Dropped $800 on a solar battery backup - grid went down three days later

I installed a 5kWh whole-home battery system last spring and it paid for itself inside a week when a storm knocked out power across our neighborhood. Worth every penny since I kept my fridge, wifi, and sump pump running while everyone else was scrambling for generators. Has anyone else had a battery save you during an outage?

3 comments

3 Comments

burns.jenny28d agoMost Upvoted

Did you have any trouble getting the install done before the outage? We got lucky with ours, a local company had a cancellation and got us in quick. I ran everything you mentioned plus a small space heater for the baby's room, and the battery held up for almost six hours before we started rationing. It was such a relief hearing the hum of the fridge instead of worrying about all that food going bad like everyone else.

drewgonzalez28d ago

Six hours on a space heater and a fridge sounds generous, but come on, how cold was it really? My neighbor claims his backup ran for eight hours but he was just running a lamp and a phone charger. People love to exaggerate these stories.

smith.anna28d ago

Honestly, that relief of hearing the fridge hum is so real - nothing worse than watching your groceries go bad while the power's out. Glad you got that peace of mind with the install timing.