Power station backup mode (UPS) explained
Updated
How it works
You plug the station into a wall outlet and your devices into the station. While the grid is up, power passes through the station to the devices and keeps the battery full. When the grid drops, the station senses it and switches the devices to its inverter and battery. The time that takes is the switch time, stated in milliseconds.
A few stations have a socket group that runs from the inverter all the time, so the devices on it never see a gap. Our station pages call that pass through. The rest switch over, and the maker's stated time tells you how long the outlets are dead.
What the makers state
We put each station's stated switch time in one of a few groups and show the group on its page. The groups are for display only: we never filter or rank stations by switch time, because makers state it in different ways and we cannot check it.
| Switch time stated | Stations |
|---|---|
| Pass through | 2 |
| 20 ms or faster | 43 |
| Slower | 0 |
| Not published | 9 |
The pass through stations are the BLUETTI Apex 300 and EcoFlow DELTA Pro Ultra. 4 stations support backup mode without a stated time, and for 5 the maker does not say whether they have backup mode at all. The power station table links every station page, where the group sits under Expansion and backup mode.
The fastest switch over time stated outside pass through is 10 ms.
What the gap means for your devices
- Phones, tablets and laptops carry their own battery. They keep running through any gap.
- Refrigerators, freezers, pumps and lights stop for the gap and start again. A refrigerator compressor that restarts asks for its starting watts, so the station must pass the surge check on battery as well.
- Desktop computers, network gear and smart home hubs have no battery. Each one's power supply bridges only a short gap, and a longer one makes them restart. A pass through socket, or a dedicated UPS made for computers, avoids that.
- Medical devices such as a CPAP or an oxygen concentrator: ask the device maker whether it tolerates a short break and how it behaves after one.
Medical equipment
For medical equipment, confirm the power needs with the device maker and keep a backup plan. This page is not medical advice. A CPAP without a humidifier at about 11 W runs for about 3.2 days on a 1,005 Wh station once the grid is gone.
How long backup lasts
Once the grid is gone, the station is an ordinary battery: usable capacity at 85% divided by what your devices draw. A Wi-Fi router and modem at about 28 W run for about 30.5 h on the BLUETTI Elite 100 mini. Add your devices to the runtime calculator and set the goal to the outage you plan for.
The station keeps powering the devices plugged into it, and nothing else. It does not back up the circuits of the house. Whole home backup through a transfer switch is a separate setup that an electrician installs, covered in the generator guide.
Before you rely on it
- Read in the maker's manual how backup mode is switched on and which outlets it covers.
- Keep the total of the devices under the station's continuous output, with room for the largest start in the list.
- Pull the wall plug once while nothing important runs, and watch what restarts.
- Check the battery after an outage, and let it refill before the next one.