Affiliate disclosure: some store links on HoldBackup are affiliate links. If you buy through one, HoldBackup may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. How HoldBackup makes money

Battery backup, UPS, and home generators

When the lights go out, three kinds of hardware cover different jobs. Pick the job first, then the box that can actually do it.

Three jobs, three machines

• UPS / battery backup

  Seconds to a few minutes of ride-through for a modem, router, desktop, or a device that cannot reboot cleanly. Read the VA rating and the runtime chart at your real load. Prefer a pure sine wave if you are feeding sensitive electronics.

• Portable power station

  Hours for a fridge, a few lights, and phones, limited by watt-hours and the inverter’s continuous watts. Solar input is a way to recharge it. It does not turn the station into a whole-home generator.

• Standby or inverter generator

  Fuel in, power out, for the circuits you switch over. A portable inverter generator can run quietly outside. A standby unit starts on its own. Either one needs a transfer switch or interlock to feed house circuits, and neither one runs indoors. Carbon monoxide kills.

Size it from the load

List what must stay on. A router is tens of watts. A fridge spikes when the compressor starts. A sump pump and a well pump are surge problems, not just running-watt problems. If the number is a short bridge for electronics, stay with a UPS. If it is an evening of essentials, look at a power station’s watt-hours. If it is the furnace blower, the fridge, and a few lights for days, you are in generator territory, plus the inlet and transfer gear that keeps that power off the utility lines.

What this guide will not recommend

HoldBackup’s catalog is backup power only: UPS units, battery backups, portable power stations, and home generators, plus cords or parallel kits tied to that gear. Software subscriptions, AI tools, job boards, and general gadgets are out, even if a listing mentions the word generator.

Questions

What is the difference between a UPS, a portable power station, and a home generator?

A UPS bridges a few minutes so a router, desktop, or a device that cannot reboot cleanly does not drop during a flicker. A portable power station stores watt-hours and runs small loads for hours, then needs a recharge. A home generator makes power from fuel for as long as you can supply it, and it needs a transfer switch or interlock so it never backfeeds the utility.

How do I size backup power for an outage?

Add the running watts of the loads you actually need, then check surge watts for anything with a motor. Match a UPS or power station to that wattage and to the hours you want. A generator is sized for the circuits on the transfer switch, not for the whole panel unless you planned a whole-house standby unit.

Are the price buttons on this page live store links?

Only when the button says "Check price on Amazon". A grey "Check current price" button is a placeholder that goes nowhere. A live button first goes to a HoldBackup /go/ link that counts the click, then to Amazon.

More guides

• A UPS for your router and modem

  How a small battery backup can keep Wi-Fi up through short outages.

• Running a refrigerator on a portable power station

  Check the startup surge and the watt-hours before the outage, not during it.

• Standby vs portable generators for home backup

  How each connects to the house, what it needs installed, and the safety rules.