Most backup power systems use large batteries that can be wired into your home’s breaker box, essentially integrating the battery as a power source for all your installed outlets. The Backup by BioLite, on the other hand, eliminates the need for rewiring by letting you install backup batteries for specific appliances that you want to keep powered during outages.
Consisting of slim battery modules, the backup power source can be installed flat against the wall, placed on top of appliances, or hidden behind your household furniture, allowing you to place it out of sight in various places around the house. Unlike your typical power backups, though, it doesn’t require rewiring into your home’s electrical system, instead functioning more like a power strip you can plug your appliances into, albeit with rechargeable batteries in tow.
The Backup by BioLite consists of two types of battery modules, Core and Extend, each one coming with 1.5kWh of power storage. Core is designed to serve as the main unit, which plugs into a wall outlet and comes with AC outlets for plugging your appliances into. Extend is, basically, extension batteries that you can connect to other batteries via cable, allowing you to turn a single 1.5kWh Core into a much larger battery array. According to the outfit, you can connect up to six daisy-chained Extend units to a single Core, resulting in a 10.5kWh backup power source.
Since it’s plugged into your home outlet, the batteries will automatically replenish from the grid any time they additional charge. In case the batteries are full, power flows directly to the plugged-in appliances instead, so the batteries essentially end up serving as glorified power strips. Alternatively, you can also connect the batteries to your high-capacity solar system, so you can recharge from the panels, instead of your local corporate power provider.
The Backup by BioLite has a power output rating of 1800W, so you can plug any appliance into it and get exactly the amount of power you need. During outages, a single 1.5kWh Core unit can hold enough charge to keep an 18 cubic feet fridge running for up to 30 hours, a space heater for up to two hours, and an air fryer for about an hour. Yeah… that’s not exactly a lot of time, so you definitely want to install one or more Extend units to increase the power capacity, especially if you want to plug a whole bunch of appliances into your backup power.
Each battery module measures 29 x 13 x 2.8 inches (height x width x thickness) and comes with a vertical mounting bracket for easily installing on your walls, making it easy to hide it behind large appliances and furniture. The Core unit weighs 40 pounds and the Extend unit weighs 35 pound apiece, so you’ll probably want to opt for a wall mount, since that’s a lot of weight to have lying around loose. Each battery, by the way, only comes with two 120V AC outlets for plugging in your appliances and electronics.
A Kickstarter campaign is currently running for the Backup by BioLite. Pledges to reserve a unit start at $1,299.