Generator or power station for a power outage?
Both keep the lights on, and they solve different problems. A generator makes electricity for as long as you keep feeding it fuel. A power station is a battery: it hands back what you put in, silently and indoors, and then it needs recharging. Which suits you comes down to how long your outages last, what you need to run, and where the machine can sit.
Size a station for your outage The cheap outage kit
The short answer
- Outages of a few hours to a night, for a fridge, lights, phones, internet or a fan: a power station does it with no fuel, no fumes and little more noise than a fan.
- Outages of several days, or big motor loads such as a well pump or central air: a generator, because a battery runs out and needs a working outlet, sun or a generator to refill.
- You can also have both: the station runs the house overnight and indoors, and the generator runs outside for a few hours in daylight to recharge it.
How long a battery lasts on outage loads
From full, one appliance at a time, on US 120 V appliances. A generator has no such limit: it runs until the tank is empty and starts again when you refill it.
| Appliance | Anker SOLIX C1000 (1,056 Wh) | Bluetti AC180 (1,152 Wh) | Jackery Explorer 2000 Plus (2,042 Wh) | EcoFlow DELTA Pro 3 (4,096 Wh) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fridge-freezer (full size) | 12 h 5 min | 12 h 59 min | 22 h 19 min | 41 h 4 min |
| Gas furnace (blower and controls) | 2 h 28 min | 2 h 41 min | 4 h 44 min | 9 h 18 min |
| Window air conditioner, 5,000 BTU | 2 h 8 min | 2 h 19 min | 4 h 5 min | 8 h 3 min |
| Sump pump | 3 h 4 min | 3 h 19 min | 5 h 50 min | 11 h 27 min |
| Well pump (1/2 hp) | Cannot start it | Cannot start it | 6 h 56 min | 13 h 32 min |
“Cannot start it” means the appliance's start-up surge is more than the station's inverter can deliver, even though the battery has the energy. Motors are the hard part: see why the inverter trips and the furnace guide.
What a generator gives you
Take a small inverter generator, the Honda EU2200i. Honda's specification gives it 1,800 W rated and 2,200 W maximum output, a 0.95 gallon tank, and a run time per tankful of 3.2 hours at rated load and 8.1 hours at a quarter load. It weighs 47.4 lb and Honda lists it at $1,199.
Those figures work out to about 6.1 kWh per gallon worked hard and 3.8 kWh per gallon at a quarter load. At $4.48 a gallon (the EIA US average retail price for regular gasoline, week of 21 September 2026), that is roughly $0.74 to $1.17 per kWh in fuel alone. Generators are least efficient lightly loaded, which is exactly how an overnight fridge and a few lights load them.
A small generator has a surge limit too. The well pump (1/2 hp) modelled here needs 3,000 W to start, more than the Honda EU2200i's 2,200 W maximum, so jobs like that need a bigger conventional generator, usually wired in through a transfer switch.
What a power station gives you
Recharging from the wall costs 18.34¢ per kWh at the EIA US residential average, June 2026, plus about 10% lost in charging. A full charge of the Anker SOLIX C1000 costs about $0.22, and of the EcoFlow DELTA Pro 3 about $0.83. That matters less than it looks, because in an outage the question is not the price of a kWh but where the next one comes from: a working outlet elsewhere, a car, solar panels, or a generator.
The rest of the case for a station is practical. It can sit in the bedroom or on the kitchen counter beside the fridge. It makes only fan noise, needs no oil changes and no fuel storage, and is ready the moment the grid drops if you keep it charged. Stations with a UPS or pass-through mode can sit in line with a fridge or router and take over automatically.
Side by side
| Inverter generator | Power station | |
|---|---|---|
| Where it runs | Outdoors, 20 ft or more from the house | Indoors, next to what it powers |
| How long | As long as you have fuel | Until the battery is empty |
| Energy cost | About $0.74–$1.17 per kWh in fuel | About 20¢ per kWh from the wall |
| Noise | 48–57 dB(A) for the Honda EU2200i | Cooling fan only |
| Upkeep | Oil changes and fresh fuel | Keep it charged |
| Big motors | Surge limited by its size, like a station | Only the larger stations, and not for long |
Connecting either one to the house
Extension cords to the appliances are the simple, safe way. Anything that feeds house circuits, such as a furnace or well pump, needs a transfer switch or an interlock fitted by a licensed electrician. Never back-feed the house through a wall outlet: it can kill a line worker restoring power.
The power outage essentials list covers the cheap kit that does most of the work in a short outage, and the station catalogue has the runtime for every appliance on every model.
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