[@CityPrepping] What Actually Happens in the First 60 Minutes of a Grid Failure

Link: https://youtu.be/B51eD79mHEg

Duration: 26 min

Short Summary

This sponsored video tutorial by technology educator Franz explains how to design a whole-home backup power system using solar generators, covering the difference between watts and watt-hours and demonstrating load management strategies during grid outages. The Jackery 5000 system is showcased with specifications of 5,040 Wh capacity, 7,200W continuous output, and 14,400W surge capability, along with smart panel integration for circuit prioritization. A free spreadsheet calculator is provided to help viewers estimate their home power needs based on actual device consumption measured with a kilowatt meter.

Key Quotes

1. "During the day, if you're connected to solar, you can recharge your system while you're using it. So that's when you want to run higher demand items. At night, when there's no solar input, you shift into conservation mode." (00:18:51)
2. "Most people make one of two mistakes. They either underestimate their needs and they run out of power or they overspend on a system they don't fully understand." (00:21:16)
3. "I prefer systems that actually get used, not just something that sits there waiting for an emergency." (00:22:52)
4. "This is what separates a system that works in theory from one that works in real life." (00:20:00)

Detailed Summary

Episode Summary

This video is a sponsored tutorial by content creator Franz (from the channel Technology Connections) explaining how to design and size a whole-home backup power system using solar generators. The presenter walks through technical concepts and demonstrates the Jackery 5000 system in a real home environment.

Key Technical Concepts

• Watts vs. Watt-Hours: Watts measure instantaneous power draw, while watt-hours measure energy consumption over time or storage capacity. For example, a refrigerator drawing 150 watts for 8 hours uses approximately 1.6 kWh.
• Device Power Examples: Refrigerator at 100-150W; coffee maker at 800W; hot plate burner at 1,500W; heat gun at 1,800W (exceeds some systems' capacity); 8W light bulb (125 hours runtime on 1,000 Wh).

Whole Home Backup Principles

The presenter outlines four foundational principles for sizing backup power:

1. How much power your home uses
2. How much power you can store (battery capacity)
3. How much power your system can output
4. How you manage that power over time

Storage determines runtime; solar determines whether you deplete at all. The speaker's home uses approximately 47 kWh per day as a baseline for system sizing.

Jackery 5000 Specifications

• Battery capacity: 5,040 Wh (5 kWh)
• Continuous output: 7,200 watts
• Surge capability: 14,400 watts (for motor-starting devices like AC units)
• Recommended operating guideline: run at ~50% load (3,600W continuous) to avoid long-term wear
• Expandable to 60 kWh with additional units and up to 10 batteries

Smart Panel and Load Management

• Modern homes built around 200 amp electrical panels
• Critical load panel: automatically powers specific circuits during outages without manual setup or extension cords
• 240-volt capability: essential for ovens, HVAC systems, and well pumps
• Load prioritization: smart panel app allows scheduling circuits—e.g., keep lights, wall sockets, and refrigerator on when battery drops below 50%, while deprioritizing ovens or mini-split systems
• Solar input during daylight allows running high-demand items while simultaneously recharging battery

Practical Recommendations

• Purchase a kilowatt meter (~$20 at hardware stores or online) to measure actual appliance consumption
• Use the provided free Google Drive spreadsheet pre-populated with Jackery 5000 specs and typical appliance values for calculating power needs
• The calculator color-codes values in red when power draw exceeds safe thresholds (50% continuous output or 5,000W total)
• Daytime strategy: run higher-demand appliances during peak solar production
• Nighttime strategy: conservation mode prioritizing refrigeration, lighting, communication, and climate control
• Properly configured UPS enables seamless grid-to-battery transition with no noticeable disruption to refrigeration or climate control

Testing Results

During a grid outage test, the system immediately picked up loads including:

• Refrigerator
• Lights throughout the house
• Critical circuits wired to the smart panel
• 240-volt appliances

The expandable system can provide ROI by shifting charging to off-peak rates and using stored power during expensive peak hours (time-of-use arbitrage).

Presenter Background

Franz is a technology educator and content creator known for explaining electrical systems, energy efficiency, and home infrastructure in accessible, technical detail. The episode is sponsored by Jackery, who provided the equipment demonstrated in the video.

Full Transcript

Show transcript

There's a moment when the power goes out
that most people never really think
about. It doesn't start with chaos. It
starts with silence. The hum of your
home disappears. The lights go out. And
for a few seconds, everything just feels
still. Then the questions start. Is it
just your house or is it the whole
neighborhood? How long will this last?
What do I need to do right now? So, if
your power went out right now, would you
be prepared? Because backup power is not
just about having a generator. It's
about understanding what you actually
need to run and for how long. Especially
if this turns into something that lasts
for days or longer. So, in this video,
I'm going to simplify this. When it
comes to whole home backup power, there
are really four things that matter. How
much power your home uses, how much
power you can store, how much power your
system can output, and how you manage
that power over time. If you understand
these four principles, everything else
becomes a lot clearer. Then I'm going to
walk you through eight critical things I
look for when evaluating whole home
backup systems and show you how all of
this works together in a real world
demonstration when the grid goes down.
But first, let's cover a simple concept
that makes everything else in this video
much easier to understand. Watts.
Let me show you how this actually works
because once you see it, everything else
in this video is going to make a lot
more sense. Right here, I've got a
simple hot plate. Now, on the side of
it, it says 1,000 watts. That means when
it's running, it needs 1,000 watts of
power. Now, this solar generator next to
me can output up to 1500 watts. So,
since this hot plate only needs 1,000,
this unit can run it without a problem.
So, that's the first piece, watts. How
much power something needs right now.
Now, if you look around your house,
you're going to see this number on
almost everything. appliances, devices,
tools, you'll see a number with W next
to it, and that tells you what it takes
to run that device. So, here's where
most people get tripped up. Watts don't
tell you how long something will run.
For that, we need to look at energy. So,
now let's talk about watt hours. Watt
hours tells you how much energy
something uses over time or how much
energy your battery can store. Let's go
back to our hot plate. If this is
pulling 1,000 watts and I run it for 1
hour, that's 1,000 W hours of energy
used. Now, if I were to only run it for
30 minutes, that's half the time. So, I
use half the energy, about 500 W hours.
And that's the key idea. More time
equals more energy used. Now, let's look
at a few other examples that I have here
in front of me. This light bulb only
uses about eight watts. So if I were to
run it for an hour, that's just eight
watt hours. But this heat gun, well,
that's a different story. It pulls about
1,800 watts. And you can see 1,800 watts
here right on the side. So after 1 hour,
it would use 1,800 watt hours. So now
you can start to see how different
devices affect your system. Now, let's
tie this all together. This unit can
output 1,500 watts and it has a capacity
of 1,000 W hours. So, let's now go back
to our heat plate. Again, this needs
1,000 watts to operate. So, yes, this
unit can run this, but after 1 hour, the
battery would be depleted. Now, what
about this heat gun? It needs 1,800
watts, but this unit can only output
1500. So, it's not going to be able to
run this device. Now, let's look at our
light bulb. It only uses eight watts.
So, if we take the 1,00 W hours of
capacity and divide that by eight, you
would get 125 hours of run time. That's
how long this could power this for. So,
once you understand these two things,
how much power something needs and how
much energy you have, everything starts
to make sense. So, let's take this one
step further and answer the most common
question I get all the time. How long
will this power my refrigerator? But
that's actually the wrong question. The
better question is, how much energy does
your refrigerator use in a day? In my
case, my refrigerator uses about.9
kilwatt hours per day or 900 watt hours
each day. That's the number that
matters, not just a wattage when it
turns on. So, if we were to go back to a
system with about 1,000 watt hours of
capacity, that's how much this battery
can hold. That's roughly one day of
runtime for my refrigerator. And this is
where most people start to realize their
current setup falls short. Now, up to
this point, we've been looking at
smaller portable units. But once you
start thinking about powering more of
your home, everything changes. Now,
you're looking at larger systems that
can integrate directly into your home
with more capacity and higher output.
So, you're not just powering a few
devices, you're actually supporting your
home. And that's what I want to shift
into next. Four principles. Now once you
understand everything that we just
covered the basics of output and
capacity the next question becomes how
does this apply to your home because
everything that we've spoken up to this
point is theoretical but in this section
I want to make it personal. So when it
comes to whole home backup power there
are four things you need to understand
before you start looking at systems.
Number one is how much power your home
uses. Let's start with this. How much
power do you actually use? Most people
don't know this, but your power bill
tells you everything you need. If you
look right here, you'll see the total
usage for a month, and you'll also see
my average daily use. In my case, I'm
using about 47 kwatt hours per day. That
number matters more than anything else
we're going to talk about because this
is your baseline. This is what your home
actually consumes to function normally.
Now, during an outage, it's very
unlikely that you'll need to run
everything, but this gives you a
starting point to work from. The second
thing is how much power can you store?
Now that you know what your home uses,
the next question is, well, how much
energy can you store? And this is where
battery systems come in. With a system
like this, you're no longer dealing with
small portable units. You're dealing
with something designed to support your
home. Each of these units stores a large
amount of energy, and you can expand
that over time by adding additional
batteries. In my setup, I'm running two
main units along with an expansion
battery, which gives me significantly
more capacity to work with. So now,
instead of thinking in terms of hours,
you can start thinking in terms of days
of usable power. But there's another
piece to this that's just as important,
and that's solar. Because storage alone
is limited. But when you can recharge
your system each day using solar, that's
what starts to extend your runtime even
further. Storage determines how long you
last. Solar determines whether you can
run out at all. And we're going to dive
deeper into that in just a moment. Now,
the third point is how much power can
you output. Now, here's where a lot of
people get tripped up because storage is
one thing, but output determines what
you can actually run. Think of it in
this way. You might have plenty of
energy stored, but if your system can't
deliver enough power at once, you're not
going to be able to run certain
appliances. Most modern homes are built
around a 200 amp electrical panel, and
that's what supports everything in your
house. Now, with a system like this,
each unit can output a significant
amount of power. And when you combine
them into a smart panel, you can
increase that output even further. And
what that means is simple. More output
equals more of your home that you can
run at the same time. Less output means
you're limited to just the essentials.
We're going to take a closer look at how
that smart panel works in just a moment.
Number four is how you manage that power
over time. And this is the part that
most people overlook because it's not
just how much power you have, it's how
you use it. During the day, if you're
connected to solar, you can recharge
your system while you're using it. So
that's when you want to run higher
demand items. At night, when there's no
solar input, you shift into conservation
mode. You prioritize what matters.
refrigeration, lighting, communication,
climate control. And by managing your
usage like this, you can extend your
runtime significantly. Now, when you put
all four of these together, this is
where things start to click. Most people
make one of two mistakes. They either
underestimate their needs and they run
out of power or they overspend on a
system they don't fully understand. But
once you know how much you use, how much
you can store, and how much you can
output, and how to manage it, you can
build a system that actually fits your
situation. Now that you understand these
four principles, we can move into the
next step. Because once you start
looking at real systems, there are a few
critical things that separate a setup
that works from one that fails when you
actually need it. So next, I'm going to
walk you through the eight things I look
for when evaluating a whole home backup
system. And once you see these, you're
going to start noticing very quickly why
most setups fall short and how to avoid
that. Eight things to look for. Now that
you understand how power works, the next
question becomes, how do you choose the
right system? This is where things start
to separate. Because on the surface, a
lot of these systems look similar, but
when you actually break them down, there
are a few key differences that determine
whether a setup works when you need it
or it falls short. Now, before I jump
in, I do want to quickly mention that
Jackary sponsored this video and
provided the equipment that we're using
here, but everything I'm going to walk
you through applies to any system on the
market. I also recently did a full
comparison of whole home backup systems,
and I'll link to it below if you want to
go deeper. Now, I'm going to walk you
through eight things I personally look
for when evaluating a system like this.
I'm not listing these in any particular
order, but each one plays a role in how
well your system performs in the real
world. The first thing I look for is
automation. Because in a real outage,
you don't want to be figuring things out
in the moment. With a system like this,
everything is connected through a smart
panel. What's often referred to as a
critical load panel. That means specific
circuits from your main electrical panel
are moved over into this panel so they
can be powered during an outage and used
for peak load shaving, which we'll
discuss in just a moment. Now, in my
setup, I've moved over several 15 amp
circuits along with a 240 volt circuit
for the oven. Not everything in the
house is connected to the smart panel,
just the critical loads that I want to
maintain during an outage. So when the
grid goes down, everything switches over
automatically and you don't have to deal
with extension cords or manually setting
everything up and there are no decisions
in the moment. And for a lot of people,
especially if you have a family at home
or you're away, that's a big advantage.
The second thing is instant switchover
or UPS. The next thing is how fast the
system reacts because when the power
drops, you don't want everything
shutting off first. With the proper
setup as a UPS or uninterruptible power
supply, the transition is essentially
seamless. And you're not going to notice
it. And that's what's important because
whether it's refrigeration, climate
control, and anything else you're
running, that continuity matters. As you
can see here, I switched off the power
going to the smart panel and the system
picks right up. You may notice a slight
flicker depending on the load, but
everything continues to run as the
system draws power from the batteries.
The next thing I look at is 240 volt
capability. Most portable systems, which
I've covered for years on this channel,
are designed for smaller devices. But
once you move into whole home backup,
you're dealing with larger loads, things
like ovens, HVAC systems, or a well
pump. So, when a system can handle 240
volts, you're no longer just powering a
few devices. You're supporting your
home. Also, in my latest comparison
video of these whole home units, you're
going to notice that I only reviewed
systems that can natively output 240
volts. In the past, when these systems
first came to market, you needed two of
them tied together to output 240 volts.
With these new units on the market, they
can output 240 volts by themselves. And
I actually use setups like that for this
Barnuminium that I'm recording in here.
And I noticed that some appliances
didn't handle it well because the 240
volt wasn't really clean. But with these
newer systems, that's no longer an
issue. The fourth thing is load
management. Because it's not just about
how much power you have, it's how you
use it. With systems like this, you can
prioritize circuits based on how much
battery you have left through their app
in the smart panel. For example, you
could configure the app so that if the
battery drops under 50%, the things that
don't necessarily matter the most, say
maybe the oven or mini split heating and
cooling system, they're not prioritized.
and instead the lights, a few wall
sockets, and the refrigerator stay on.
Now, something like the mini splitter
oven is a priority. You can set it that
way in the app. It's really up to you
how you want to configure the circuits,
but this allows you to prioritize what's
critical to you. And by managing your
load this way, you can extend your
runtime significantly. The fifth thing
is no noise or fumes, which gives you
security. And a lot of people don't
think about that. In a widespread
outage, noise and fumes, they draw
attention. Traditional generators, they
are loud and they produce fumes and they
make it obvious that you have power.
Now, systems like this, they run quietly
indoors without drawing attention. And
for a lot of people, that matters more
than they realize. It's one of those
things that are often overlooked. But
depending on how long the power stays
out, drawing unwanted attention to your
house may not be a good ideal. Now, the
sixth thing is solar. Let's talk about
solar because this is what changes
everything. With solar, you're not just
using stored energy in the batteries,
you're actually replenishing it. During
the day, you can generate power while
you're using it. So now you're not just
relying on your battery, you're
extending your run time. And like we
talked about earlier, storage determines
how long you last, and solar determines
whether you run out at all. And the
obvious advantage is that you're not
relying on a finite fuel source. I do
realize some may opt for a whole home
gas generator, and that's a valid
option, but I know for my community,
having a system that can run for months
or even years without needing fuel is a
major advantage. Now, point number seven
is expandability. Most people don't
build a system like this all at once.
You start with a base setup and then
expand over time. With a system like
this, once a smart panel is installed,
you can continue adding capacity
yourself, but you don't need to bring an
electrician back to add another inverter
or another battery. On the main house on
this property, we have a typical solar
setup done by a professional. It has an
inverter and batteries that were
permitted. And while it's a great setup,
the downside is that I can't modify it
without bringing an electrician. This
setup can start with one unit, allows a
second to be added, and then 10
additional batteries can be added as
well, bringing the whole system to 60
kilowatt hours. The eighth point is ROI
or return on investment. And the last
thing I look at is whether the system
provides value outside of an emergency
because I prefer systems that actually
get used, not just something that sits
there waiting for an emergency.
Depending on your setup and your local
utility rates, systems like this can
offset a meaningful portion of your
energy costs over time. For example, you
can shift your usage, charging from the
grid when rates are low and using that
stored power when rates are higher. So,
you're not just preparing for outages,
you're improving your setup daytoday. My
setup is tied to both the grid and
solar. So, if the batteries go too low,
let's say at night, or solar is not
producing enough, it can be configured
in the app to pull from the grid. With
the current solar setup that I have, I
don't need a pull from the grid, but
have been able to produce everything I
need for this house right from solar.
Now, when you take all this together,
this is what separates a system that
works in theory from one that works in
real life. So, what I want to do next is
show you exactly how this setup performs
by simulating a grid outage and walking
you through what actually happens when
the system takes over. Grid outage test.
Now that we've walked through what to
look for in a system like this, let's
put it to the test because everything
we've talked about up to this point is
theory. And this is where we actually
will see how it performs. Right now, the
house is running normally. We're
connected to the grid. The system is
active and everything is operating just
like it would on any typical day. And
what I'm going to do here is simulate a
grid outage. Let's shut off the power
coming from the grid. As you can see,
the system picks up immediately and the
house continues running. You may notice
a slight flicker depending on the load,
but everything stays powered. And this
is exactly what we were talking about
earlier with automation and UPS. The
system takes over and everything just
keeps running. Now, let's take a look at
what's actually being powered. Right
now, we've got the refrigerator running,
lights throughout the house, and several
the critical circuits that were moved
into the smart panel. Now, let's take it
even one step further. This is a 240
volt appliance, and as you can see, the
system is handling it without an issue.
Now, let's look at the system from the
app. This is where you can see what's
happening in real time. You can monitor
your load, see how much power you're
using on each circuit, and adjust your
priorities if needed. Now, here's where
things get really interesting. We're
running the house, and at the same time,
we're bringing in solar. So, instead of
just draining the battery, we're
actively replenishing it. And this is
why I'm a big fan of solar. As long as
you manage your load, you can
effectively power your home for as long
as needed without having to rely on
fuel. Now, keep in mind that this setup
is built around two main units plus an
expansion battery that are all connected
through the smart panel. So, this is not
just a small backup solution, but rather
a system designed to support critical
loads in my home. And this is where load
management really comes into play. If I
needed to, I could reduce usage by
turning off non-essential circuits in
the app or simply turning those devices
off. By doing this, we extend runtime
even further. So, during the day when
solar production is high, I'd run
heavier appliances like the oven. Then
as night approaches, I'd start reducing
load to make sure I can power critical
items like the refrigerator through the
night. So when you look at this in a
real world scenario, this is what
matters. Not just whether you have
backup power, but whether your system is
set up to handle your home the way you
actually live in it. And that's what it
looks like in a real world scenario. Not
just having backup power, but having a
system that's set up to support your
home the way you actually live in it.
From here, it really comes down to how
you build your system around your needs.
All right, let's pivot to a free tool
that I made that will help you tie all
this together. Before I walk you through
this tool, let's address this question I
get all the time. How do I power the
things that are important to me and how
long can I power them for? First of all,
to determine how much these devices
need, you would probably need something
like a kilowatt meter. You can pick
these up at your local hardware store or
online for about 20 bucks. They're a
very, very simple tool and I'll link to
it below. How do you use this? Well, you
just take and plug this into your wall
socket and then the appliance that
you're needing to power. You would plug
it here into the front. Let's say your
refrigerator. Plug it in. All right. And
then it'll come on and you can go to a
selection on here to show you kilowatt
hours or you know how much this is
actually providing that refrigerator
over that period of time. So let's say
you run this for 24 hours, one day. What
you can do is at the end of those 24
hours, you can come and look on here and
it will show you this refrigerator used
you know 1.1 1.2 2 kilowatt hours
somewhere around that is just kind of a
ballpark, but it will show you very
quickly how much that refrigerator used
for that period of time. Also, it will
show in real time how many watts that
device is needing to be powered. Those
values are all very important because we
can plug those into the spreadsheet that
I've given you here. So, let me walk you
through this very quickly. Again, I'll
link to this below. All right, so this
is a file on a Google Drive. You're not
going to be able to edit this. you would
actually need to copy it to your own
Google Drive or you can download it to
your desktop and open up a tool like
Excel spreadsheets or something and put
this in and you can go through and edit
it. If you're not sure how to set up a,
you know, a Gmail account or a Google
Drive, just go on to Google, type in how
do I set up a Google Drive and it'll
walk you through that process. All
right. Now, having said that, what are
we looking at here? Columns S through T
are the Jackary 5000, which we've been
going over in this video. Now, we've
pre-populated the values and specs for
this particular device. It has one
jackree can output 7200 watts
continuously and has a surge of 14,400.
Now, if you were to buy two jackies and
plug them into the smart panel, you
could double this number to 14,400. But
at the moment, we're just considering
one unit. All right. So, if we scroll
down here again, we pre-populated a lot
of these values. And starting on row 32,
you'll see the maximum surge capability
of this unit. In this case, it's 14,400.
Surge simply refers to some devices when
they start. Devices that have motors.
They have an initial surge. What happens
is it takes a certain amount of power to
spin that device up. Your air
conditioner, other things like that.
They require a lot of surge to get them
up and running. Once they start running,
they slow down to continuous wattage. In
this particular case, we're talking
about surge. And again, we added this
information. And when we talk about the
other columns here in a second, we'll
see what this plays in. Now the next
thing is recommended running watts.
Typically they recommend you want to
push these devices at about half around
50% continuously. The comparison is like
a engine in your car. If you were to
redline it all day, you could tear it up
over time. You want to kind of push it
around about half of what it can do on a
daily or rather its continuous output.
For this one, it can output 7200 watts.
So if you're running at about 3600
continuously, you're well within the
range. Again, that's a general rule of
thumb. It's not something that has to be
observed, but the general rule is if
you're pushing a lot of power all the
time, you want to go with a bigger
inverter. Now, the next one is row 34,
which is capacity.
One Jack 5000 has a capacity of 5,040
watt hours or 5, you know, 5 kilwatt
hours. And again, we talked about this
earlier in the video where we talked
about battery capacity watt hours. I
would again encourage you to go back and
watch that part of the video if you
haven't already. So, what are we looking
at here? All right. Well, this was this
is where it gets fun. If we were to go
over and look at these columns A through
E, what we did is we added the typical
things that a lot of people want to
power. Things like a refrigerator, a hot
plate, a TV, a microwave. And again,
these values can be edited on your own.
Now, what we did is we pre uh
pre-populated these values for you. What
do I mean by that? Well, row 17 is
probably going to be the most common
one. a refrigerator 18 cubic foot, give
or take on an in an hour, it's, you
know, well, let me back up here really
fast. Column B shows how many watts it
needs to run whenever you turn it on.
So, for this particular one, you know,
refrigerator, uh, I put 100, but
typically refrigerator runs around 150
or so. The newer ones, uh, refrigerators
will you pull about 150 watts. Now, if
we were to come over here and look, we
can select how long we want to power
that. Oops. Let me go up. I'm sorry. Row
17. Let me highlight this one. We can
say, well, I want one device, you know,
and again, column D allows you to
select. Maybe you have two
refrigerators, three, but in this case,
we'll say one. Oops, I accidentally hit
zero, and I'll go back to one. Now, we
can determine how long we want to power
it for. In this case, we're going to say
8 hours. All right. So, what what
happens? Well, if we go over to column S
again, we look and we see that equates
after 8 hours of running at 200 watts
each hour. That comes out to roughly
1,600 W hours. Now, a refrigerator does
not run all the time. It runs at around,
I don't know, 40 50% of the time during
a daily uh usage. But again, that
depends on climate, if it's cold in your
house or hot, etc. So, I'm going to bump
this down to 100 just so we can kind of
fudge the number to say, okay, well,
let's just, you know, and again, a
typical day refrigerator might use a
little over a kilowatt hour of capacity,
uh, you know, battery capacity. So,
again, you can play with these numbers
and again, you'll find that information
using your kilowatt meter if you pick
one of these up. Now, let's say, um,
what else do we want to turn on? Let's
say, again, the example of a coffee
maker. I don't know, we're going to run
it for about 5 minutes. We just have one
of them and that pulls 800 watts. All
right. Um let's say our hot plate. We
want to heat up some food. We're going
to run one of those. We want to run it
for 10 minutes. Now you see what's
happening over here is it's beginning to
tell you in these column the column uh s
how much in watt hours uh you know in
our particular case how much power is
this device needing to run for or you
know to operate for that full time. How
much power is it going to draw from the
battery? Well, in this case, we can see
here these values are starting to add
up. Now, when we scroll down to the
bottom, the calculator will
automatically update how much capacity
is left in the battery. In our
particular case, this one, after we
operate these devices for the period of
time that we selected, it's got 3,800 W
hours left. It's still got a lot left
starting out at 5,000. So, what does
this tell us? You can get begin to
quickly see how long can I power devices
and how many. And again, the tool's
intelligent enough that if you were to
say, "Oh, I want to power, you know,
this and this and this and these things
draw a lot all at once, it's going to go
into the red if it's saying you're going
to, you know, you're pushing things
over." Let me give you an example. If we
were to say, "Yeah, I want to run, you
know, five stove tops," which you're not
going to want to do. If the each burner
pulls 1500 watts,
as you can see, it's now saying, "Okay,
you overshot." You see, it's in the red
now because it can only output 5,000.
So, if I were to bump this number down
to three, now we're down to at 4500,
which we put it in red if it's over the
50% of what it can do because it's
saying, yeah, you're kind of running on
the high side. Now, again, if we were to
bump this down a little more, let's see,
let's just bring it down to two, still,
you know, kind of a little high. But if
I were to bring it down to one, it's
well within range. So, again, you can
push it past that 50% of what it can
output. In this particular case, it can
output 7200. And again, we kind of
numbered that and color coded it to kind
of tell you what's what's in the range
of what it's really designed for. And
again, this unit can continuously output
5,000. So, in an emergency, if you need
to output 5,000 watts continuously, no
problem. Go for it. But hopefully this
tool gave you enough information and
insight to kind of play around with
these values and uh hopefully it helps
you out. So, at the end of the day, this
really comes down to understanding your
situation. How much power do you use?
What actually matters during an outage?
and how you want to approach it because
there's not really a one-sizefits-all
solution here. What works for one home
may not make sense for another. But if
you understand the fundamentals that we
covered in this video, and you take the
time to really think through your own
needs, you can begin to build a system
that actually works when you need it.
Whether that's something small and
portable or a larger setup like what we
covered in this video, the goal is not
just to have another backup power
solution. It's to have a plan. So
hopefully this video gave you a clear
way to think about all this and really
helped you take the next step in
building something that makes sense for
you. If you're interested in any of the
items that we covered in this video, I'm
going to link to them below. As always,
stay safe out