Power outages are annoying and happen all the time in most of the United States. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, U.S. energy users had problems with their power for an average of 5.5 hours each year in 2022.
The leading causes of these outages include severe storms, equipment failures, accidents, and errors, as well as peak electricity demand exceeding available supply. This is the main reason why you should consider getting battery backup for home. Continue to read and we will learn more about why backup battery is essential!
Challenges of Maintaining Food Safety During Power Outages
Our contemporary, energy-dependent lives stop when the lights go off. Many of our everyday comforts and home needs are worthless without electricity. During prolonged outages, food safety and preservation take front stage right away.
One of the most crucial contemporary technologies for guaranteeing food safety is refrigeration; unfortunately, it loses its ability whenever power is not available. Thus, power interruptions provide serious difficulties for preserving appropriate food storage conditions and avoiding foodborne diseases.
Temperature Control Issues
Refrigerators and freezers work by transferring heat from their interior compartments to the external environment through a vapor-compression refrigeration cycle. This heat transfer capability relies entirely on a continuous power supply. The moment electricity is cut, refrigeration stops, and internal temperatures start rising alongside ambient room temperatures.
Most refrigerator and freezer units have some passive insulation that helps slow the rate of warming. However, this insulation is not sufficient for extended outages. Without power, refrigerators can only stay below 40°F for about 4 hours. Separate standalone freezers have thicker insulation and can sometimes keep temperatures below freezing for up to 2 days. Regardless, no unit can preserve stable cold temperatures indefinitely without active refrigeration.
As internal temperatures increase, food moves into the “danger zone” between 40-140°F, where bacteria multiply rapidly. Refrigerated items like meats, dairy, eggs, cut fruits and vegetables are usually safe for a few hours. But after about 4 hours without power, these items enter the prime bacterial growth temperature range and can quickly become unsafe to eat. Frozen items thaw once freezer temperatures rise above 32°F, also making them prone to faster spoilage. This is where battery backup for home can become a lifesaver.
Health Risks of Spoiled Food
A range of foodborne diseases may result from eating food that has been incorrectly kept or damaged by insufficient refrigeration. On perishable items inside the danger zone, bacteria like E. coli, Salmonella, Clostridium perfringens, Bacillus cereus, Staphylococcus aureus, and Listeria monocytogenes proliferate and create harmful toxins not removable by cooking or reheating.
Within six to 48 hours after ingestion, eating contaminated food usually results in gastrointestinal problems including nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and stomach cramps. Certain bacteria, including Listeria, may, however, also produce more severe symptoms reminiscent of an illness.
In people with impaired immune systems—infants, elderly, pregnant women, immunocompromised patients—symptoms may become incapacitating or even fatal. This emphasizes even more the need of keeping strict food safety standards during blackouts of electricity. By purchasing a battery backup for home, you will be able to overcome that issue.
Beyond health risks, consuming spoiled or contaminated food also results in very unpleasant experiences for those affected. The gastrointestinal misery and general sickness can last for days to weeks until the body fights off the bacterial infection. So, while nearly all foodborne illnesses resolve without treatment, improperly handled food during outages should be avoided.
Financial Losses
Power outages lead to wasted money and lost value of perishable foods destroyed due to temperature abuse. Replacing spoiled food adds up significantly for households and grocery stores alike, especially when freezers or refrigerated inventory are filled prior to extended blackouts. Some estimates indicate U.S. grocery stores lose about $70 million worth of perishable inventory each year due to power outages. This cost gets passed onto consumers through higher food prices over time.
Frequent and lengthy power disruptions amplify these financial losses, which is a common challenge across developing regions. Areas prone to recurrent blackouts can benefit tremendously from backup power sources to mitigate this food waste and financial burden.
Relying solely on emergency ice purchases for one-off coolers is cumbersome, melt-prone, and avoids the larger benefits of permanent backup power systems. Integrating compact battery banks into home infrastructure provides reliable and convenient outage resilience for refrigeration units.
Some homeowners may consider that getting a battery backup for home is an unnecessary expense. Keep reading and you will find the reasons.
How Battery Backup for Home Ensures Food Safety
Are you looking for the most effective method to ensure food security during power outages? Then you should consider getting a solar battery backup. Having such a battery backup for home will not only help you save your food but can offer many other benefits as well. But let’s focus more on how you will be able to ensure the safety of food.
Introduction to Battery Backup Systems
Battery backup systems, also known as uninterruptible power supplies (UPS), have emerged as dependable and user-friendly methods for providing resilience against power outages. These systems consist of an inverter that is connected to a large external battery bank sufficient for running essential appliances and electronics. Continue to read and we will explain more about the importance of having battery backup for home.
The inverter converts the DC power stored in batteries into standard 120V AC power used to operate home devices just like grid electricity. As long as the battery bank has a reasonable state of charge, the inverter automatically switches over to battery power within milliseconds whenever it senses a grid supply interruption.
This near-instantaneous transition means connected equipment, like refrigerators and freezers, continue operating uninterrupted during grid failures to maintain critical function. You can manually connect a battery backup for home when there is a power outage as well. It will help you with keeping your food refrigerated for a long time period.
Compared to gas generators that take minutes to manually switch on, battery backups offer a seamless outage response that maintains hours of backup power for preserving refrigerated food safety and preventing loss. Battery capacities for home installations typically range from 9-25kWh, which translates to roughly 8+ hours of power depending on connected loads and discharge rate. Some higher capacity options even offer multiple days of autonomy.
Maintaining Refrigerator and Freezer Operation
The key functionality provided by home battery backups during outages is the continued operation of essential refrigeration appliances that require tightly temperature-controlled environments. Refrigerators and freezers can remain plugged directly into battery backup-powered outlets just like grid electricity under normal conditions.
During a blackout scenario where grid power is cut, the battery immediately takes over, and the inverter supplies full-rated power capacity to connected fridge and freezer loads. This consistent power delivery actively maintains the internal cooling cycle without disruption. Stored food items remain chilled at temperatures under 40°F for refrigerators and 0°F for standalone freezers throughout the outage event, preventing safety issues.
Battery runtime is determined based on the load demand of connected appliances along with the battery’s usable capacity. This is something you need to be mindful of when getting a battery backup for home. Conserving backup power should focus on minimizing the use of other non-essential devices to prolong refrigeration support. With proper sizing and load optimization, even entry-level 7-15kWh batteries offer 6-12+ hours of refrigeration in most households to cover the majority of weather-related outages.
Advantages Over Traditional Generators
Gas-powered generators have been the traditional electric backup alternative for decades. However, modern battery banks offer several advantages that enhance home food preservation capabilities. Generators produce AC power by running gasoline or diesel internal combustion engines to spin electrical alternator generators. This spinning reserve power is far less reliable and consistent than direct battery DC output converted to grid-quality AC.
Generator fuel supplies are finite and subject to exhaustion without available refueling services during disasters. Refueling also poses safety issues. This is never an issue with battery backup for home. The rumbling engine operation produces fumes, noise, and vibrations that people tend to avoid running 24/7 inside garages or near homes. Engine components are also maintenance-intensive and prone to mechanical failures that lead to abrupt backup power loss.
In contrast, batteries offer “fuel” that lasts for many years with minimal monitoring or user involvement required. The enclosed units operate silently without disruptive vibrations, smells, or noise. Maintenance involves occasional inspection rather than oil changes, belt replacements, filter cleanings, and engine tuning required of generators. Overall reliability and ease-of-use goes to lithium batteries over small generators.
Finally, widespread generator usage poses environmental concerns regarding air quality, fuel transportation, and improper disposal of expired gas/oil. Increasing adoption of home battery storage instead helps communities reach renewable integration targets and carbon footprint reductions for combating climate change. Getting battery backup for home is the cleaner, smarter path forward for resilient and sustainable home power management during outages.
Jackery Solar Generators: A Reliable Solution for Food Safety
As you can see, battery backup for home is the most appropriate solution available to ensure food safety during power outages. However, you will not be able to get a portable battery pack and come up with a system on your own. This is where you should look to purchase the best solar generators for home backup. Here are two of the best options that we can recommend.
Jackery Solar Generator 2000 Plus
The Jackery Solar Generator 2000 Plus is one of the most versatile portable power stations you can find there as of now. That’s mainly because of the ability to increase its capacity with additional battery packs. In total, you can get up to 6000Wh capacity, which is more than enough to refrigerate food.
You don’t have to rely on the grid as this solar generator enables fast solar charge. In fact, you can recharge the battery within just 2 hours with six 200W SolarSaga panels. Also, with the LFP battery, this battery backup for home can last for 10 years.
Jackery Solar Generator 3000 Pro
If you are on the lookout for additional capacity, then the Jackery Solar Generator 3000 Pro would be a great option to consider.
This backup battery can offer a gigantic 3024Wh capacity, which is more than enough to keep food in the refrigerator cool. The Jackery Solar Generator 300 Pro can run a 520W refrigerator for 5 hours. Also, since this solar generator comes with a portable design, carrying it will never be an issue.
Besides, it comes with advanced BMS safety features to ensure your and your family’s protection. If you are recharging the Jackery Solar Generator 3000 Pro with solar power, you can expect a full recharge in 3-4 hours. Wall charging can fully recharge the solar battery backup in just 2.4 hours.
Conclusion
As you can see, you should never take any chances with a loss of power that makes your food go spoiled. Instead, invest in the best solar generator for home backup from Jackery!
As a trusted brand, Jackery has sold more than four million portable power stations to satisfied customers around the world. You can join them and invest in a portable battery pack and a solar charger. It comes with a comprehensive warranty to deliver peace of mind. Browse through available battery backup for home options and buy the best solar generators today!
