Desk
Backup power
Think about the last outage you actually sat through. You probably did not miss the dryer. You missed the fridge, the heat, maybe the sump, and the little box on the wall so the phone still worked.
Write that list down before anyone sizes a machine. The critical-load panel page is how those circuits get their own small breaker box, and fridge, sump, furnace is the short version of what has to stay alive.
A battery and a standby generator are different jobs. A battery is a tank of kilowatt-hours. A generator is a fuel-burning engine that can run for days if you can keep feeding it. Battery vs standby is that fork. How much of the house you back up is a separate decision: whole-home vs essential-only. If the outage you worry about is three days of ice, read battery plus solar vs generator next.
The hardware that keeps utility power and backup from tying together is a transfer switch. That is electrician work in most towns, and automatic vs manual is the quote line people skip. Transfer switch cost installed is the invoice for the plate, the ten-circuit box, or the 200-amp automatic. Never backfeed a dryer outlet. Ready.gov wants generators outdoors and well away from windows, which is also the placement conversation with your neighbors.
- Transfer switch cost installed: interlock, ten circuits, or 200 amps
The generator is one invoice. The switch is another. HomeGuide 2026: manual $400–$1,300 installed, automatic $600–$2,500, interlock $400–$850. Angi typical job $1,200–$1,600, average $1,450. Ask which of those three jobs is on the bid.
- Whole-home backup vs essential circuits: which quote is which job
Whole-home backup is a 200-amp switch that can feed the whole panel. Essential-only is a short circuit list and a smaller machine. Here's how to tell those jobs apart on a bid, what they cost in 2026, and which one matches the outage you actually sat through.
- Round-trip efficiency on a home battery, and when cheap overnight power still loses
Round-trip efficiency is the kWh you get back after you store them. Tesla lists 89% through the pack and 97.5% if solar never parks there. Why that leak can eat a time-of-use spread, and when cycling from the grid does not pay.
- Generator noise: the 67 dB at 23 feet is not the fence
A 67 dB(A) standby rating is usually measured 23 feet from the front of the box at normal load. The town, if it cares, measures at the lot line, often at night. Here's what that sticker means, why weekly exercise is the sound the street actually learns, and what has to be on the bid before anyone pours.
- Connecting an EV charger to backup: leave it off, trickle, or size the machine
Whether a Level 2 EV charger belongs on backup power, why a 7.2 kW wall box can empty a home battery in under two hours, and what has to be on the electrician's quote.
- Standby generator maintenance: oil, exercise, and the dealer visit
What weekly exercise actually does, when Generac wants oil versus a dealer Schedule A or B, what a 2026 service visit costs, and the parts that belong on the shelf before the next ice storm.
- Fridge, sump, furnace: the minimum backup kit
The three loads that spoil food, flood the basement, or freeze the pipes, how many watts they actually want, and the kit that covers them without pretending you bought whole-house backup.
- Load-shed modules vs a smart panel: covering more house with less backup
How load shedding lets a smaller generator or battery cover more of the house, what Generac modules and SPAN-class panels actually cost, and what has to be on the electrician's quote.
- Generator placement: exhaust, openings, and the neighbor
Where a standby generator can actually sit: NFPA 37 fire clearances, why five feet from a window is not a CO guarantee, portable 20-foot rules, and what the site plan on the bid should show.
- Battery plus solar vs a generator for multi-day outages
When a battery that recharges from the roof covers a multi-day outage, when a standby generator still wins, and what EnergySage's 2026 dollars look like after the federal 25D credit ended.
- Medical devices and outage planning, house side
How to put a CPAP, oxygen concentrator, or medication fridge on the house plan for an outage: watts on the sticker, which circuit, what a backup quote has to name, and when you leave. Not medical advice.
- Portable power station vs inverter generator
A suitcase battery versus a quiet gas inverter: what each actually runs, how many hours you get, Ready.gov placement, and when you still want a standby or a wall pack.
- Automatic vs manual transfer switch: what the quote is actually selling
How a transfer switch keeps the generator off the utility lines, what automatic vs manual actually does in an outage, and what those jobs cost to install.
- Generator cord: 30-amp vs 50-amp
L14-30 vs 14-50 vs a locking 50-amp inlet, why 25 feet of 10-gauge is the usual 30-amp cart, and why a fan-out to household outlets is not how you feed the panel.
- Generator fuel: natural gas vs propane vs diesel
How to pick standby fuel from the pipe in the yard, what propane tanks and diesel units actually add to the bid, and what HomeGuide's 2026 run-cost table implies for a multi-day outage.
- Interlock kit vs transfer switch: what is actually legal
When a listed interlock on your panel is a legal transfer method, when the inspector wants a transfer switch, and why a $15 universal plate is the wrong bet.
- Portable generator inlet box, done right
Why the outdoor inlet is the legal way to feed a portable generator into the panel, what 30-amp vs 50-amp actually matches, and what that hookup costs with an interlock or transfer switch.
- Sizing a standby generator without the sales chart
Why square footage is a weak way to pick a generator, how running watts and starting watts actually add up, and what a 14 kW vs 22 kW quote is really offering.
- Well pump on backup power
Why a well pump is often the load that sizes the generator, how to read locked-rotor amps on the nameplate, and how to keep that circuit on the backup without backfeeding.
- Whole-home battery: usable kWh vs the sticker
Why 13.5 kWh on the brochure is not 13.5 kWh at the fridge, how to separate energy from power on a 2026 battery quote, and when one pack is a critical-load box instead of whole-home backup.
- Home battery vs standby generator
How to pick between a quiet battery and a gas generator based on how long your lights actually stay out, what you refuse to lose, and what the quotes usually look like.
- What belongs on a critical-load panel
Walk the last outage, name the circuits you actually missed, then ask the electrician for a small extra panel and a transfer switch that cannot backfeed the street.