the Anker SOLIX C1000 names its expansion pack outright, the SOLIX BP1000, which roughly doubles the capacity. The EcoFlow DELTA 3 Plus documents an expansion battery from the maker without naming which accessory it is, so ask before you buy on that basis. Jackery's own page states the Jackery Explorer 1000 v2 does not support one at all.
Is a station this size enough for a whole outage rather than a work day?
Not for the worst case. None of the six stations on this page clears it; 8 stations elsewhere do, built around a bigger battery than this class, and our home-backup page lists them. If you cannot guarantee the easy case, an efficient fridge in a cool room with the door kept shut, plan on a recharge, added solar or moving up a size.
Do the EcoFlow DELTA 3 and DELTA 3 Plus perform the same?
Their continuous and peak output match, but the EcoFlow DELTA 3 Plus takes in more solar than the plain DELTA 3, and only the Plus has a verified listing on this page. Neither model has its expansion accessory named in our record. Our comparison of the DELTA 3, DELTA 3 Plus and DELTA 3 Max family goes through the rest of that shelf.
Other plans we sized
- 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.
- 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.
- ComparedWhich EcoFlow DELTA 3? The whole family, judged against one plan
Every EcoFlow DELTA 3 variant on one table with the maker's own figures, the gaps marked, and all of them run against the same refrigerator plan.
- 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.
- ComparedEcoFlow DELTA 3 vs DELTA 2: what changed, and which one to buy
EcoFlow's DELTA 2 and DELTA 3, plus the DELTA 3 Plus and Classic, on one table from the makers' own figures and judged against one fridge plan.
- ComparedJackery Explorer 1000 v2 vs 1000 Plus: the expandable one or the cheaper one
Jackery's Explorer 1000 v2 and 1000 Plus on one table from the maker's own figures, judged against one fridge plan, with the 2000 v2 for scale.
- ComparedJackery Explorer 1000 v2 vs Anker SOLIX C1000 Gen 2
The two 1 kWh units people compare most, from the makers' own figures, judged against one fridge plan, with the older C1000 and the DELTA 3 Plus for scale.
- 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.
Jackery Explorer 1000 v2Our pick
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