Storm season: $1,200 portable power station or a $250 gas generator — what am I missing?
Backup power is suddenly the hottest home-search category and with storms rolling in I am getting the FOMO. But help me with the math: a 2kWh portable power station runs $1,000+ and will not keep my fridge cold for a full day. A $250 gas generator runs the whole fridge and then some, as long as I have fuel. For people who have actually ridden out outages with either one: which would you buy again? I get 2-4 outages a year, usually under 8 hours. What justifies the station's price tag?
1 answer
- A basic gas generator, around $250
Do the math per dollar and it is not close. My $220 generator runs my fridge (about 600W running, 1200W startup) all night on roughly a gallon of gas. The power station crowd pays $1,000 to run that same fridge for 6 hours and then needs a $400 solar panel to recharge it. Stations only win if you cannot store fuel — apartment, HOA rules — or you need it dead silent at 2am. For 2-4 outages under 8 hours: generator plus $30 of gas in the garage. Done.