A large portable power station might be able to keep essential home appliances and electronic devices running during a power outage. If you want to power your house during a power cut, then you are going to need a portable power station with a big battery and a transfer switch kit for connecting it safely to your home. Depending on your needs, you might be able to expand the storage capacity and power output by adding extra batteries.
Home Backup Power Generators That Run On Batteries
A home backup generator enables you to be ready for power outages, which frequently occur after a storm or other disaster involving the electricity grid. Power outages are frequently brought on by severe weather conditions and grid malfunctions. Extreme weather occurrences are nothing new, but a growing number of individuals are using generators as home backup power to keep their lights and electronics running when the electricity goes out.
In the case of a prolonged power outage, a reliable home backup generator can supply backup power for your residence, enabling you to keep your appliances running and preserve perishable food stored in the refrigerator or freezer.
A permanently installed home backup generator sits outside your home in the yard like a gigantic mushroom and is powered by liquid propane or natural gas. However, the automated backup power provided by a home standby generator during a power outage is out of reach for many individuals due to the expensive installation costs.
Given this, might a battery-operated portable power station also supply backup electricity to a home during a power outage? These days, you might be able to survive the next power outage with a portable power station linked through a transfer switch to your most crucial home circuits. Below, I discuss two examples of portable power stations that might be suitable for home backup power.
EF ECOFLOW 3600Wh DELTA Pro With Transfer Switch
For example, you might look at the EF ECOFLOW 3600Wh DELTA Pro with transfer switch kit and adapter cord (view this package on Amazon). The DELTA Pro portable power station provides a 120-volt, 3600-watt power output that can be transferred to your house by plugging it into the manual transfer switch with the included adapter cord.
The transfer switch has six circuits that you could use for a few lights, a refrigerator, electric fans, and a television. Keep in mind that you need to hire and pay an electrician to install the manual transfer switch.
Of course, 3600 watts can only power a few devices in your home during a short power outage before the battery loses most of its charge. Therefore, you might have to look at expanding the capacity of the portable power station by adding extra external batteries. A 3600Wh DELTA Pro plus an extra battery unit increases the overall capacity to 7200Wh, while two extra batteries will take the capacity up to 10800Wh.
Obviously, a battery-powered power station will be a lot quieter and cleaner than a gas-powered portable generator. Nevertheless, you will have to manage the limited amount of storage capacity very carefully to avoid draining the battery too quickly.
In brief, the EF ECOFLOW 3600Wh DELTA Pro with transfer switch kit and adapter cord might be an alternative to using a gas-powered portable generator for home backup power. The manual transfer switch would make it easy to connect the portable power station safely to your household circuits.
Zendure SuperBase V SBV4600 With Extra Batteries
If money is no problem, and you really hate working with the gasoline, oil, fumes and noise associated with a gas-powered portable generator, then you could get a portable power station with extra batteries.
To illustrate, you can look at the Zendure SuperBase V SBV4600 portable power station with four extra satellite batteries (view this combination on Amazon). The power station itself has a 4600Wh capacity, providing a 3800W power output. However, you can expand the capacity by adding up to four of the SATB4600 satellite batteries.
You should be able to connect the Zendure SuperBase V SBV4600 to the generator power inlet box that was installed by an electrician for this purpose. However, you will need the right NEMA 5-15 to L14-30 adapter cord to do so safely.
In essence, it might be possible to use the Zendure SuperBase V SBV4600 portable power station with extra batteries to power your home during short power outages, but it will cost you more money to do so when compared to using a cheaper gas-powered portable generator. Besides, it might cost you about the same to buy and install a 22kW home standby generator.
Conclusion
At the end of the day, I think that a gas-powered, or dual fuel, portable generator is still the most affordable option, unless you need backup power for an apartment or tiny house.
If you want to run your whole house, then a home standby generator is probably the best option. Although, the installation costs are quite high.
Similarly, buying a portable power station with extra batteries is also very costly, and yet it provides less power for a shorter duration of time. I guess that it might work, if you can keep all the batteries charged and ready to rumble during an unforeseen power outage.
Photo by Zendure Power Station on Unsplash.