One-day, two-day, and three-day outage kits
This is a shopping list, not a roundup. We define each kit by the loads it has to carry, do the capacity math, then match products from our records to the math. Every spec below is Manufacturer specification and every price is Price checked 2026-10-15.
How we rank products in this guide: fit for the kit’s load budget comes first, then recharge options for multi-day kits, then weight, then price. Rankings are based on fit and evidence, never commission.
The three kits, defined by loads
| Kit | Loads covered | What a day looks like |
|---|---|---|
| 1-day kit | Router, phones, LED lights, one laptop top-up | Stay connected and lit for 24 hours |
| 2-day kit | Everything above + full-size refrigerator | Keep food safe and stay connected for ~2 days |
| 3-day kit | Everything above + short cooking sessions + margin | Ride out a long outage with a real margin |
1-day kit: essentials + phones
The load budget. Router 288 Wh + phones 30 Wh + lights 120 Wh + laptop 60 Wh = ~498 Wh. At ~85% inverter efficiency, call it ~590 Wh of rated capacity needed — roughly 500–600 Wh.
Which products fit. The honest fit is the Jackery Explorer 500: 518 Wh, 500 W continuous, 13.3 lb, $299 street (check price [Affiliate link — we may earn a commission.]). Trade-offs: older NMC cells rated for 500 cycles to 80%, and ~7.5-hour wall recharge. The smaller alternative is the BLUETTI EB3A: 268 Wh, 600 W continuous, 10.1 lb, $219 (check price [Affiliate link — we may earn a commission.]).
Non-battery essentials (1-day). A car charger for the station, two LED lanterns, cash in small bills, and a cooler with ice discipline — freeze water bottles before the outage so the fridge stays closed.
2-day kit: + the refrigerator
The load budget. A 150 W fridge at 35% duty cycle: 150 × 0.35 × 24 = 1,260 Wh per day — before efficiency losses. At ~85% efficiency that’s ~1,480 Wh of rated capacity for one full day of fridge alone. Add the 1-day essentials (~500 Wh): roughly 2,000 Wh for about one full day of fridge plus essentials (Estimate).
Which products fit. For multi-day kits, recharge input matters as much as capacity:
- BLUETTI AC200L — 2,048 Wh, 2,400 W continuous, 1,200 W solar input (the highest solar ceiling in our records), 62.4 lb, $899 (check price [Affiliate link — we may earn a commission.]).
- EcoFlow DELTA 2 Max — 2,048 Wh, 2,400 W continuous, 4,800 W surge, 1,000 W solar input, 50 lb, $1,049, expandable to 6,144 Wh (check price [Affiliate link — we may earn a commission.]).
Non-battery essentials (2-day). A thermometer for the fridge, ice or frozen water jugs to pre-chill a cooler, paper plates and disposable utensils, and a written plan for the fridge: open it on a schedule, not on impulse.
3-day kit: + cooking + margin
The load budget. Fridge 1,260 Wh + essentials 500 Wh + kettle/microwave bursts 300 Wh + 20% reserve ≈ ~2,470 Wh per day. For three days without recharge: ~7,400 Wh — whole-home battery territory. A realistic 3-day portable kit means 3–4 kWh of station plus a recharge plan.
Which products fit.
- EcoFlow DELTA Pro — 3,600 Wh, 3,600 W continuous, 7,200 W surge, 1,600 W solar input, 99 lb, $1,799 (check price [Affiliate link — we may earn a commission.]).
- Anker SOLIX F3800 — 3,840 Wh, 6,000 W continuous, 9,000 W surge, 2,400 W solar input, 132.3 lb, $2,199.99 (check price [Affiliate link — we may earn a commission.]).
A third path: the DELTA 2 Max expands to 6,144 Wh with two extra batteries.
Non-battery essentials (3-day). A camp stove with fuel, 5+ gallons of drinking water, prescription medications, a battery or hand-crank radio, and extension cords rated for the loads.
Recharge planning between outage days
- Wall power, when it flickers back: fast units recharge at 1,200–1,800 W AC — a 2 kWh station refills in about 1–2 hours.
- Solar: a 400 W panel in decent sun delivers ~1,500 Wh per day (Estimate). Check the station’s solar input ceiling in our records before buying panels.
- Car: a standard 12 V car port feeds ~100 W — roughly 10 hours to add 1 kWh.
Build it in order
Buy the kit you can afford now and grow it: non-battery essentials first, then the station that fits your longest realistic outage, then the recharge path. Price moves are tracked on our deal board — buy when the price is genuinely down. Run your own loads through the calculator before you buy anything.
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