Only things I've bought and use in my own home. If I haven't tested it, it isn't on this page.
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Power
Jackery Explorer 1000 v2
This is the battery that keeps our phones, router and lights going when the power goes. I bought it because the government's advice stops at a charged power bank, and a power bank won't keep a router, a laptop and a warm blanket for an older relative running through a long cut.
1,070 Wh battery that burns nothing, so it's safe indoors
Runs our household's essentials for about a day per charge
Refills from the mains in about 1.7 hours, or from solar panels
Flats and terraced homes with no safe place for a generator
Keeping a router, phones, lights and a laptop going for a day
Anyone at home who relies on a medical device
Not for
Kettles, heaters and ovens: too much power
Running the whole house, or wiring into the mains
Multi-day cuts without sun or mains to refill it
What I plan on
~900 WhUsable per charge, after conversion losses. My planning figure, not Jackery's.
Here's what it does and where it falls short, and how I plan around both.
Why a battery and not a generator
A petrol generator makes carbon monoxide and can never be run indoors. During the Spanish blackout in April 2025, a couple and their adult son in Galicia died from the fumes of a generator running in their basement. In a flat, there's also nowhere you're allowed to keep petrol. A power station burns nothing, so it sits in the living room with the family, which is where you need it.
The numbers that matter
1,070 WhCapacity
1,500 WContinuous output, 3,000 W surge
1.7 hFull recharge from the wall
All of Jackery's figures
Jackery's own figures for the Explorer 1000 v2 (Jackery UK).
Capacity
1,070 Wh
Battery
LiFePO4, rated for 4,000 charge cycles before it drops to 70%
Output
1,500 W continuous, 3,000 W surge
Sockets
2 UK mains, 2 USB-C (30 W and 100 W), 1 USB-A (18 W), 1 car socket (12 V)
Charging from the wall
About 1.7 hours, or about 1 hour in emergency mode through the app
Solar
Up to 400 W of panels
Weight
10.8 kg
Temperature
Charges between 0 °C and 45 °C; runs between −10 °C and 45 °C
What I'd run in a power cut
The mistake is trying to run the house as normal. You choose the few things that matter and you feed those. My order:
Anything medical comes first. If someone at home uses a CPAP machine or another powered device, it gets the battery before anything else, and you test it on the power station before you need to.
Phones and the router, for news and to reach family. The router only helps while your provider's network outside is still up, which in a wide cut may not be long.
Two LED lamps in the room we're all sitting in, so nobody reaches for a candle.
A laptop for news and, if it comes to it, work.
An electric blanket for an older relative at night. It warms the person rather than the room, so it uses a fraction of what a heater would.
A film for the children in the evening, from a tablet or an old DVD player.
Not all of the 1,070 Wh comes out of the plug sockets, because some is lost turning battery power into mains power. I plan on getting about 85% of it, roughly 900 Wh; that's my own planning figure, not Jackery's.
18 hA 50 W device on one charge
630 WhA full day of the list above, no fridge
700 WhA fridge-freezer for a day
The fridge-freezer is the hard one: at about 700 Wh a day it would take most of a charge on its own, so it gets a short run in the morning and the rest of our food plan works around it.
What it can't do
It won't run a kettle, a heater or an oven. Most of those draw 2,000 to 3,000 W, and the limit is 1,500 W.
It isn't a whole-house backup. It powers whatever is plugged into it and nothing else. Connecting a battery to your home's fixed wiring needs a properly designed and installed system, not an extension lead.
It has two mains sockets, which is enough for the essentials but means choosing.
Charging and solar
I keep it topped up from the mains and charge it again the moment the power comes back, in case it goes again. The one-hour emergency charge is useful, but I plan around the normal 1.7 hours, because in a crisis you may only get a short window of mains power.
Solar is how it keeps going in a long cut, and here British weather matters. It takes up to 400 W of panels, which in summer can refill a good part of the battery in a day. In winter a clear day gives far less and a grey one very little, so solar tops the battery up and won't refill it. Check that your panels' connector fits the Jackery before you rely on them, and test the setup on a sunny day.
Keeping it ready
A power station is only useful if it's charged when the cut starts. Ours is part of the monthly Airplane-Mode Test in the Playbook: on the 1st of every month I check the charge, top it up, and switch off the mains output if it's been left on, since the inverter uses power even with nothing plugged in. It lives indoors, away from radiators and damp, with its vents clear.
It also works as a backup supply for the router. Jackery says it switches over in under 20 milliseconds if the mains fails, so the internet doesn't drop while the network outside is still working.
The drawbacks
The capacity is fixed. If you need to run a lot for several days, you need a bigger unit or a second battery, so check Jackery's current range before you buy.
At 10.8 kg it moves between rooms easily enough, but it isn't something to carry far.
400 W of solar is modest, and on grey winter days it won't keep up with what you use.
Is it worth it?
For a flat, I think it's the right size. One charge covers a day of essentials, the sun or the returning mains refills it, and it's safe in the room where the family is. If you want to keep a whole house running, or you rely on a lot of high-power equipment, you'll need something bigger.
It also isn't a plan on its own. It sits alongside charged phones, torches, spare batteries, water and the rest of your kit. In the Playbook's terms, it's one more way of tying the camel. Prices change a lot with sales, so check the current price before you buy.
