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How much power does your house actually need when the grid goes down?

Independent, sourced answers on backup power: what your appliances really draw, how long each option holds them, and what it costs. No manufacturer telling you its product is the answer.

Start here

Three questions, in the order that actually solves the problem. Work through them and the equipment choice makes itself.

  1. What do my appliances draw? Running watts and starting watts, per appliance. Everything else depends on this number.
  2. How big does the equipment need to be? Adding up the loads you truly need, surge included, without buying twice what you use.
  3. What do I do when the power is already out? The first hour, food safety, heat and water.

The seven sections

Appliance Power

What every appliance in your house really draws, running and at startup, and what it costs per hour.

Power Stations

What each class of portable station genuinely runs, for how long, and where the capacity goes.

Generators

Sizing, fuel burn, safe distances and transfer switches. The wiring stays with an electrician.

Outage Prep

The first hour, food safety thresholds, heat, water and comms. Buy in May, not September.

Home Batteries

Battery against generator over ten years, critical loads panels, and what installed really costs.

Solar Backup

Charging from panels, array sizing, winter output, and where plug-in balcony solar is legal.

Buying Guides

The recommendations, built on the sizing work rather than a test bench. Affiliate links marked.

Latest

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How this site works

Every number here traces back to a primary source — an EnergyGuide label, a manufacturer specification sheet, EIA or Ofgem rate data — and carries the date it was checked. Where no reliable figure exists, we say so instead of inventing one. Articles are drafted with AI assistance and every figure is verified by a person before publication; we explain exactly how in our editorial policy and how we test.

We are not electricians. This site explains what equipment exists, what it costs and which code applies, then sends you to someone licensed. That boundary is deliberate.