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Does Anyone Have a Whole House Battery Backup Instead of a Generator?
Posted on 7/29/25 at 9:34 am
Posted on 7/29/25 at 9:34 am
It's a battery backup that can power a home for up to 3 days. Seems these things are popular in the Houston area.
https://www.thisoldhouse.com/natural-disasters/21019044/battery-powered-home-backup-systems
There's even a Houston company that will rent out the system. $695 + $20 a month rental fee.
https://www.basepowercompany.com/
https://www.thisoldhouse.com/natural-disasters/21019044/battery-powered-home-backup-systems
There's even a Houston company that will rent out the system. $695 + $20 a month rental fee.
https://www.basepowercompany.com/
This post was edited on 7/29/25 at 9:37 am
10
Posted on 7/29/25 at 9:54 am to Shexter
Hell no. I want my house to run like normal during an outage not run a couple of lights for 3 days and fridge for 3 days then I’m fricked.
I looked into base because they kept sending shite to my house and it runs the ac for a couple of hours
Went with a 26kw instead.
I looked into base because they kept sending shite to my house and it runs the ac for a couple of hours
Went with a 26kw instead.
Posted on 7/29/25 at 10:33 am to Shexter
quote:
It's a battery backup that can power a home for up to 3 days. Seems these things are popular in the Houston area.
3 days of lights and fans, sure.
plug in your fridge and a freezer and you might get a day out of it, at most. and don't think about using the coffee maker, or microwave, or blow dryer.
Most of them can't even deliver enough continuous power to run one 5 ton a/c unit, and the ones that are capable of delivering that much power can only do so for an hour or so.
and they are expensive as frick.
Posted on 7/29/25 at 10:48 am to Shexter
generator is the much better option.
Posted on 7/29/25 at 11:55 am to Shexter
I feel like those would work great if you also had solar panels. Or am I wrong?
Posted on 7/29/25 at 12:57 pm to Shexter
For minor outages, certainly useful. If I had the space and time I'd have a hybrid system with batteries and a stand-by generator. I've been looking into building my own little setup with some deep-cycle 12V marine batteries and a big pure sine inverter that could run my fridge and freezer for a little while during a minor outage before having to run my generator. Something I could keep plugged in on a float charger then roll out.
Posted on 7/29/25 at 1:09 pm to Shexter
I don't know much about these systems, but what if you had some sort of charging capability, like a small windmill or solar panels continually charging them. Would that be able to power an entire house, or is it just that the battery power is too low?
Posted on 7/29/25 at 1:10 pm to Wortivi22
I'd assume they'd charge off the regular house electricity.
Posted on 7/29/25 at 1:41 pm to Shexter
They are basically just a bigger version of an uninterruptable power supply you'd have for your computer, stays charged on the mains supply until the power goes out and it clicks over.
Posted on 7/29/25 at 1:48 pm to Neauxla
quote:
I feel like those would work great if you also had solar panels. Or am I wrong?
Those exist, but you also need several solar panels and the space they take up adds up quick. I was looking at a system at my office to run the servers and security system during outages. At the time, the system that would fit my needs would set me back about $9k to give me 12 hours of back-up time. I would then need 7-12 solar panels with each needing a 6’x4’ footprint, which would be another $2k - 4k in costs; plus the labor to install.
Posted on 7/29/25 at 9:20 pm to Shexter
It’s really pointless unless parked with solar to recharge them.
But it will work. And there may be a rate arbitrage benefit depending on if you’re in a time of use area, but it.l never ROI out without solar too.
FYI I monitor over 100k PV and storage systems. So ask any questions.
Also Base is fricking junk. They would never make an approved vendor list I would take on.
But it will work. And there may be a rate arbitrage benefit depending on if you’re in a time of use area, but it.l never ROI out without solar too.
FYI I monitor over 100k PV and storage systems. So ask any questions.
Also Base is fricking junk. They would never make an approved vendor list I would take on.
This post was edited on 7/29/25 at 9:23 pm
Posted on 7/29/25 at 9:27 pm to Shexter
Yes, I do.
I have Tesla solar panels with 3 batteries.
Works seamlessly when power goes out. Many times I'm not even aware we lost power.
When I fill the batteries, I then sell elec back to Tesla at market rates.
A couple of yrs ago, when it was extremely hot here on Magnolia, I had credit balances as I sold more elec than I purchased.
I have Tesla solar panels with 3 batteries.
Works seamlessly when power goes out. Many times I'm not even aware we lost power.
When I fill the batteries, I then sell elec back to Tesla at market rates.
A couple of yrs ago, when it was extremely hot here on Magnolia, I had credit balances as I sold more elec than I purchased.
This post was edited on 7/29/25 at 9:38 pm
Posted on 7/29/25 at 11:44 pm to billjamin
quote:
It’s really pointless unless parked with solar to recharge them. But it will work. And there may be a rate arbitrage benefit depending on if you’re in a time of use area, but it.l never ROI out without solar too. FYI I monitor over 100k PV and storage systems. So ask any questions. Also Base is fricking junk. They would never make an approved vendor list I would take on.
I wouldn’t let someone put solar panels on my house if they told me it was free install and I would no longer have electric bills.
That shite is an instant turnoff when I see that shite on a house and I’m looking to buy
Posted on 7/30/25 at 7:20 am to Shexter
I’ve considered the battery backup route. I figured I’d have to also install a backup split AC unit in the kitchen so it could run that vs the central air. Although it would only be an intermediate solution. In a few years when we are older we may have medical equipment, if so we’d have to get a gas. Basically we decided to save the money for when we need it, and not to save $500 in groceries from Costco.
Posted on 7/30/25 at 7:33 am to Shexter
Nope but I do have lithium batteries on various things I built for fun that could keep fridges running for a couple days if need be. I don’t live in a hurricane area though. Any outage over an hour would be a once in a lifetime event.
Posted on 7/30/25 at 9:27 am to Rize
quote:
That shite is an instant turnoff when I see that shite on a house and I’m looking to buy
They’re not attractive that’s for sure. But they do work and it’s the only truly off grid option.
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