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About Backup Power Solutions

When the electric grid goes down, there are a few options available that can help minimize the impact to your home or business. While wood stoves and some gas appliances can provide heat during a winter grid failure, backup electricity can keep your home running and minimize the impact of an outage.

Benefits of backup power include:

  1. Protecting pipes from freezing in winter by powering your heating system;
  2. Preventing food from spoiling in the spring, summer, and fall by keeping refrigeration running;
  3. Powering well pumps to ensure access to running water;
  4. Keeping basements dry by powering sump pumps;
  5. Ensuring comfort by powering heating and air conditioning systems;
  6. Supporting internet and Wi-Fi connectivity;
  7. Providing electricity to recharge cell phones;
  8. Enabling lights, appliances, and electronics

Here is some information to help you decide what backup power solution is best for you.

Battery Backup Systems

Earn $100’s each year

Estimated Cost: $10,000-$50,000

Fuel: Electricity

Description: Depending on how much power is needed and the battery’s capacity, a backup battery can provide enough power to support a home or business for hours or even days during outages. Batteries can charge from the grid, solar panels, or a fossil fuel generator.

Benefits:

  • Reliable – They always start.
  • Seamless – There’s no need to reset clocks or restart WiFi connection.
  • Silent
  • No fumes – No risk of carbon monoxide.
  • Convenient
    • Eliminates weekly self-test, monthly no-load test, and quarterly load test that keep starter battery charged
    • No annual service
    • No fuel monitoring, ordering, and delivery,
  • No fuel expense and storage
  • No explosion risk
  • Unobtrusive – can be indoors or outdoors
  • Enable use of solar panels during power outages for long-term outages (most solar systems need a battery to be used in an outage)
  • Low lifetime costs (after savings and earnings)
  • Save $100s each year on your electricity bills for time-of-use participants.
  • Earn $100s each year with Efficiency Maine’s Small Battery Program

Disadvantages:

  • Higher upfront costs
  • Not ideal for prolonged outages unless paired with solar or a generator

Portable Generator

Estimated Cost: $400-$4,000

Fuel: Gasoline or Propane

Description: Portable generators can be a low-cost way to power critical loads for long periods.

Benefits:

  • Lowest upfront and lifetime cost
  • Can be refueled for prolonged power outages
  • Can be transported to serve multiple homes/businesses

Disadvantages:

  • Must be removed from storage, fueled, connected, and started for each use
  • Fuel storage
  • Fumes (especially carbon monoxide)
  • Noise
  • Require regular maintenance
  • Heavy and difficult to move
  • Risk of theft

Standby Generator

Estimated Cost: $12,000-$25,000

Description: Standby generators provide automatic, continuous whole-home power for heavy electrical loads.

Fuel: Propane, natural gas, diesel, or gasoline

Benefits:

  • Can provide power for prolonged periods of time
  • Moderate upfront cost
  • Self-starting

Disadvantages:

  • High lifetime cost compared to portable generators or batteries
  • Fuel storage or monthly natural gas utility charges
  • Fumes (especially carbon monoxide)
  • Noise
  • Obtrusive
  • Require regular maintenance

Electric Vehicle with Bidirectional Charging

Estimated Cost: $6,000 – $10,000 plus installation

Description: A growing list of electric vehicles offer bidirectional charging, meaning they can use electricity to charge and discharge electricity for other uses. Types of bidirectional charging include:

  1. Vehicle-to-Grid V2G – can discharge power to the grid
  2. Vehicle-to-Home V2H – have 240V outlets that can power a house during an outage
  3. Vehicle-to-Load V2L – have 110V outlets that can power tools and appliances

Fuel: Electricity

Benefits:

  • Can provide several times more power than a typical home battery*
  • Can recharge at public chargers
  • Provides dual benefits: transportation and battery backup
  • May be eligible for Efficiency Maine EV rebates

Disadvantages:

  • New technology that is rapidly evolving
  • Limited selection of compatible vehicles and chargers

* Tesla Model Y electric vehicles have 75 kWh batteries. Tesla Powerwall 3s have 13.5 kWh per battery.