So, we lost power today. Trees are down in the area and supposedly some areas lost power yesterday and into today. Either a new issue knocked out our power, or lines in the area were shut down to allow for repairs. Regardless of the how, power was down for around 8 hours.
We lost power for a couple of days a few years ago, when back to back heavy snowstorms took down a lot of trees and power lines. There have been a few pinpoint outages since then, mostly transformer issues I’m told.
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8 hours without power is no fun. Refrigerators are said to be able to go around 4 hours before food spoils, and after that you’re taking chances.
After around 3 hours, and when it was clear the power wasn’t coming back so quickly, I connected one battery-powered generator to the basement fridge (which has been serving as an overflow and homemade pickle fridge) – after giving the sump pump some juice – and then I connected another to the main fridge.
My wife was really impressed with the EGO Nexus I connected to the main fridge, and I appreciated its performance, user control, and the real-time runtime information it provided.
If need-be, I could have routed an extension fan and cooling fan or two to the EGO Nexus as well, and the USB ports would have quickly charged up everyone’s devices with power to spare.
I’ve been yo-yoing about the idea of a whole house natural gas generator, and that’s a debate for another time. I’m not too keen on the idea of portable gasoline generators. What I like about battery-powered generators is that 1) they can be used indoors without issue, and 2) they can be used for other outdoors activities.
There are two types – ones that work with replaceable batteries, such as the portable power stations from Dewalt, EGO, and others, and ones that have built-in batteries.
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So far, it seems that the power stations with built-in batteries are smaller and more aimed at powering small electronic appliances or charging small devices.
We’ve posted about a number of portable battery station-type products over the years.
Bosch came out with a portable battery bank in Europe a few years ago, and I was surprised that nothing similar came out here.
Dewalt’s portable power station is fairly economical, and works with 20V Max and FlexVolt batteries. My experiences with it have been superb so far. It’s convenient – but slow – to be able to use this as a battery charger as well.
The EGO Nexus is nicely designed and while it’s not inexpensive (note: I didn’t pay for mine, it’s a review sample), it’s fully featured and I’m at a loss trying to think of ways it could be better.
A Ryobi 40V portable power station appeared online last year, but for reasons unknown to us, it never made it to launch.
There’s a new Milwaukee MX Fuel portable power station, and I am very optimistic about it. This seems like a must-have for anyone who buys into the MX Fuel line of cordless power equipment.
I wrote about the Anker Powerhouse a while back, and it seems like a good example of a personal device-type battery power station. The way it’s described, it can power smaller appliances. If it weren’t so pricey, I’d buy one its 12V DC port.
Your Recommendations?
There’s got to be more products like these out there. Or, maybe you’ve tried one of these and can share your experiences?
While the pricing of these types of products aren’t much lower than portable gasoline generators, they’re often much smaller, lighter, quieter, and often useful in other types of situations, plus you can use them indoors and without the hassle of gas cans and such.
Do you have a battery-powered generator or cordless power station? Which would you recommend?
So far, I can sing praises for Dewalt and EGO. Dewalt’s form factor could be a little better, but it’s not bad, and being ToughSystem-compatible is a nice touch. EGO’s has been marketed as a gas engine alternative, and I think it’s fairly accurate in that regard.
Rock Hound
I have a Jackery 290 and a little solar panel that I take on car-camping trips and use when the power goes (yesterday) out to charge phones and laptops. I have been very satisfied with it. They make some significantly larger units that I have heard good things about as well.
John
I wouldn’t buy any of these.
For your future needs and intended purpose during extended power outages, a gas generator, Honda or Generac, and multiple 5 gallon jugs is the standard and will continue to be the standard. Kind of a no-brainer. Using battery systems which require electricity to recharge doesn’t make sense. You will never know how long a power outage will be.
Steve
My thoughts exactly. At least if home backup during power outages is what you’re after.
Dan Sideen
I spent less than $1000 for a gas generator & transfer switch that will power my entire house (except clothes dryer) for a long as the power outage lasts
sam
The last power outage we had (we usually get 2 a year longer than 8 hours) lasted 48 hours and Thanksgiving fell right in the middle of it. Heckuva snow storm. I ran a Honda 6500 and a whole house transfer switch and used a Sense Home Power Monitor to make sure we never used more than what the generator could provide. After this outage one of my neighbors got a portable power station but we have yet to have another outage. It would be interesting to compare our experiences next outage. I need 220V for my well and my in floor pumps are all directly wired in. For a 24 hour outage I can’t see a portable battery power station being adequate – there is just so much more energy in a gallon of gasoline and a gasoline storage device is much cheaper than a battery of similar energy capacity. As a last resort for a sump pump, fridge, or to power non-battery powered tools in a remote location I could justify it.
Stuart
In the past few years, power disruptions around here were of two kinds:
1) very short where a battery power station is sufficient to power the fridge and maybe a fan and chargers.
2) very extensive where getting gas is very difficult
If lengthy outages become a thing, a whole house system makes more sense.
Besides, without a transfer switch installed, a portable gas generator is only going to be good for limited devices. Backfeeding is dangerous and not recommended.
I have also used battery generators for random tool use and recreational-type uses where a gas generator wouldn’t have been suitable.
Portable gas generators can be useful for certain scenarios, I’m just not too keen on them for my own needs or wants.
Gordon
Generator interlock kits are the ticket. I have a 50amp socket outside and purchased a 7500w (running) Tri-fuel generator from Costco. I already had the new electrical panel so excluding that it cost Just over $1500. Most of the appliances are NG. We can run lights and any plug in appliance we need. I can even run the electric dryer and the 3.5t central AC, though not at the same time. The AC gives it a little trouble on startup but an EasyStart device should fix that.
We are having a NG port installed when the deck goes on the back of the house so I can plug the grill in. With minor prep, I can have 18gal of gas on hand, plus 2, 20lbs propane tanks, and use NG as a backup. I don’t think we could run the central AC on NG but it can easily run a window unit and a fan to keep bedrooms cool for sleeping.
Considering a whole house unit costs upwards of $10k, and you’re completely dependent on the NG grid, I like my options. There were a few places during Sandy that did not have reliable NG supply.
jec6613
The NG supply is one reason I’m glad I have 7-10 days of propane (depending on time of year/load) for my Generac.
Jo
For apartment living, fuel powered generator is out of the question. I’ve been trying to find something battery powered that will power my freezer. I have a small inverter that will run/charge devices and a small fan. It has solar recharge option and we can recharge it with the cars accessory outlet as well if power is out. There has to be an option for apartment dweller?
Stuart
The ones mentioned here should suffice for short outages.
For extended outages, a solar-charged inverter isn’t going to do very much, especially if the outage is severe weather-related. A solar powered inverter can recharge a smartphone after a few hours, but it might not be enough for freezer/fridge compressor. I could be wrong – this is just an assumption – but I personally wouldn’t rely on it.
I would think that a battery generator capable of use with 15A devices would likely be best.
Donald
Hello,Gas generator is ok,but it’s a things of the past especially for extended power outages.The reason why is because if you don’t have power,nor does the gas station in which case you can’t buy gas,but battery operated generator can be recharged by solar power which may take awhile, but still possible.
Robert
Nothing will ever beat a small gas generator for cost if you actually need extended power, but from battery generators the DeWalt Power station is the clear winner if you already have batteries. I bought it $200 as a bare tool about 4 years ago and have run a roofing nailer off a full size air compressor with it. It seemed like we could do about 6 hours of work off of eight 5ah batteries, ymmv. It will run a tablesaw, miter saw, 20 gal. air compressor, 120v mig welder, SDS max rotary hammer, etc. It is a short term generator, so don’t expect more than emergency uses from it unless you have 30 batteries like I do.
fred
I recall that after Super Storm Sandy the price of Generac Stock went up considerably. I guess that was a nod from the Wall Street gurus that gasoline engine generators were going to sell well.
Your question is a perennial one – during Hurricane and Tornado seasons and winter storm times. For most of us, these events might probably be classified as low to medium probability – with low to medium consequence. This can get tricky – and certainly can be complicated depending on individual circumstances. We installed many whole house natural gas fueled generators – some for folks who needed life sustaining equipment. In other cases – the generators probably had no real economic justification based on the probabilities and benefits/cost. But benefits are in the eye of the beholder – and if you can afford something like a Kohler whole house natural gas-fueled generator with automatic transfer/trip switch then the only negative might be the need to maintain and periodically test the beast.
For gasoline generators – inverter based ones from folks like Honda seem to offer enough advantages to make them worth their cost – but you obviously need to be able to gas them up, operate them outdoors and wire them into your appliances – or have a transfer switch panel to connect them into your house.
From what I’ve heard about the current outages in NJ, NY and CT – some of them may last several days – waiting on downed trees and poles to be cleared, pole-top transformers repaired/replaced and wires restrung. Smallish battery storage devices are probably not up to the task of supplying a freezer and refrigerator for several days – but usually utilities often offer bags of ice and/or blocks of dry ice to help out.
I was blessed by riding through Isaias – with only a few dips – probably as reclosers sensed some tree contacts and isolated the faults.
jec6613
Our outage was almost exactly 5 days long, and we were middle of the pack for getting restored in my community. Where I live, outages are usually only a few hours (no big deal) or at least two days.
One thing you don’t have in that calculus is what if you’re on a well? You need a split phase generator to even have running water. At $600/night for a hotel when they’re packed, a generator pays for itself really fast.
Peter C
I live in Berkeley, California. Power shut offs are going to be the new normal out here as the fires become worse. Also a branch of the Hayward fault is a block away. We have been told by the fire department not to expect help for up to two week if the big one hits. That narrows the choices significantly. Our block association has both a propane generator and a gas inverter. Everybody has a car with gas to siphon. Almost everybody has a Weber with propane tanks. So hard to know which is the better choice. A battery generator might be handy to charge when the generator is running and use when it is not running. But it would not be much help otherwise.
Roger
Bang for the buck is gas. However, having it sit for months is not good either. Things gunk and clog. For outdoors only. It’s noisy and smelly. Extension cord runs and cold starts isn’t fun.
I’ve ran a 2 door regular type, sized fridge on the Dewalt using all 9s. This type of fridge does temperature seep transfer from the freezer side to the cold side. It lasted just under 3 hrs straight. I’ve found using it in 30min-On 1Hr-Off intervals keeps the fridge at cool minimum (8hrs on a set of 4-9ah). I’m in the 20V system so it’s not so bad as it works down to the 1.5ah packs. I acquired the 4port charger recently. Keep in mind I store a few ice packs on my freezer side door.
Alterative Ideas:
-GO SOLAR (Snow storm exempted)
-Hybrid battery fans
-Multiple small inverters (Ryobi/Hart)
-USB capable adapters
EGO and DeWalt are currently the easiest batteries to obtain (within this topic); and are usable in multiple tools. Battery compatibility converters for Ryobi 18V are available.
In terms of portability, the Dewalt is easier, but still heavy when loaded. A short multi-outlet can be used on DeWalt. Basically 2 units for the price of 1 EGO. Mounts on ToughSystem boxes off the ground.
In terms of convenience the EGO is the all-in-one powerhouse, but double the cost for a single unit.
They both scale in size to performance. A combination balance is recommended.
Brandon
Roger I think the worst part of owning a gas generator is trying to start it after it has sat for months/years before it is needed; ethanol gas is terrible. I’ve seen so many situations where people have a generator but never start it routinely to keep everything up. Four years ago I was in need of a generator that could power basically everything in my house except the oven but didn’t want the maintenance of another engine. Long story short, I built a 7200 watt rated generator to run off my garden tractor. It is easy to install in about two minutes and since I use the GT year round, it fires up to power my house.
I’d love to go solar like you’ve mentioned, but it isn’t in the cards for me at this time because of the cost. Eventually I’ll get there. In the mean time, the Ryobi battery powered inverters work fine for the small devices/short outages.
david brock
only run non-ethanol fuel, add fuel stablizer before storing fuel in cans. Always drain the generator tank when done and run the carb out and it will start with one or 2 pulls when you need it. Having a reliable generator is a function of how you put it away each time.
Gordon
In NJ it’s illegal to sell non-ethenol fuel. They seem to blame “environmentalists” for that but as far as I know, no one asked for such an anti consumer law. But that’s what you get when the state is at the mercy of Oil/Gas and Pharma companies.
King duck
I could see getting one if it was in the battery system I used very disappointed no M18 version came out. I’m I. The Philippines right now power loss is almost a daily issue and I’m looking into a little battery inverter to run a fan and cpap to sleep better.
Plain grainy
The major caveat for the Dewalt: it has a modified sine wave instead of a pure sine wave. Running your equipment with modified sine wave is like driving your car with square wheels. Plus it causes equipment to run hotter(motors). And can damage newer complex equipment. I suggest getting an inverter instead of a generator. Many generators don’t produce clean power, which can slowly degrade appliances with motherboards. Dewalt power station is fine for simple items like an electric drill without complex electronics. An inverter will give you pure sine wave power, equal or cleaner than your home power grid.
Plain grainy
You want a pure sine wave inverter, not a modified sine wave converter. Just my own findings, do your own research!
Plain grainy
Inverter not converter, sorry.
Eric
Any device with a switching power supply doesn’t care what the waveform is, as it’s just chopping it up anyways and operating at 20khz+ anyways. Computers, phones, TVs, most electronics run just fine on a square wave. Motors aren’t always happy about it, and some furnaces have trouble with it.
Frank D
Battery power is very expensive and only good for a few hours. Pretty much useless for winter storms, hurricanes, …
Great if you have it as an upgrade of your construction equipment, or maybe you invested top dollar
I have an average gas generator that can transfer to part of the house.
And I have the small Ryobi gas unit with bluetooth to keep a fireplace fan and some electronics going.
Will be looking at auto transfer whole house generation.
Whole day, 4 day, 8 day power outages are no fun … to run generators, extension cords, get fresh gas every day, …
David
I agree with the gas generator crowd, although I’ll note that I prefer a dual fuel generator so I can run mine off of propane cylinders. I prefer storing them to storing gas.
I think the next few years will see a marked increase in EVs and hybrids that can plug in to your house and act as a backup power supply. I’m already planning on adding solar when I get my house re-roofed, and hope that the timing works with an EV so I can spend my money on that instead of a whole house battery setup.
jec6613
The largest EVs right now would last me about 24 hours, assuming I only used it for LED lighting, refrigeration, water, and internet. Really lacking the necessary runtime on all of them at the moment when every year or two I get a 2-3 day outage that takes out my water supply.
Jim D
And do not forget Klein Tool’s new power supply.
https://www.kleintools.com/catalog/jobsite-accessories/portable-power-station-546-wh
This is also with Klein’s unbeatable lifetime warranty. Of course that is for manufacturer defects only. Just make sure you do not physically destroy it and throw it in a lake and you are good.
JayR
We have been out of power for a few days now. We have a deep well and a refrigerator full of food. We have a gas generator and I recently invested in a ~$500 battery unit that is powerful enough to run the fridge, laptops, TV and Nintendo for some entertainment.
I like having both the battery and gas generator because it allows us a buffer to only fire up the gas generator a couple times a day for higher power needs such as charging the batteries, filling the well, running the coffee maker, etc , vs. trying to run the gas generator 24/7. I think for long term power outage planning this is a good strategy because it stretches out fuel capacity significantly since we only need to run the generator 3-4 hours a day. The battery unit also acts as an inverter for sensitive electronics which can save some bucks on trying to buy a inverter gas generator.
I think this recipe will vary depending on someone’s power needs. If we were going to try to run an AC or heating unit, then having the gas generator run 24/7 would make more sense and the battery unit wouldn’t be necessary.
Sam
This is the most compelling argument I’ve heard for buying a battery power station. Lithium ion charges fast enough to make this more viable than ever. I run a battery/inverter/generator setup at my cabin in winter (solat in summer) for this same reason of conserving fuel.
Peter Fox
I know it would probably be too expensive to ever make it to market. However I was recently pondering just how awesome it would be if a combination (hybrid if you will) inverter based generator / battery based portable generator could be.
Most longer term uses of a generator the loads are intermittent rarely are you running anywhere close to full capacity on a gas generator.
The battery bank would sustain the base load without the engine running and the engine would automatically fire up and run at the appropriate speed to meet either larger continuous loads or to top off the batteries as needed. Additionally the battery could help improve starting surge capabilities without having to over size the engine.
ToolGuyDan
This is exactly how datacenters work! As a bonus, because you have a battery onboard, starting up the generator becomes really easy, because the battery can help with spin-up. Sometimes there’s a flywheel, too.
Fun fact: most battery rooms in datacenters are filled with racks of deep-cycle marine batteries. There are thousands, or tens of thousands, of these batteries. Altogether, they provide about thirty to sixty seconds of power before they’re exhausted. Their *only* job is to keep the datacenter online while the big Caterpillars outside (which are basically locomotive engines) spin up.
I love datacenters, but they really put a new spin into your head on what power really means. I worked out of a 20 MW datacenter at one point, which singlehandedly consumed 4% of the output of a nuclear power plant. Remember that the next time you think about “the cloud”; as the sticker goes, that’s just a fancy way to say “someone else’s computer”.
Max
You can actually do this with a hybrid car. There are kits to make the Toyota Prius do this. Not sure if they’re available for any other hybrid cars, but I wouldn’t be surprised.
David Zeller
That is what we are doing right now. A mix of a propane generator and two battery backups. The backups run the fridge for about 4-5 hours each. The generator runs about 12 hours on a 40lb tank or 5 on a 20lb tank from the swap places. We have one 40 and three 20’s. So we could go for quite a while presuming we recharge the batteries from propane to maximize the generator capacity.
Peter Fox
I am thinking of a more integrated and automated set up. However if you are willing to or can manually control it, plugging together off the shelf components can certainly achieve similar results.
The picture I have in my head is along the lines of a honda EU2000 to EU3000 with a slot or two for a Milwaukee MX sized battery. Fully automated with the options to run off of just the battery, battery with the engine backing it up as needed, or run the engine full time.
Hon Cho
Having spent many millions of tax dollars on the engineering, procurement, installation and maintenance for large generators and big Uninterruptible Power Supplies for telecommunications centers, there’s clearly a place for both generators and battery power supplies. Personally, I think the future for residential backup will be in something like Tesla’s Powerwall combined with home solar panels. Then everyone will have have the equivalent of a large UPS for their home which can provide backup power for critical systems. If you live in an area with frequent extended outages then owning a fossil fuel powered generator may be the prudent choice for years to come. Whatever path you take, keep in mind that if you don’t maintain and test your equipment regularly, there’s a very good chance it won’t work when you need it.
Andy Ringsmuth
What would I recommend?
NONE of the above.
Get a real gas generator. Any of these battery powered “generators” are nothing but a big battery and an inverter. And we all know how well batteries last after a few years. An actual generator, with little maintenance, will be reliable for years if not a couple decades. And you can quickly add “power” to it so-to-speak by simply adding more fuel. When your battery powered “generator” is dead, you’re SOL.
Drew M
Buy a Honda 2200 or Champion 3100w.
Dillon Corr
My company uses several of the Dewalt Powerstations as essentially small UPS for loads in critical areas during power shutdowns (fridges, door controllers, security systems, freezers, etc.). Usually these are interior areas that you don’t want fumes/exhaust with fire alarms that will go off with internal generators. The powerstations (in my opinion) don’t have the juice for anything longer than a few hours… but we’ve run building automation systems off them for 8+ hours no problem.
L3
While I am invested in the 56v EGO platform, my concern with the power station is how the EGO batteries self discharge after I believe it’s 30 days? If I’m not charging all 4 of my batteries every month when I need power, the batteries won’t have enough to do much of anything. During the summer it’s likely I will have them charged as I’m using them frequently, but during the winter it can be months between uses.
I recently invested in a TRI-fuel generator as I live out of town and have a bulk propane tank for a couple appliances. Using propane or natural gas helps to alleviate worries about gas going bad. Propane is much easier to store.
Stuart, you mention backfeeding as dangerous and not recommended. I agree that if not done properly it’s obviously dangerous, but with an Interlock switch on your panel that seems to all but eliminate the risk? An interlock switch is my plan to wire in my generator, plan on doing the work this fall. All in, 7kw generator and parts I’m at just over $1k which should run everything but my HVAC.
Stuart
My understanding is that you need an interlock or transfer switch. It’s backfeeding without either that’s not recommended.
ToolGuyDan
When I think of backfeeding, I think of the s who cut off the female end of an extension cord to add a male end and plug the resulting cable directly between their generator and a wall receptacle.
The smart ones cut the main breaker at their panel first, which has the advantage that they don’t immediately die when power comes back on. Still, in my opinion, if you find someone who owns a male-to-male extension cord, you’ve invariably found someone who should not be allowed to make important decisions on your behalf.
Art
The danger is not just to the homeowner who does this but to linemen and bystanders outside if lines are down. If someone backfeeds their panel with the main breaker still closed they are engergizing the lines outside their house as well.
Photog
I have two dual fuel inverter generators. Propane does have less BTUs than gasoline but not by much.
Propane is easier to safely store and doesn’t go bad like gasoline.
Ross
What about a big pure sine wave inverter for your car? I’ve been looking into something that could give emergency power to my furnace, people have run ~1,000 watts continuously on my model car. My issue with a generator is I don’t want to maintain it; my car is a well maintained power plant.
Jared
That’s what I was thinking while I read the comments too. If you don’t have a generator (gas or battery), the best place to start, if your goal is preparedness for a temporary outage, is just an inverter for your car. It’s a cheap way to get a pretty substantial and long-lasting amount of power since you already own a car and hopefully it already has a large tank of gas.
If you plan to use power more regularly and/or need more power, a gas generator is the way to go – an inverter generator if the budget permits it. Buy a cheap 80cc 2-stroke from Harbour Freight if all you want is a backup on the cheap in case of emergency.
Personally, I have a couple of vehicles, a couple of tractors and a couple of inverters – all of which could be employed to provide power if I needed. I also have a ~5000W gas generator. I am still tempted to get the Dewalt powerstation for the reasons Stuart provided. Lots of times I wish I could have silent, lighter-weight portable power- especially while camping. I think the powerstation would be an odd place to start though. Maybe as a second step in certain contexts if you had an inverter for your vehicle at least.
Plain grainy
Not sure about that type of inverter . But I know r v onboard gas generators aren’t suggested for powering a home.
jec6613
Yes, you can run ~1,000 watts continuously… but what’s your alternator rated for? At some point, that electricity has to come from somewhere, and you shouldn’t exceed your alternator’s idle output if you’re doing this or you’ll slowly drain your battery.
And, BTW, most of them are about 100W-200W at idle, even for some pretty big engines.
David Zeller
I have been looking for the Ryobi 1500W 40V inverter ever since it popped up. I really wish they had released it. I have four 4Ah and a 5Ah battery that I could use.
Just over a week ago, I found a good price on a Duracell battery/inverter that provides 660Whr 1800w (PowerSource 660). I got 2 of them. Each runs the fridge for almost 5 hours. One ran our routers and modems for 23.5 hours in a test. They can act as UPS, which is nice.
The Duracells puts out pure sine wave and can be solar charged with a built-in controller as well. You can add any 12V source to a connection on the back to extend runtime. The built-in battery is 55Ahr. If I picked up a, say, 110Ahr AGM car battery, I’d be looking at 15 hours with one unit.
I have a 6000W propane generator, not connected to the house panel. I can charge off this and/or run the fridge. I have enough propane in tanks to run for 24 hours, plus 10 on the batteries, plus however much I get from the batteries from charging them with generator.
I like the dual battery-generator setup. It gives quiet time, provides backup if the generator fails, provides pure sine wave, and the battery units act as UPS as well.
David Zeller
I should have mentioned, I got them for $499 each at Costco, versus $699 at most places. Today, they are $449 at Duracell’s site.
This is a great price compared to the lithium based units, which would easily be a grand for same capacity/features. Plus, I can add additional batteries for a lot less.
The units are fairly large and heavy, though. The size of a couple shoe boxes and 58blbs, I think.
Greg
The main way the ego nexus could be better, would be if the batteries became cheaper. Granted, I know that’s where the company really makes their money, still would be nice to not have to pay an arm and a leg for spare batteries.
Mac
I bought a 20 kWH diesel generator on a military surplus auction.
I built a 120 gallon trailer with a pump for my tractor and to fuel the generator…and to run into town to get fuel.
I have a little 3k gas generator…if it gets bad enough I feel comfortable enough using the 3k to power up the pumps at a gas station if I run low.
Drewmcdan1
Luckily in the DC area, the only serious outage lasted about ten hours after a derecho blew through if I recall in 2011. Other outages have lasted less than two hours or less, mainly as the result of accidents tripping a circuit breaker. I think living right off the road that the hospital and police station are less than a half mile away helps a lot with limiting the outage times, so if the problem is a major line, we get included in the priority for the electric company to restore service.
I have smaller devices that I have in case of a power outage. The one device not mentioned yet was a combination jump starter battery device that also has USB, 12v and a 120v outlet. That is crappy for anything other than USB.
I have the Ryboi 18v inverter with the 2 usb ports and a 120v outlet that is decent for running a fan for a couple of hours on a 4AH battery which I have plenty of. Under normal circumstances I have lost control of the device to wife for her paper crafts, as she uses it for a couple of USB powered tools.
Since I am into the EGO system, I caught a sale that HD ran on the 150W power inverter. That works well to power a fan for a while. But my biggest use case is for powering the rotisserie motor for a large Weber grill. I got over four hours running the rotisserie on 7.5 AH battery.
I saw the EGO Nexus on sale about a month ago for $500 for the bare tool and almost pulled the trigger on it. Two reasons I didn’t is that I knew we might be moving to where I might be getting rid of my lawn equipment, and I was kind of waiting for V2 where I was hoping it would have the capability to be recharged via a solar panel. I was also looking at the Yeti devices that have that capability, but everything is on hold right now, since we are looking to move. Don’t know if we are going into a HOA type of arrangement, or where I’ll still be responsible for the yard work.
Anything powered by gas would not meet the WAF (Wife Approval Factor), due to the noise and we don’t have the optimum yard layout to place a whole house generator in the best location. So far we have been lucky with just having one major outage.
Nathan
Biggest thing is how much you think you need. Before recommending anything it comes down to actual use.
want you run an AC unit. or 2 fridges, a freezer – all the lights on your first floor. . . . . .
Sets the goal. I’m in the armpit of the US and I don’t plan on running the AC in a power outage. Been though 2 over the summer, one was for 3 days. Even at 95F I can do without AC for a few days.
LIghts and the fridge – key pieces of kit. No battery device I know of would keep those running long. Like someone else said above I use a generac with a switch panel.
If all I wanted to do was keep some electronics up and keep a few lamps on either the EGO or the Dewalt would be a good idea. I’ve thought about the Dewalt a few times.
That Milwaukee device I think would also work but it would be prohibitively expensive without being in that battery system.
Probably really true of either of them. ;
In my situation if I decide to do it I will put some solar shingles or something like it and a battery bank sized for 1 day on full load but have my switch panel setup to cut off over half the house if I need say 3 days. Math says I could run the smaller AC unit – one fridge and freezer, some lights and some outlets for 3 days.
Guess that’s more my recommendation . Work out what you want to keep running – sum it up and work up your power need. Go from there.
Bob
I researched this considerably and come to the conclusion a fossil fuel powered pure sinewave inverter generator is the way to go in my opinion for a whole house generator for extended periods of outage for a reasonable period of time. I think a solar powered hydrogen cell would be “best” but I am poor lol. Many of the better (gas generator) models have load sensing capabilities and idle down when not under high load to save fuel. Tri fuel is the way to cover all your bases. Natural gas, then propane, then gasoline would be my order of preference.
Storing ethenal gas is only problematic if it is not stored in an air tight can. All of the plastic cans are not air tight. Store your gas in metal NATO cans. Its the european version of the old Jerry can from back in WWII. Real NATO cans do not vent air, thus keeping the volatiles (gas fumes) in and moisture out. Ethenol gas will stay good for years. I have tested up to three years so far. Just besure to buy the legit ones. Mine were made in the Czech republic by wavarian. I believe they have or had the NATO contract.
As was stated run any gas engine out of fuel. Re-fill and run with ethanol free fuel. Then run it out of gas again. Empty the tank and refill when you need it. No problems in the last few years doing this procedure.
I think solar/EV/battery storage have potential to run our houses soon. Lots of promising tech that I think only needs a few more years before it becomes fully refined, mass market and cheap enough to compete with a gas generator. I for one can’t wait. My genset works great, is reliable and was not to expensive. But its noisy, has dangerous fumes and requires maintenance. PV if set up correctly is seamless. The only draw back is the batteries will need replacing at a certain point, and space for the panels and batteries. No free lunch as they say.
fred
In my neck of the woods – many folks were out of power for 2 weeks – some longer after Sandy. The generators were OK until folks ran out of gasoline. The gas stations that had power were few and far between – and had long lines and when you got up to the pump they might be out. Some were prioritizing gas sales to first responders. You could sort of tell the few who had a whole house generator running on natural gas.
Stuart
That’s been on my mind.
With a several-day outage a few years ago, power was down at the local gas stations, and lines at the next-closest working ones were insane. If I recall correctly, there were also shortages and/or limits.
My father always told me to gas up the car before a big storm, and I usually do, but even then that’s a finite amount to siphon.
A large enough portable generator to power the furnace, refrigerator, lights, and other essentials is going to be hard to store in the garage, and there aren’t many other places to put it.
Power is still out in some locations nearby, and so this time we lucked out.
Battery banks are good enough for short outages and for uses in between such incidents. I’m thinking that either a portable generator with propane option would be better, but then I still need a place to store extra tanks.
I might revisit the thought of a whole-house natural gas generator, buy they’re pricey to install. At the least maybe I’ll pick up one of the very portable gas generators in case a winter outage requires something to keep the furnace going, but it’s not going to help much for prolonged delays.
Art
For a week or more outage the natural gas standby (if you have natural gas) works. I imagine these engines are made for prolonged running and it starts every week or so for testing. Where I live you have to pull a permit and it can’t be on the fence line near neighbors. However these require transfer panels and you have to decide which circuits are on the generator. This is where you scale up to put more on the generator panel and the price goes up :-). Who wants to have an automatic generator and the bathroom lights aren’t on it?
Inverter generators are usually only 110v. You have to connect two generators together to get 220v. They do throttle down and are quieter which is nice.
I had a mechanical interlock installed on my Square D panel. When I connect the generator the panel is backfed through a dual 30 amp breaker on the top right and the interlock guarantees the main breaker to the grid is off. This meets code. Power outage procedure is then put gas in generator (mine is 5500 watts running), plug generator into outlet that goes to backfed breaker, turn off circuits that would overload generator, actuate mechanical interlock.
There is a clever device called ‘generlink’ (www.generlink.com) that goes under your meter. It has a receptacle for your generator and disconnects house from grid. Supposedly not all utility companies permit it and I don’t know how well it works.
Art
Addendum: the approach of using a mechanical interlock or generlink requires a 220v generator. Otherwise only one half of the panel is hot. If a two legged panel is fed by one leg on both sides then 220v loads could be damaged and on multi-wire branch circuits the shared neutral could overheat.
Jim Felt
Now I’m wondering if my EV can use my house mounted Level 2 charger “in reverse“ to aerially power the house. Obviously with updated safety rewiring.
AKA a mobile PowerWall.
Hmmm.
Max
You’re looking for V2H (vehicle to home) which is available in some countries, but not the US. It’s already part of the CHAdeMO spec and CCS is trying to build it into future versions of their spec. Then you need a compatible charger, and of course you need the utilities to buy in. Maybe we’ll see it in the US in 10 years.
I’m not sure I’d want to risk my EV or my house over a home made solution.
jec6613
We have a 20kW 240V Generac propane whole house with automatic transfer switch, so it’ll run the heat in the winter and A/C in the summer, plus the well, and about 10-ish days worth of Propane when run continuously. Working beautifully right now.
Also have a 2.5kW 120V portable gasoline, and a DeWalt power station. The 2.5kW was basically a freebee, it’s running a coworker’s refrigerator right now, and the DeWalt power station is great to have for a backup if/when the generator cuts out unexpectedly until I can fix the issue.
Plain grainy
So figuring $2 a gallon propane, you will spend $600 plus to run it ten days.Costly, but keeps everything running normal.
Big Richard
Being an old school, outdoors, lumberjack type of person, I willing go without power for days at a time throughout the year. It’s called camping. That said, the only thing worth having on backup power for me, would be a fridge/freezer in the summer (in the winter I would just put the food outside). And the sump pump, though my house is 3 years old and it has yet to run during a storm. And for that purpose the DeWalt power station I got for $180 after sale price and 10% off buy online/pick up in store, coupled with a few dozen high capacity batteries I already own, more than suffices.
A whole house generator is luxury to say the least, and I cannot ever imagine the need for one unless someone in my household had serious medical conditions. Just my opinion, but again I’m old school.
Stuart
When we lost power for several days a few years ago, we had to go to a hotel for a night or two after 2 days because of the temperatures. The kids were too small for us to stay put.
Big Richard
Small children are another factor, for sure.
Ralex
I have the EcoFlow Delta and I can’t recommend it highly enough. That is for the price I got it for on Kickstarter. The current price is pretty steep, however it provides way more power than any of the other all in one solutions I’ve seen and it does charge amazingly quickly. It will run a microwave or hairdryer, that’s the most draw I’ve put on it to test it out. It isn’t cheap, or even close to cheap, but it does what they claim it does.
https://ecoflow.com/products/ecoflow-delta-power-station
Ben
I just backed the bluetti ac200 on Indiegogo. The prototype got lots of recommendations from several youtubers. If you keep an eye on the site you might get an early bird pricing $999 if someone an early bird backer cancels, I’d think twice if paying msrp anywho https://bluetti-ac200-most-versatile.kckb.st/e76f1b87
Perry
We lose power due to snow in the winter, and pg&e shuts off power in the summer due to fire danger, so we’ve been looking at alternatives:
Solar isn’t really viable, since snow covers the panels, and the smoke coverage in the summer affects the panels as well.
A propane whole house generator (20kw) uses up to 3 gallons an hour, which is way too expensive to operate.
We have an electric dryer, water heater, plus the a/c unit, so a portable gas powered inverter generator isn’t really an option as most are too small.
What we ended up with, is a large portable gas generator, transfer switch, and a UPS tethered to it to power electronics. It allows us to retain internet for information, power the fridge, take hot showers and have clean clothes
andy
Get a small Honda generator and a tri-fuel kit. Then you can plug into your natural gas. If you don’t already have a BBQ gas hookup, you’ll need to run piping for one.
Plain grainy
The future might have charged large batteries delivered, as propane is today. These batteries would run your whole house. Thus eliminating the current grid as we know it. Saving tons of money on grid repairs, and eliminating large power outages. I thought about adding a main circuit breaker panel, this would be powered only by the inverter/ generator. Then add important outlets throughout the house. So the fridge would have a new generator outlet next to the existing grid outlet. So in a power outage, start the generator. Then unplug the fridge from the grid outlet, then plug it into the generator outlet next to it.
sam
No need to add outlets. Saw this a while back: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLgtFCJlVFQ
Plain grainy
Yes, but I want a separate system from the grid.
Plain grainy
If my service panel is maxed out, I can run extra electrical appliances with the generator. With the added outlets, without taxing my main panel. Can’t do that with a transfer switch.
Rx9
If you’ve already bought into their 40v system, Ryobi’s 300 watt RYi300BG is a nice little backup for short blackouts at $80.
The advantage of this one is that it has a small footprint and low weight for the wattage.
Another good option is the old inverter plus car battery plus extension cord method.
Battery powered AC backup systems fill a niche not served by gas generators. They cost far less, can be used inside, and are light, clean and quick to set up.
Eric
I am late to the party for this discussion, but after a week of power outages due to tornadoes and storms it is relevant.
I have a “whole house” Generac powered by propane which keeps all of our essential systems functioning. With annual DIY maintenance, it works perfectly. I am so glad we have it and could not really imagine living without it.
I also have the DeWalt Power Station. I also cannot imagine living without it.
That said, anything powered by a man-portable battery is not comparable to a fuel generator. I consider them completely different. However, I use the power station all the time. Need an extra circuit somewhere? Want to camp in luxury? Power an outbuilding? Charge every electronic forever? Need to make some equipment cordless? The power station is an amazing solution for all of these things, and fuel generators would be just as inappropriate in those situations than me trying to use tool batteries to keep my house online.
SteveP
I’m in Maine. We can lose power for days at a time, so nothing battery-powered is really good enough. I have a bank of golfcart batteries that I run through an inverter to run the 120V requirements of my propane heating system. It’s good for a few days use, but it is big. Can be recharged from a gas generator, of course.I have yet to see if my 240V generator has the power to run my submersible well pump. I’d hate to burn out the pump (330 ft down). But it runs the fridge fine. Get a $2 fridge thermometer and you can track the interior temps – plus we often get power failures in winter so you can just move food to the garage which is as cold as the fridge. Also move stuff from the freezer to the fridge (which will keep it cool) and then eat it as it thaws 🙂
There used to be a kit that allowed you to plug your Prius into your house and run the entire electrical system off the Prius batteries. On a hybrid, it would even start the gas engine to recharge. Should have been called the Made for Maine model
Scott
Stuart,
I live near you and my power was out for 6 days. My 8,000 watt gas powered portable generator worked like a champ and ran the refer, freezer, 3 window AC units, lights and multiple TVs. I wish I had the option for natural gas but not available to my house. Used 18 -20 gallons of gasoline per day running 24/7.
sam
That’s quite the outage! My record is 44 hours after a snowstorm and multiple trees over lines. While my wife made Thanksgiving dinner I had fun tracking power usage on the generator. Running a Honda EM6500s (with snow tires! – pneumatic riding lawnmower tires in place of the factory tires so I could move it around easily in the snow up to my woodshed) I recorded 3.18 KWh per gallon of gasoline and managed 1.65 hours per gallon. After reviewing the histogram from a Sense Home Power Monitor we ran 6300 watts for 1hr, 3500 watts for 2.5hr, and 800 watts for 5.75hr over a tank of fuel. Generating 19.7 KWh on 6 gallons.
I think there is a lot of merit if a company could build an inverter style generator capable of 4000 watts on gas but have a lithium battery pack capable of discharging 3000 watts for 30-60 minutes. Dropping below half rated output on my generator is inefficient and cost me 3.6 gallons of fuel for only 4.6 Kwh. If a manufacturer could use a smaller engine and put that cost savings into a battery pack it could be a very interesting all-in-one power solution.
bobad
If done in a smart, flexible way, a tool battery operated inverter may be what I’m looking for. I have a genwelder, but it’s heavy and of course outdoors only. I bought a huge 8D 12v truck battery and inverter for this, but it was too heavy and didn’t last but 2-3 years. I have about 10 power tool batteries already, so add a few more and I could run my small freezer, lights, fan, tv/computer for 6-8 hours before needing to crank up the big boy. Wouldn’t want one that has a lead-acid battery, I’m done with those!
Clayton
Picked up an EcoFlow R600 Pro on kickstarter, specs vs. price are pretty great, but definitely not a generator. We got it for camping, vanlife stuff, etc…
Jay
Wouldn’t having a battery bank or power station be better to use, so you can charge with solar or even your gas generator, but not have to run it 24/7 or rely on it for short powered outages? I really only worry about our frig and standup freezer to protect all of our food. Plus I live in a townhome so I can run my generator and also help my neighbor some, but would rather have a battery solution to help subsidize running the generator all day and night.
If I owned this residence I would probably just put a power wall in as they seem inexpensive enough if I was only going to keep my frig and freezer going, maybe my cable modem, etc.. but wish there was an easier and or portable solution. Might just get 6 or so lead acid solar battery bank batteries and make a nice storage box, then use an inverter and do like the one guy suggested about running for an hour then shut off for a few, etc .. and then charge the batteries during the downtime with my generator. Might be a decent solution.