The One Gift That Keeps the Lights On

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Fits most families

The big gift · around $650 · 2,010Wh, LiFePO4

Anker SOLIX S2000 Portable Power Station

A 2,010Wh LiFePO4 battery with 3,000W peak output, which is the capacity that carries a full-size refrigerator, a chest freezer, lights and every phone in the house through a two-day outage without fuel or fumes. It recharges from the wall or from solar, and it can sit inside the living room while it works. For a household that has been talking about backup power for years, this is the gift that ends the conversation.

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Every household that loses power has one thing it cannot afford to lose. For an apartment it is the phone and the CPAP. For a couple it is the refrigerator. For a family it is the freezer full of food and the furnace fan in winter. For a house on a well it is the pump, without which there is no water, and for a household with medical equipment it is the equipment. The right backup-power gift is the one sized to that thing, and this page is a finder: nine big-ticket units, each matched to a household, each verified in stock, and each routed through the calculator on this site that confirms the size. Find the row that describes the household you are buying for, run the calculator with their appliances if you can, and buy the unit beside it. Picks are researched from manufacturer specifications and owner-review consensus, not hands-on testing.

If you do not know the household's loads, ask one question: what would they most hate to lose in an outage? The answer sorts them into a row below. The generator size calculator and whole-home battery calculator take the answer and turn it into watts and watt-hours; the generator runtime calculator and power station runtime calculator say how long a given unit lasts on those loads.

The finder: match the household to the unit

One person in an apartment: phones, a lamp and a CPAP

A single person in an apartment cannot run a generator and does not need a 2,000Wh battery. What they need is a night or two of phone, laptop, lamp and CPAP, and the Jackery Explorer 300 covers that in a box that fits under a desk and charges from a car. Run the power station runtime calculator with a CPAP and a phone and it shows roughly two nights. If the recipient wants the refrigerator too, step up one row. Our apartment prepping guide covers the rest of a small-space kit.

A couple or a small home: the refrigerator overnight

One refrigerator, lights, phones and a router through a night and most of a day is the 1,000Wh job, and the Anker SOLIX C1000 Gen 2 is the pick for its LiFePO4 pack and its recharge time. The Jackery Explorer 1000 v2 and the EcoFlow Delta 3 are the alternatives at the same capacity, and the Delta 3 is the one to choose for a recipient who will add a second battery later. Battery backup sizing confirms the number; our refrigerator backup guide explains the surge wattage that catches people out, and the C1000 Gen 2 review and Explorer 1000 v2 review compare the two in detail.

A family of four: refrigerator and freezer for days

Two cold appliances, a furnace fan in winter, lights and four phones is a 2,000Wh job for two days, and the Anker SOLIX S2000 is the pick. Pair it with the Renogy 200W panel and a sunny day refills most of it, which turns two days into as many as the weather allows. The whole-home battery calculator takes the family's actual appliances and gives the watt-hours; the off-grid solar calculator says how much panel refills it. For a family that also has a sump pump or a well, skip to the generator rows.

A family home with a sump pump or furnace fan: the dual-fuel generator

A sump pump that stops in a storm floods a basement, and a furnace that stops in a cold snap freezes pipes. Those loads run for days and they exceed what a portable battery carries, so the gift is a generator, and the Champion 4750 dual fuel is the value pick: enough running wattage for the refrigerator, the pump, the furnace fan and lights at once, on gasoline or on the propane tank from the barbecue. Run the generator size calculator with the pump's surge wattage to confirm, and the propane runtime calculator to see how long a 20 lb tank lasts. Our sump pump generator guide covers the surge problem, and the transfer switch is the second gift.

A larger house with a well pump or central air: 240V power

A well pump is usually 240V and draws several thousand watts to start; so does central air. That is the Westinghouse 12500: 12,500 peak watts, dual fuel, remote start and a transfer-switch outlet. The whole-house generator calculator confirms the size for the specific house, and our well pump generator guide and air conditioner generator guide explain the surge math. The Westinghouse 12500 review covers what owners report after a season, and the generator wattage reference lists the loads.

A household with medical equipment: silent power, no generator

Oxygen concentrators, home dialysis and powered beds need power that never stops and cannot wait for someone to start an engine, and many of these households are in homes where a generator is not an option. The EcoFlow DELTA 3 Max is the pick: 2,048Wh, 2,400W, fast wall charging, and expansion ports so a second battery can be added. Read our medical equipment backup guide for the wattage of common devices, and size it with battery backup sizing. For a bigger household, the next row.

A family that needs days of silent indoor power

Three thousand watt-hours is where a battery starts to replace a generator for a whole family: refrigerator, freezer, furnace fan, medical gear and lights for three days, in silence, indoors. The BLUETTI Elite 300 is the pick, and it accepts enough solar input that a couple of panels make it indefinite in sun. Our Elite 300 review and power station guide compare it with the Anker F3800 class, and the whole-home battery calculator confirms the days.

A household that wants outages handled automatically

Some households do not want to start anything, refuel anything or think about it. The Generac 22kW standby starts itself seconds after the grid drops, runs the whole house on natural gas or propane, and reports its status to a phone. It needs a professional installation and a transfer switch, which roughly doubles the cost, and it is the gift for a household that has decided outages are simply not going to happen to them again. Our Generac 22kW review covers the installation, and the whole-house generator calculator confirms 22kW is the right size. Stock on this unit was limited when this guide was written.

The quiet add-on: a Honda for overnight

A house that already owns a big generator often runs it only by day because of the noise. The Honda EU2200i is the overnight unit: quiet enough to run beside a sleeping house, sipping a gallon of gas to keep the refrigerator and a lamp going until morning. The generator runtime calculator shows the hours per gallon, and our Honda EU2200i review and brand comparison explain why it costs more than generators with twice the wattage.

The nine picks in detail

For: one person in an apartment, phones and a CPAP for a night · around $259 · 292Wh

Jackery Explorer 300 Portable Power Station

A 292Wh station that keeps phones, a laptop, a lamp and a CPAP going for a night, in a box the size of a lunch cooler. It is the backup power for an apartment or a single person, and it charges from a car on the way out of town. The gift for someone who has never owned backup power at all.

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For: a couple or a small home, refrigerator overnight · around $599 · 1,024Wh, 2,000W

Anker SOLIX C1000 Gen 2 Portable Power Station

The 1,024Wh unit that Anker rates for a full AC recharge in under an hour, with 2,000W of output and a LiFePO4 pack rated for thousands of cycles. It runs a refrigerator overnight, a CPAP for several nights, and charges everything in between. The right size for a couple or a small home, and the one our power station guide keeps coming back to.

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For: a family home with a sump pump or furnace fan · around $699 · 4,750W peak, dual fuel

Champion 4750-Watt Dual Fuel Generator

Runs on gasoline or propane, which means a household can keep it fueled from the barbecue tank when the gas stations are closed. Electric start, CO shutoff sensor, and enough output for a refrigerator, a sump pump, a furnace fan and lights at once. The best-value generator for a family home, and the one most households actually need.

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For: a larger house with a well pump, central air or 240V loads · around $999 · 12,500W peak, dual fuel

Westinghouse 12500 Watt Dual Fuel Generator

Enough running wattage to carry a well pump, a central air conditioner or an electric water heater, on gasoline or propane, with remote electric start and a transfer-switch-ready outlet. This is the generator for a larger house that needs 240V loads to keep working, and our whole-house sizing calculator will confirm whether that is the recipient.

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For: a household with medical equipment that cannot run a generator · around $1,199 · 2,048Wh, 2,400W

EcoFlow DELTA 3 Max Portable Power Station

A 2,048Wh LiFePO4 station with 2,400W of output and expansion ports, sized for a home that must run medical equipment, a refrigerator and a furnace fan in silence for days. It charges fast from the wall and accepts up to 1,000W of solar. The indoor alternative to a generator for a household that cannot run one.

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For: a family that needs days of silent indoor power · around $1,499 · 3,014Wh, 3,000W

BLUETTI Elite 300 Portable Power Station

Just over 3,000Wh in one box, sized for a household that needs a refrigerator, a freezer, a furnace blower or medical equipment to run for days in silence. LiFePO4 chemistry, high solar input, and expandable with extra packs. This is the power station for the family that would otherwise be buying a generator but cannot run one where they live.

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For: a household that wants outages handled automatically · around $5,570 · 22kW, automatic

Generac 22kW Whole Home Standby Generator

A permanently installed standby generator that starts itself within seconds of an outage and runs the whole house on natural gas or propane, with cellular monitoring. It needs professional installation and a transfer switch, and it is the gift for a household that wants to stop thinking about outages entirely. Our Generac 22kW review covers the installation cost.

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For: the quiet add-on for a house that already has a big generator · around $1,199 · 2,200W, gas

Honda EU2200i Inverter Generator

The quietest, most reliable 2,200-watt inverter generator on the market, with a reputation that owners have built over years of starts on the first pull. It runs a refrigerator, lights and electronics on a gallon of gas for most of a day, and two can be paralleled for more. For a prepper who values something that simply works, this is the generator.

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If you still are not sure

Give the SOLIX S2000. It is the unit that covers the most households: two days of refrigerator and freezer for a family, a week of phones and CPAP for a single person, and silent indoor operation anywhere. Add a carbon monoxide alarm to any generator or heater gift, and for the rest of the budget the Gifts for Preppers guide has the full range by price while Emergency Prep Gifts Under $50 covers the stocking layer. Our power outage guide is the read for the household itself, and the winter power outage guide for anyone in a cold climate.

Frequently asked questions

What size power station does a family need for a power outage?

About 2,000Wh for a family of four that wants the refrigerator, a chest freezer, lights and phones for two days: a refrigerator uses roughly 1 to 1.5kWh a day and a freezer about the same, so 2,000Wh covers both for a day and stretches to two with the doors kept shut and a solar panel refilling it. A couple with one refrigerator manages on 1,000Wh overnight. Our whole-home battery calculator turns the recipient's appliances into the exact number.

How do I know whether to buy a generator or a battery for someone?

Check for three loads: a well pump, a sump pump, and central air or electric heat. Any of those means a generator, because they draw more for longer than a portable battery can carry. None of them, or a home where an engine cannot run, means a power station. Our generator size calculator and power station runtime calculator each take the appliance list and give an answer.

What generator size runs a whole house?

A typical family home needs 5,000 to 7,500 running watts to carry the refrigerator, furnace fan, well pump, lights and a few outlets at once; a larger house with central air or an electric water heater needs 10,000 to 12,500 watts or a standby unit of 18 to 22kW. The Champion 4750 covers the first case, the Westinghouse 12500 the second, and the Generac 22kW the third. The whole-house generator calculator does the sum for a specific house.

Is a transfer switch necessary?

For any generator that will feed the furnace, the well pump or anything hardwired, yes. A manual transfer switch lets the generator power selected circuits through the house wiring and prevents backfeeding the grid, which can kill a line worker. It needs an electrician and it is the second gift for anyone who receives a generator. Extension cords through a window are the alternative for a refrigerator and lamps only.

How long will a power station run a refrigerator?

A modern refrigerator draws 100 to 200 watts while the compressor runs and cycles on about a third of the time, so it averages 40 to 60 watts and uses 1 to 1.5kWh per day. A 1,000Wh station runs it for roughly 16 to 24 hours; a 2,000Wh station for about two days; a 3,000Wh station for three. Keeping the door shut and adding a 200W solar panel extends each by a day or more in sun.

Which is the safest backup power gift?

A power station, because it produces no carbon monoxide and can run inside. Any generator or propane heater gift should ship with a battery carbon monoxide alarm, and the recipient should know that generators run outdoors at least twenty feet from any window, never in a garage. Our power outage guide covers the rules.