In short: for short outages, a portable power station or home battery keeps essentials running quietly with no fumes. For multi-day outages, or to run central air, a generator is usually the practical choice. Solar plus a battery can recharge every sunny day. Many homes combine two. The right answer depends on how long your outages last.
This guide compares the four main ways to keep power on, with real outage data for your state, a side-by-side table, a simple way to size what you need, sourced 2026 costs and the safety rules that matter most. When you’re ready, it points you to the right place to get help.
How long do power outages really last?
Outages are getting longer. The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) reports that customers averaged about 11 hours without power in 2024, nearly twice the yearly average of the decade before. About 80% of those hours came from major events, mostly Hurricanes Beryl, Helene and Milton. South Carolina customers averaged nearly 53 hours.
The pattern matters for your choice. Look at the gap between the two columns below: on normal days, outages in most states add up to an hour or two a year. The long totals come from a few big storms.
| State | Hours without power per customer, 2024, all events | Excluding major events |
|---|---|---|
| South Carolina | 52.3 | 2.0 |
| Maine | 29.1 | 4.6 |
| North Carolina | 24.0 | 2.4 |
| Florida | 22.0 | 1.1 |
| Texas | 21.2 | 2.2 |
| Georgia | 20.5 | 3.5 |
| Louisiana | 12.1 | 3.4 |
| California | 4.7 | 2.6 |
| Illinois | 2.6 | 1.0 |
| Arizona | 1.5 | 1.2 |
Source: EIA-861, 2024 reliability data (SAIDI, minutes converted to hours by us). 2024 was a heavy hurricane year, so treat it as a stress test, not a forecast. Every state page shows its own figures, utilities and weather hazards. Your own history counts most: think about how many times you lost power in the last few years and for how long.
Your four main options
1. Portable power station
A big rechargeable battery with outlets. It’s silent, safe indoors and needs no installation. Smaller units keep phones, Wi-Fi, lights and a CPAP going; larger ones can run a fridge for a day or more. It runs out unless you recharge it from the wall, a car or solar panels. Start with the best power station for home backup and what size you need.
2. Portable generator
The most power per dollar, as long as you keep refueling. A 7,500 to 10,500-watt model can run essentials plus a well pump or furnace through a transfer switch or interlock installed by a licensed electrician. It must run outdoors, far from the house. See the best generator for a power outage and power station vs generator.
3. Standby (whole-house) generator
Installed on a pad outside, fed by natural gas or a propane tank, and started automatically by a transfer switch within seconds of an outage. It can run the whole house, central air included, for days. It’s the most expensive to install and needs yearly service. See standby generator installation.
4. Home battery, with or without solar
A wall-mounted battery system wired to your panel switches over automatically, silently and with no fuel. Without solar it lasts as long as its stored energy; with solar it can recharge each sunny day, which is what makes it work in long outages. Read home batteries, battery backup without solar and adding a battery to solar.
Side-by-side comparison
| Power station | Portable generator | Standby generator | Home battery (+ solar) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Typical cost (2026) | About $249 to $2,799 (maker prices) | About $650 to $1,550, plus transfer switch or interlock work | $8,000 to $16,000 installed (Generac) | About $15,650 installed, average (EnergySage); solar extra |
| Runs | Until the battery is empty | As long as you refuel | As long as gas flows | Until empty; recharges from solar |
| Powers | Essentials, plug-in only | Essentials, some hard-wired loads | Whole house | Essentials to whole house, by size |
| Starts by itself | Yes, for plugged-in devices | No | Yes | Yes |
| Indoors? | Yes | Never | Outdoors, installed to code | Indoors or out, per the maker and code |
| Noise and fumes | Silent | Loud; carbon monoxide | Moderate; carbon monoxide | Silent |
| Installer needed | No | Electrician for house wiring | Dealer plus licensed trades | Licensed installer |
| Upkeep | Keep charged | Oil, fresh fuel, test runs | Yearly service | Little; software updates |
Our detailed head-to-head is home battery vs generator.
Which one fits your outages
- A few short outages a year: a power station covers the fridge, Wi-Fi, lights and phones. Low cost, no installation.
- Hurricane, ice-storm or wildfire-shutoff country, multi-day outages: a generator, or a battery with solar. A portable generator with a transfer switch is the budget route; a standby generator is the hands-off one.
- Well water, sump pump or a basement that floods: you need 240 V or hard-wired loads covered, so a generator with a transfer switch or a battery system sized for the pump’s starting power.
- Medical equipment at home: a battery or power station gives instant, quiet power; keep a second way to recharge it, and ask your doctor and equipment supplier for a plan.
- Already have or want solar: a battery adds backup and lets you use more of your own power. See solar.
- Renters: a power station is the option you can take with you.
Combining works well. A power station indoors handles the fridge and Wi-Fi overnight, while a generator outside runs the big loads by day and recharges the battery. Some battery systems are designed to work alongside a generator.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Buying on watts alone. A generator or battery that can’t handle a motor’s starting surge will trip when the well pump or air conditioner kicks on.
- Forgetting hard-wired loads. Furnaces, well pumps and many sump pumps can’t be plugged into an extension cord; they need a transfer switch or a battery wired to your panel.
- Assuming a battery backs up the whole house. Many systems back up only selected circuits. Ask the installer which ones, and whether the air conditioner is included.
- No fuel plan for a three-day outage, and no CO alarms with battery backup.
How to size your backup
Sizing is two questions: how much power at once (watts or kW) and how much energy over time (watt-hours or kWh).
- List what must run: fridge, freezer, lights, Wi-Fi, phones, furnace fan, sump or well pump, medical devices, air conditioning.
- Generators: add the running watts and the starting watts of the biggest motor. Our generator sizing calculator does the math.
- Batteries and power stations: add daily watt-hours and multiply by the days you want. Our battery backup calculator shows runtime.
Two reference points (our estimates): an essentials-only day, with an ENERGY STAR median fridge and freezer, a router, LED lights and laptops, uses about 2.4 kWh. The average U.S. home uses about 29.6 kWh a day (EIA). So one 13.5 kWh battery, about 11.5 kWh usable, could cover essentials for roughly 4 to 5 days but a whole average home for only about 9 hours. A Berkeley Lab and NREL study found that about 10 kWh of storage with solar could meet basic needs, excluding heating and cooling, over three days in almost every U.S. county.
No backup at all? Ready.gov says a closed fridge keeps food cold for about 4 hours and a full freezer for about 48 hours. That’s the clock you’re trying to beat.
What backup power costs to buy and run
- Power stations: about $249 for a small EcoFlow RIVER 3 to $2,799 for an EcoFlow DELTA Pro 3 (maker prices, October 2026). Recharging 1 kWh at the July 2026 U.S. average of 18.31¢ costs about 18 to 20¢.
- Portable generators: about $650 to $1,550 (maker prices, October 2026), plus a transfer switch or interlock installed by an electrician. Fuel is the running cost.
- Standby generators: $8,000 to $16,000 installed, generator included (Generac). Running a 22 kW unit at half load on propane costs roughly $160 a day at early-2026 EIA propane prices (our estimate). Details: whole house generator cost.
- Home batteries: EnergySage’s average was $1,159 per kWh of storage, or $15,647 installed (August 2026). See home battery cost.
There is no federal tax credit for backup power installed in 2026: the residential clean energy credit (25D), which covered batteries and solar, ended for work after December 31, 2025, and never covered generators. Some states and utilities still pay toward batteries or pay you for sharing a battery’s power; your state page lists what we could confirm. Check our incentives guide and your state page.
Planning for a long outage: fuel and recharging
Whatever you choose, the weak point in a long outage is refilling it. Think it through before the storm:
- Gasoline is easy to buy until local stations lose power too, and it goes stale in storage. STA-BIL says its Storage formula keeps fuel fresh for up to 24 months. Store it in approved cans away from the house.
- Propane stores for years, but a 20-pound grill tank runs a large portable generator only a few hours. A standby generator needs a tank of at least 250 gallons (Generac), and propane tanks are filled to about 80% of their size.
- Natural gas needs no refueling, as long as the utility keeps it flowing.
- Batteries and power stations recharge from solar panels on sunny days, from a car while driving, or from a generator. After a hurricane, cloudy days can slow solar charging, so don’t count on a full recharge every day.
Running in shifts stretches any supply: a few hours on keeps the fridge and freezer cold, then the generator or battery rests.
Before the next storm: a short checklist
- Test your CO alarms and replace their batteries.
- Charge power stations and phones, and check the generator starts.
- Rotate stored fuel and top up propane.
- Book the standby generator’s yearly service before the season; see generator maintenance.
- Plan where a portable generator will sit: outdoors, 20 feet from the house, exhaust pointed away.
- Keep the fridge and freezer closed during the outage.
Safety rules that save lives
- Generators outdoors only, at least 20 feet from the house, exhaust away from windows, doors and vents. Never in a garage, basement, shed, crawlspace or porch, even with doors open (CPSC).
- Carbon monoxide kills. CPSC says nearly 100 people die each year in the U.S. from CO from portable generators. Put battery or battery-backup CO alarms on every level and outside sleeping areas, and choose a generator with an automatic CO shut-off.
- Never backfeed. Never plug a generator into a wall or dryer outlet. FEMA warns it can send power onto utility lines and injure line workers. Use a transfer switch or listed interlock installed by a licensed electrician.
- Refuel cold. Turn the generator off and let it cool before refueling (Ready.gov).
- Batteries: choose a system listed to UL 9540, installed to the maker’s instructions and local code by a licensed installer.
Our full generator safety guide includes a printable outage checklist.
Next step: get help with the option you chose
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Backup power questions
Is a generator or a battery better for power outages?
It depends on outage length. Batteries are silent, fume-free and switch over instantly, ideal for short and medium outages; with solar they can recharge daily. Generators keep going as long as you have fuel and handle big loads like central air, so they suit multi-day outages. Many homes in hurricane areas use a battery or power station plus a generator.
How much backup power do I need for my house?
For essentials (fridge, freezer, lights, Wi-Fi, phones) about 2.4 kWh a day and a few thousand watts at once, by our estimate. A whole average home uses about 29.6 kWh a day (EIA), with much higher peaks for central air. List your must-run items and use our generator sizing and battery backup calculators for your own numbers.
How long will a home battery last in an outage?
By our estimate, a 13.5 kWh battery (about 11.5 kWh usable) could run essentials for roughly 4 to 5 days, but a whole average home for only about 9 hours. With solar, it can recharge on sunny days. Heating, cooling, well pumps and electric cooking shorten runtime a lot. Our battery backup calculator shows runtime for your loads.
Can I use a portable power station instead of a generator?
For short outages and essentials, yes: it’s silent, safe indoors and needs no fuel. It can’t run central air, an electric range or a well pump for long, and it runs out unless you recharge it from the wall, a car or solar panels. For multi-day outages, pair it with a generator or solar, or choose a bigger system.
Is there a tax credit for backup power in 2026?
Not federally. The residential clean energy credit (25D), which covered home batteries and solar, ended for work after December 31, 2025, and it never covered fuel-burning generators. Some states and utilities still offer battery rebates or payments for sharing your battery’s power. Check our incentives guide and your state page before you buy.
Sources
Outage hours: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), “Hurricanes in 2024 led to the most hours without power in 10 years,” December 2025, and EIA-861 2024 reliability data by state. Home electricity use: EIA FAQ (2022 data). Essentials load: ENERGY STAR product data, our estimate. Solar-plus-storage study: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and NREL, 2022. Food safety: Ready.gov. Costs: Generac (2026); EnergySage home battery guide (August 2026); maker prices for power stations and portable generators (October 2026); EIA propane and electricity prices (2026). Safety: CPSC (2026), FEMA, Ready.gov. Federal credit: IRS. Estimates on this page are ours and labelled.