About

Home Backup Basics is run by Ken Wright. Ken is a fire captain, and through work he has seen how outages and planned power shutoffs affect regular families: spoiled food, medical devices that need power, and parents trying to keep kids comfortable.

Most of the confusion comes down to numbers: watts, watt-hours, surge. This site tries to make those numbers simple, with charts and plain English, so you can pick the right size backup for your home without overspending.

How we write comparisons

• Specs and prices come from each maker's own product page, with the date we checked.
• If a spec isn't published, we say so rather than guess.
• Every product has real strengths. We point out what each is best for, and note limits plainly.
• Runtimes are estimates, and we show the simple math behind them.

Safety

General information only. Anything connected to your home wiring should be installed by a licensed electrician. Run gas generators outdoors only, away from windows and doors, and keep working carbon monoxide alarms inside.

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