Backup Power & Outages

When an outage happens, Base will notify you immediately via text and push notification. Make sure to download the Base app – available in iOs here and Android here.

When an outage happens, push notifications let you know that your battery is backing up your home. 

If the outage is long and your battery life starts to diminish, Base will also notify you and provide tips on how to extend your battery duration – such as turning off your A/C, electric furnace, and other non-essential appliances.

How long your Base battery lasts depends on four main factors:

1. How much power you use: This is the most important factor. A battery stores a fixed amount of energy when the grid is down, so running high-usage devices (like A/C or laundry machines) will shorten backup time, just like a bigger water hose will drain a bucket more quickly. Reducing your power usage will extend it. We deploy larger batteries than the typical market size so that you can last longer.
   
   
2. Battery charge at the start of an outage: Backup time depends on how charged your battery is when the power goes out. Base actively monitors charge levels, maintaining an average 93% charge over the course of a month. Our outage prediction technology tries to ensure that your battery has over 90% charge before outages, even though we sometimes lower it to 20% to perform our grid-balancing operations.
   
   
3. How many batteries you have: Most homes get one battery (20-25 kWh), though some may qualify for two batteries (50 kWh). More batteries mean more backup power.
   
   
4. Additional generation sources: Base batteries integrate with solar panels, which can extend your backup duration during an outage.

We calculate backup duration based on your battery's charge level and capacity. The high range shows backup time 90% of the time, while the low range reflects a 10% chance of a lower charge during an outage. Backup time won’t go below the low range unless appliance usage increases.

Here is a breakdown of how energy usage translates to battery duration:

• Low usage (e.g., fridge, freezer, and lights):
  • Single battery: 30–40 hours
  • Two batteries: 60–81 hours
• Average usage (typical appliances, some A/C):
  • Single battery: 10–13 hours
  • Two batteries: 20–27 hours
• High usage (heavy appliances like A/C or electric heaters):
  • Single battery: 2–3 hours
  • Two batteries: 4–5 hours

When your power goes out, we’ll notify you and monitor your battery’s status. If it’s running low, we’ll recommend turning off high-usage appliances to extend your backup time. 

Below is a graph that shows our most recent data on the state of charge of the Base battery fleet (Base updates this monthly). 

As you can see: over 90% of members’ batteries have maintained an average charge of 90% or higher, with more than half of the batteries consistently at 100%: 

Key Takeaways:

• Our average state of charge over the course of a month is 93%. 
• The majority of the time (>90%), batteries are charged above 95%.
• A small minority (<10%) our batteries at around 70%.

Base ensures that battery charge does not drop below 20%, which covers 97% of outages at low usage.

Our Base batteries provide whole-home backup to most homes, ensuring all appliances on your main panel — including your A/C — stay powered during an outage.

However, keep in mind that higher energy usage shortens the duration of your backup and if you’re pulling a lot of power at once, it can overwhelm the system.

Managing your energy usage during an outage can help maximize your battery's performance and duration. 

The US Energy Information Administration gives us some rough percentages that are helpful for understanding where your electricity is going:

• Air conditioning and heating: 54% of your total energy use
• Appliances and electronics : 23% of your total energy use
• Water heating 16% of your total energy use
• Refrigeration 4% of your total energy use
• Lighting 4% of your total energy use

Turning off non-critical devices such as appliances and electronics, as well as reducing use of A/C and heating can meaningfully extend the duration of your battery backup.

To maximize backup duration:

1. Most important: Temper or turn off usage of power-hungry appliances like A/C units, electric heaters, or large washers/dryers. 
2. Reduce power usage to essentials like a fridge, freezer, and a few lights.
3. Get portable electric heaters or air conditioner units that consume less power and can move with you through the home. 
4. Bonus for complete peace of mind: Plan for generation sources like solar panels or compatible generators to supplement the battery.