Comparisons - CalmWatt

We compare home backup power stations the way a spec sheet cannot: side by side, on the
same normalized measures, with every number traced back to the sentence the manufacturer
printed.

Table of Contents

How our comparisons are built

Every number carries its source

Each specification in our database is stored with the manufacturer URL, the exact
sentence the value was read from, and the date we checked it. A value with no source
cannot be published — our tooling refuses to promote it. When we compared a widely
circulated third-party spec table against manufacturer pages, seven of fifty-one values
disagreed, including a recharge time that was off by a third.

We show you what the manufacturer will not say

Some specifications are simply not published. No manufacturer we have checked states
how much energy you can actually draw from the outlet, as opposed to the rated capacity
printed on the box. Several do not publish a UPS switchover time. One does not print the
rated capacity in watt-hours anywhere on its product page. Where a figure is missing, our
tables say manufacturer does not state rather than quietly borrowing a number from
a review site.

Runtime is a range, and we show the arithmetic

Because usable capacity is never published, any runtime figure is a calculation, not a
measurement. We give a range, state the conversion efficiency we assumed, and show the
formula so you can substitute your own numbers. We do not bench-test these units and we do
not claim to.

Starting current comes before running watts

A refrigerator, a sump pump and a furnace blower all draw far more current at the
instant the motor starts than they do while running. A unit can have ample capacity and
still fail to start the appliance. Where the surge rating falls short, our tables say the
appliance is unlikely to start rather than printing a runtime the unit could never
deliver.

Normalized measures, not raw ones

Bigger units win on raw capacity by definition, which tells you nothing. We rank on cost
per watt-hour, watt-hours per pound, surge headroom, recharge rate and rated cycle life
— and we always print rated cycle life together with the remaining-capacity percentage
it is measured to, because 4,000 cycles to 80% and 4,000 cycles to 70% are different
promises.

We say when a model is on its way out

Manufacturers retire models quietly. Where a product has been superseded or pulled from
the manufacturer’s own catalogue, we say so and give the date we checked, because that
changes whether a discounted price is a bargain or a dead end.

Available now

Generator carbon monoxide deaths: the CPSC revision matrix

Eight editions of the same federal report, compared. The first
published count for a given year rises by an average of 51.5% in later editions. Free to
cite, with the underlying data as CSV.

Published comparisons

Comparisons in progress

Listed without links because the articles are not published yet.

Anker SOLIX C1000 vs Bluetti Elite 100 V2
Anker SOLIX C2000 Gen 2 vs Jackery Explorer 2000 v2
Anker SOLIX C1000 vs EcoFlow DELTA 3 Plus
Bluetti AC180 vs EcoFlow DELTA 3
Bluetti Elite 100 V2 vs EcoFlow DELTA 3
Anker SOLIX C1000 Gen 2 vs Jackery Explorer 1000 v2
Bluetti AC180 vs Bluetti Elite 100 V2
Bluetti AC180 vs EcoFlow DELTA 3 Plus
Bluetti AC200L vs Bluetti Elite 200 V2
Bluetti Elite 200 V2 vs Jackery Explorer 2000 v2
Bluetti AC180P vs EcoFlow DELTA 3 Plus
EcoFlow RIVER 3 vs EcoFlow RIVER 3 Plus
Bluetti AC70 vs EcoFlow RIVER 2 Pro
EcoFlow DELTA Pro vs EcoFlow DELTA Pro 3
Bluetti Elite 200 V2 vs EcoFlow DELTA 2 Max
Bluetti EB3A vs EcoFlow RIVER 2
Bluetti AC200Max vs EcoFlow DELTA 2 Max
Anker SOLIX C300 vs Bluetti EB3A
Bluetti AC70 vs Jackery Explorer 1000 v2
EcoFlow DELTA 2 Max vs EcoFlow DELTA 3 Plus
Anker SOLIX C300 vs EcoFlow RIVER 3
Anker SOLIX C800 vs EcoFlow RIVER 2 Pro
Bluetti AC200Max vs EcoFlow DELTA Pro
EcoFlow RIVER 2 vs EcoFlow RIVER 3 Plus

Our full methodology, including what we will and will not
claim, is set out in How we verify.