Keep Your Food Fresh and Your Home Safe with a Home Battery Backup for

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The Growing Problem of Power Grid Instability
The Costly Consequences of Power Loss
Keep Food Safe with a Battery Backup
Additional Benefits of a Fridge Battery Backup
What to Look for in a Fridge Battery Backup?
Keep Your Food and Family Safe

Imagine opening your refrigerator after a lengthy power outage only to find hundreds of dollars worth of spoiled, contaminated food. As you sadly throw out the perished groceries and takeout containers, you wince at the thought of the financial loss and wasted meals. Even worse, you worry about the potential health risks to your family if someone unknowingly ate spoiled or germ-ridden food in the aftermath of the blackout.

Situations like this demonstrate why a home battery backup system for your refrigerator can provide invaluable peace of mind. With unpredictable weather and an aging power grid leading to more frequent and lengthier power outages, having a way to keep your fridge running during blackouts is becoming increasingly necessary. Read on to learn why a battery backup for your refrigerator should be essential to emergency preparedness and how to choose the right system for your needs.

The Growing Problem of Power Grid Instability

According to U.S. Energy Information Administration, the average American home experiences around 7 hours and 20 minutes of electrical outages in 2021. However, major events like heatwaves, storms, and wildfires can cause extensive and prolonged blackouts. For example, in 2020, Hurricane Laura left over 200,000 Louisiana residents without power for weeks.

The reasons for power loss are multifaceted, but aging infrastructure and increased electricity demand are major culprits. The U.S. power grid has not seen significant upgrades in decades, leading to frequent failures and vulnerabilities. Simultaneously, population growth and technologies like electric vehicles are ratcheting up energy usage, straining grids past capacity. Until substantial investments are made in modernizing the power system, outages will continue plaguing American households.

The Costly Consequences of Power Loss

When an electrical outage strikes your home, one of the first concerns is the contents of the refrigerator and freezer. Without power, fridge temperatures start creeping up, allowing bacterial growth in perishable foods. Dairy products are typically only safe for four hours without refrigeration before turning into breeding grounds for dangerous pathogens. Meat and other proteins begin spoiling even sooner in the "danger zone" between 40-140° F.

Not only does this lead to mountains of discarded food after each outage, but eating contaminated, spoiled food puts your family at risk for food poisoning and other illnesses. Imagine dealing with nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea during a disaster scenario where medical care may be limited. Financial losses can also accumulate quickly, with estimates averaging $100 worth of food waste per household every day the power is out. For a family impacted by an outage lasting a week, that translates to $700 or more in wasted groceries.

Keep Food Safe with a Battery Backup

Installing a home backup battery that automatically powers your refrigerator and freezer when the electricity goes out can mitigate these risks and costs. These systems consist of an external battery connected to an inverter that switches on to power your appliances when it detects an outage.

Battery backups offer enough electricity to run a full-size fridge for an extended period, keeping your perishable food safely chilled. Even a budget battery with 8-12 hours of fridge run time allows you to ride out most minor outages without losing food. Higher-capacity backups can keep refrigeration going for one or two days, granting peace of mind during longer multi-day blackouts. This buys you valuable time to use up any expiring items before they pose health hazards.

Having cold refrigeration also means you can rely on frozen foods and ice packs to keep additional perishables like insulin or breast milk cool in a pinch. Best of all, integrating a battery backup into your home is set-it-and-forget-it emergency preparation. The system operates automatically when needed, eliminating any worry or effort when the lights go out.

Additional Benefits of a Fridge Battery Backup

Beyond food preservation, a fridge battery backup offers other advantages as a minor emergency power source:

Keep medications at proper temperatures - Many prescriptions require refrigeration, so a backup protects vulnerable medicines during outages. This provides continuity of care for family members dependent on refrigerated drugs like insulin.
Power small essentials - Though not a whole-house solution, a fridge battery can run a few LED lights, charge phones, or power CPAP machines for several hours. This grants a small amount of electricity for basic needs if you are without power for an extended duration.
Protect against power surges - Voltage spikes that occur when electricity is restored can damage appliances. A battery backup regulates voltage, protecting your fridge's electronics.

What to Look for in a Fridge Battery Backup?

If you decide a refrigerator battery backup is a smart emergency investment, choose the right system by carefully assessing the following key factors:

Wattage

Match the backup wattage to the size of your refrigerator, allowing sufficient power to maintain cooling. A good rule of thumb is to have around 50 watts of backup power per cubic foot of fridge capacity. A 10 cubic foot fridge would need at least a 500-watt battery, while a large 25 cubic foot unit requires over 1,000 watts. Check your owner's manual for your fridge's wattage requirements. Also, account for added wattage if you have an ice maker or other accessories.

Run Time

The longer the potential run time, the better. Look for a battery with at least 12 hours of fridge operation as a minimum. However, extended outages call for longer runtimes of 24-48 hours or more. Higher wattage batteries equate to longer run times. Calculate the typical length of power failures in your area and buy adequate runtime. Also, consider foods you may want to save, like frozen goods, choosing a longer runtime if these items are a priority.

Installation

Simpler plug-and-play backup units are much easier to integrate than hardwired systems requiring professional installation. Self-contained portable batteries allow you to simply plug them into a wall outlet and your fridge. Hardwired units involve electrical work, adding cost and complexity.

Maintenance

Rechargeable batteries slowly lose capacity over time and will need periodic replacement. Check typical battery lifespans and warranties when choosing a unit. Lithium-ion batteries can provide thousands of lifetime hours and up to 10 years of use. Opt for batteries that are affordable and easy to obtain for replacement.

Cost

Prices for fridge backups range widely from $200 up to $1000 or more, depending on features like wattage and runtime. Costs rise with higher power output and battery capacity. Evaluate costs against the food savings, convenience, and health benefits you expect to gain. Also, consider getting a unit with extra features like a digital display or added outlets if these have value to you.

Taking the time to carefully weigh these key factors will help you select the ideal fridge backup system for your family's needs and budget. Investing in the right battery backup provides reliable food protection when the lights go out.

Keep Your Food and Family Safe

Given the unpredictability of weather and an overloaded power grid, investing in a home battery backup for your refrigerator is one of the wisest emergency preparations you can make. For a reasonable upfront cost, you ensure your family has safe food and medicine in the event of blackouts ranging from a few hours to a few weeks. Avoid the headaches of food waste, spoilage hazards, and financial loss after the next inevitable outage in your area. Protect your food and peace of mind with the reliable emergency power source of a fridge battery backup.

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Keep Your Food Fresh and Your Home Safe with a Home Battery Backup for Your Refrigerator