Your State's Grid
Backup Power for Texas Outages: What Actually Works Here
ERCOT is its own grid with its own failure modes, and Texas outages hit in heat as often as ice. Here is what to buy for both.
We earn a commission on purchases made through links on this page, at no extra cost to you. How this works.
What's in this article
February 2021 taught a lot of people in this state that the grid is not a given. Then the summers taught them it isn't seasonal either.
Texas is different, and not in a folksy way. It's a genuine engineering difference that changes what you should buy.
Why Texas is its own problem
Most of the US sits on one of two big interconnections. Texas runs ERCOT, its own grid, largely separate from both. verify
That independence has advantages. It also means that when Texas is in trouble, there's a hard limit on how much power can be pulled in from neighbors — the connections simply aren't there at scale.
So a statewide event here has fewer outside options than the same event in Ohio would.
What that means for you, practically: plan for longer than you'd expect elsewhere, and don't assume the utility can borrow its way out of it.
Two completely different emergencies
This is the part most national advice gets wrong for Texans. You're preparing for two opposite scenarios.
Summer: heat, and a hard truth about AC
Let's kill the fantasy first. You are not running air conditioning off a portable battery.
A small window unit drains a 2,000Wh pack in a few hours. Central air isn't a conversation at all.
What actually works in a Texas summer outage is a box fan. Around 75 watts, runs for many hours on a modest battery, and moving air changes how a room feels far more than the wattage suggests. verify
| Appliance | EcoFlow DELTA 21,024 Wh | Bluetti AC200L2,048 Wh |
|---|---|---|
| Box fan~75W running | 12 hr | 23 hr |
| Full-size refrigerator~150W running, cycles ~35% of the time | 17 hr | 33 hr |
| Window AC (5,000 BTU)~500W running, cycles ~70% of the time | 2.5 hr | 5.0 hr |
| Wi-Fi router + modem~20W running | 44 hr | 87 hr |
Look at the fan column against the AC column. That's your summer strategy in one table.
Winter: ice, and the thing worth knowing
Texas winter outages are ice storms taking lines down, and they hit a state whose housing stock and gas infrastructure aren't built for a hard freeze.
Here's the high-value fact: if you have gas heat, you probably only need to power the furnace blower.
The gas burner doesn't need electricity. The fan that moves the warm air does — around 400 watts, cycling maybe 40% of the time. verify
That's a load a 1,000Wh unit can carry for hours, and it heats your whole house rather than one room. It is by far the best return on backup power available to a Texan with gas heat.
What we'd buy, by situation
Metro Texas, house on a normal line
A 1,000Wh unit with at least 1,800W output. The EcoFlow DELTA 2 or Anker SOLIX C1000.
Fridge, fans, internet, phones, and a CPAP if someone needs one. Covers the overwhelming majority of what a DFW, Houston or Austin outage actually takes from you.
Leave it plugged in permanently so it's full when you need it — that's the whole point of LiFePO4.
Longer outages, or a bigger family
2,000Wh class. The Bluetti AC200L gives you two days without rationing, plus enough headroom to run several things at once.
Rural, well water, long restoration times
This is where the big system earns its keep. The EcoFlow DELTA Pro 3 does real 240V, which is what a submersible well pump needs.
Budget for an electrician and a transfer switch on top — and get a standby generator quote at the same time, because at that price they're genuinely competitive.
What not to buy in Texas
Anything under 500Wh as your storm plan. It won't protect food and it won't run a fan all night. Fine as a phone box, not a plan.
A gas generator without a carbon monoxide alarm. People die from generator exhaust after every major Texas weather event, in garages and near windows, in their sleep. If you buy gas, buy the alarm in the same trip.
A battery bought on the promise of running your AC. Anyone selling you that is either confused or lying, and you'll find out on the hottest night of the year.
The free things, which matter most
Charge everything to 100% when the forecast turns. A unit at 40% is most of a wasted purchase.
Fill the freezer with jugs of water — mass holds cold, air doesn't, and it roughly doubles how long a half-empty freezer stays safe. verify
Fill your car's tank. Not to drive — a 12V adapter makes it a slow generator, and Texas pumps don't work without grid power either.
Fill the bathtub if you're on a well.
None of that costs anything, and it does more for you than the last $500 of battery would.
The picks, in detail
Specs come from data/products.json, so they're the same everywhere on this site.
EcoFlow
EcoFlow DELTA 2
The one most people should buy. It refills fast enough that a short sunny break between storm bands actually matters.
- Capacity
- 1,024 Wh
- AC output
- 1,800W
- Weight
- 27 lb
What's good
- Wall recharge is genuinely quick — useful when power flickers back for an hour
- LiFePO4 cells, so it tolerates being left plugged in for years
- Six AC outlets means no daisy-chained power strips on the kitchen counter
- Add an extra battery later instead of buying a whole second unit
What's annoying
- The fan is audible in a quiet bedroom at night
- 1800W ceiling rules out most space heaters and hair dryers
- Expansion batteries cost nearly as much as the unit itself
Who this is wrong for
Anyone who needs to power a well pump, an electric water heater or a central AC. It will not start them, and it is not a whole-home unit.
Bluetti
Bluetti AC200L
Specs unverifiedA lot of battery for the money, with the port selection of a small workshop.
- Capacity
- 2,048 Wh
- AC output
- 2,400W
- Weight
- 61.9 lb
What's good
- Expandable, unlike most Bluetti units at this size
- A genuinely useful spread of ports including a 30A RV outlet
- Fast recharge for a 2kWh unit
What's annoying
- Shorter warranty than EcoFlow and Jackery offer
- Big and awkward to store
- Bluetti's US service turnaround has been inconsistent
Who this is wrong for
Small apartments. It's physically large and you will trip over it.
EcoFlow
EcoFlow DELTA Pro 3
Specs unverifiedThe first portable unit that can honestly claim to back up parts of a house, including 240V circuits.
- Capacity
- 4,096 Wh
- AC output
- 4,000W
- Weight
- 113 lb
What's good
- 240V output covers well pumps and some dryers, which almost nothing else portable does
- Pairs with a transfer switch so you stop running extension cords through a window
- Chains with extra batteries into genuinely serious capacity
What's annoying
- Costs about the same as a permanently installed standby generator once you add a transfer switch
- 113 lb means it lives where you put it
- The install to make it useful is an electrician job, not a weekend project
Who this is wrong for
Anyone who wants to move it more than once. It has wheels for a reason, and stairs will beat you.
Anker
Anker SOLIX C1000
The best-built 1kWh unit on the market, and the one that fits an RV bay without a shoehorn.
- Capacity
- 1,056 Wh
- AC output
- 1,800W
- Weight
- 28.44 lb
What's good
- The most compact 1kWh box here — it genuinely fits where others don't
- Anker's warranty service is the least painful in this category
- Full wall recharge in under an hour
- Quiet fan behaviour under moderate load
What's annoying
- Expansion battery caps you at about 2,112Wh and is expensive
- Fewer solar input options than EcoFlow
- Anker discounts less often, so you rarely catch a deep sale
Who this is wrong for
People who need to run more than 1800W. And it won't grow with you — expansion is limited.
Questions people actually ask
Why does Texas lose power more than other states?
What size backup do I need for a Texas summer outage?
Can a solar generator run my AC in a Texas summer?
Do I need to prepare differently for winter in Texas?
Is a whole-home battery worth it in Texas?
Who wrote this
GreenCommuteGuide Editorial Team
Research and fact-checking
We research backup power the boring way: manufacturer spec sheets, UL and FCC filings, warranty documents, and the complaints buried on page four of the reviews. When we haven't tested something ourselves, we say so on the page instead of pretending.
- · Every spec on this site is checked against the manufacturer's current published documentation before publication
- · We do not accept payment for a rating, a ranking, or a positive verdict
Read this next
- Home Outage & BackupBest Solar Generators for Power Outages in 2026Which battery actually gets your family through the night, which one is a waste of money, and how to tell the difference before you spend.
- Home Outage & BackupHurricane Prep Checklist: The Power Backup EditionEverything to do before the storm, in the order that matters. Written for the week you actually have, not the year you should have had.
- Home Outage & BackupHow to Keep Food Cold During a Power OutageYour fridge holds cold for four hours. Your freezer holds it for two days. Here is how to stretch both, and exactly when to throw things out.
- Home Outage & BackupSolar Generator vs Gas Generator: The Honest ComparisonGas wins on raw power and price. Battery wins on everything else. Here is exactly where each one falls apart, including the part that kills people.