Power safety check

Generators, fuel, heaters, batteries, and high-load devices can create fire, carbon monoxide, shock, and ventilation risks. Follow manufacturer manuals, local codes, and official safety guidance before use.

Backup Power

The Power Company Cut the Lines: Running Your House Through a Wildfire Shutoff

Public Safety Power Shutoffs can last days. The watt-hour math for fridge, medical devices, and phones, plus solar vs fuel in thick smoke.

Quick Answer

A wildfire power shutoff is a planned outage, which means you can plan for it. When Red Flag Warnings go up, like the ones now covering western Colorado and eastern Utah, utilities can trigger a Public Safety Power Shutoff and cut the lines on purpose to keep them from sparking a fire, and it can last hours to several days. Do not plan to power the whole house. The loads that matter are the refrigerator holding food and medications, any medical device someone depends on, and phones for alerts. A modern fridge uses around 1,200 watt-hours a day, most home medical devices far less, and phones are a rounding error. A small power station covers devices and phones. A 2 to 3 kilowatt-hour system with solar covers the fridge too and refills every day the sun is up, which during a heat dome is every day.

Confidence: high

Key Points:

A PSPS is deliberate and can run days. Treat it as a scheduled outage, not a surprise.
Priority order: refrigeration, medical devices, communications. The whole house is not the goal.
Size backup in watt-hours of runtime, not the big peak-watt number on the box.
If anyone relies on a CPAP, oxygen concentrator, or refrigerated medication, that load comes first and needs a tested plan.
Solar refills daily and is safe by the house; a fuel generator needs stored fuel and careful placement, and smoke complicates running it.
Confidence: high

Last updated: 2026-07-04

What a Wildfire Shutoff Actually Costs in Power

Load	Typical draw	Per day	Realistically covered by
Refrigerator	100-200W, cycling	~1,200 Wh	2 kWh+ station with solar, or a fuel generator
CPAP (no heated humidifier)	30-60W	~250-400 Wh overnight	A 500 Wh to 1 kWh station comfortably
Oxygen concentrator	300-600W continuous	7-14 kWh	Large battery + solar, or a generator; plan with your supplier
Phones + weather radio	10-30W	Under 150 Wh	Any decent power bank
Refrigerated medication	Part of fridge load	Included above	Same as fridge; a small cooler with ice as backup

The Backup Power Mistakes a Shutoff Punishes

A PSPS is announced ahead in most cases, so these failures come from planning, not bad luck. All four are avoidable.

Not knowing a shutoff is coming

Utilities usually send PSPS warnings a day or two out, but people who never signed up for alerts get surprised, with a dead phone and a warm fridge.

Better approach: Sign up for your utility's outage alerts and your county's emergency notifications now, and top off every battery and the car when a Red Flag Warning posts.

Running a fuel generator in smoke near the house

Carbon monoxide kills quietly, and heavy wildfire smoke plus the urge to keep the generator close makes a bad combination. Generators also draw smoky air into their intake.

Better approach: Outdoors only, 20 feet or more from doors, windows, and vents, exhaust pointed away, with a battery CO alarm inside near sleeping areas. In thick smoke, favor battery and solar for indoor-adjacent loads.

No tested plan for a medical device

Finding out during the outage that your station cannot run the oxygen concentrator, or that the CPAP battery is flat, is a genuine emergency, not an inconvenience.

Better approach: Test every medical load on your backup before you need it, note the real runtime, register as a medical-needs customer with your utility, and keep the device supplier's emergency guidance on paper.

Buying peak watts and ignoring watt-hours

A big inverter number says what a unit can surge to, not how long it runs. People buy a station that starts anything and dies in an hour on the fridge.

Better approach: List your real loads, multiply by hours, and buy runtime. Add solar so a multi-day shutoff refills instead of draining to zero.

Wildfire Shutoff Power Questions, Answered Straight

Done-for-you: solar backup sized for a multi-day shutoff

Grid Doctor systems pair the battery and panels so the sizing is already solved. The smaller unit covers phones, a weather radio, and a CPAP. The larger system handles fridge-plus-device duty and refills daily in the sun a heat dome guarantees. Holiday-week pricing is live as of July 4, 2026.

See solar generator pricing

We may earn a commission if you buy through our link. This does not affect our recommendations.

Round Out the Shutoff Plan

Power the box-fan filter and purifier when the grid is down.Alerts and comms when the shutoff also takes cell service.Same heat dome, same grid strain: the blackout power math.

Top backup-power products from the 2026 report

Reader-supported recommendations

PrepperDirect may earn a commission when you buy through links on this site. Recommendations are independent and framed around readiness fit, tradeoffs, and practical use.

Portable backup power for appliances

Jackery Explorer 2000 v2

Editor's Choice

4.9

~$1,499

Portable backup power for appliances

Prepper take

Jackery Explorer 2000 v2 is strongest when portable backup power for appliances. Buy it if works best as the anchor of a layered backup stack with mapped loads; skip it if weight and cost make it a deliberate purchase, not a casual add-on.

Strengths

Portable backup power for appliances
Camping plus home outage bridging

Weaknesses

weight and cost make it a deliberate purchase, not a casual add-on

Opportunities

works best as the anchor of a layered backup stack with mapped loads

Threats

overspending before you define critical loads is the classic mistake here

Check Price

Mid-size power station for blackouts

Anker Solix C1000

Best Value

4.8

~$999

Mid-size power station for blackouts

Prepper take

Anker Solix C1000 is strongest when mid-size power station for blackouts. Buy it if strong match for fridge rotations, communications, and lighting; skip it if portable power looks infinite until you do the watt-hour math.

Strengths

Mid-size power station for blackouts
Good value segment

Weaknesses

portable power looks infinite until you do the watt-hour math

Opportunities

strong match for fridge rotations, communications, and lighting

Threats

without a recharge plan, day-two capability drops fast

Check Price

Entry power station

Jackery Explorer 300

EcoFlow DELTA Pro 3

4.6

~$3,699

High-output home backup class

Prepper take

EcoFlow DELTA Pro 3 is strongest when high-output home backup class. Buy it if works best as the anchor of a layered backup stack with mapped loads; skip it if weight and cost make it a deliberate purchase, not a casual add-on.

Strengths

High-output home backup class
Expandability and solar input

Weaknesses

weight and cost make it a deliberate purchase, not a casual add-on

Opportunities

works best as the anchor of a layered backup stack with mapped loads
gets better when paired with solar input or another recharge source

Threats

overspending before you define critical loads is the classic mistake here

Check Price

High-capacity power station

EcoFlow Delta Pro

4.5

~$3,699

High-capacity power station

Prepper take

EcoFlow Delta Pro is strongest when high-capacity power station. Buy it if works best as the anchor of a layered backup stack with mapped loads; skip it if weight and cost make it a deliberate purchase, not a casual add-on.

Strengths

High-capacity power station
Semi-permanent backup

Weaknesses

weight and cost make it a deliberate purchase, not a casual add-on

Opportunities

works best as the anchor of a layered backup stack with mapped loads

Threats

overspending before you define critical loads is the classic mistake here

Check Price

Small power station

Anker 521

4.4

~$200

Small power station

Prepper take

Anker 521 is strongest when small power station. Buy it if ideal for vehicle kits, apartments, and first-stage outage coverage; skip it if capacity disappears fast once you add real appliances.

Strengths

Small power station
Low-watt emergency and travel

Weaknesses

capacity disappears fast once you add real appliances

Opportunities

ideal for vehicle kits, apartments, and first-stage outage coverage

Threats

buyers often overestimate runtime because the box feels more capable than it is

Check Price

Disclaimer: This content is for informational purposes only. We make no guarantees about the accuracy or completeness of any recommendations.

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