I live on a mountain in the middle of a national forest, where fire is a real and ever-present threat. Last fall, a now-convicted arsonist set a blaze that burned over 44,000 acres and prompted a nine-day evacuation. A few months later, as multiple fires raged through nearby Los Angeles, our utility company began implementing…
There was a weeklong stretch in late January when the power was turned off as a precaution, leaving me and my three dogs (my husband was away on a business trip, lucky him) without electricity or heat. Many people in our area have generators, but we didn’t see the need for one until PSPS outages became a regular occurrence.
Thankfully, we had recently purchased the Jackery Explorer 1000 v2, a portable power station capable of powering multiple devices at once, from air conditioners and refrigerators to small appliances with heating elements. If you’re in the market for a backup battery, it’s currently 46% off for Amazon Prime Day. This is the lowest price we’ve seen all year, and most of Jackery’s lineup is included in the four-day sale.
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Big Power, Small Package
The Explorer 1000 v2 weighs just under 24 pounds and features a foldable handle, making it easy to take on your next camping trip or lug to the backyard to power your projector for movie night. Despite its relatively small size, it boasts a strong, 1,500-watt output. To put that into perspective, it can juice up a cellphone 74 times or a laptop 14 times on a single charge.
One of the product’s most impressive features is its lightning-fast charging: The portable power station can go from 0% to 100% battery power in only one hour. If you’re not in an emergency and want to optimize battery health, it defaults to 1.7 hours. The free Jackery app — which, admittedly, I haven’t used — allows you to select different charging modes, including the aforementioned one-hour emergency charging, a 30 dB quiet overnight charging mode, and an energy-efficiency mode.
The Explorer 1000 v2 is equipped with two USB-C ports, one USB-A port, one DC car port, and three pure sine wave AC ports. It also has built-in LED lights, which come in handy during unexpected power outages when you’re fumbling around for candles and flashlights.
It’s a lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery, the odd acronym for which comes from the corresponding element symbols: Li for lithium, Fe for iron, and P for phosphate. It offers an impressive 10-year lifespan, retaining 70% of its original power capacity even after 4,000 charges.
How I Used the Explorer 1000 v2
I learned a lot about my new house during that weeklong power outage, which occurred just a week after we moved in. While my gas fireplace starter, cooktop, and water heater worked, my central heating, oven, and pretty much everything else did not. (At least I could still take hot showers.) The Explorer 1000 v2 was a lifesaver — I used it to recharge my phone, laptop, lanterns, headlamps, and flashlights. After maxing out the high-speed hot spot data on my phone, I used it to power my WiFi router and modem so I could continue working from home (the show must go on here at House Outlook).
Even brewing a much-needed cup of coffee with my Nespresso machine only set the battery back 3%. I was keen on conserving energy since we were told the outage could last all week, but you can also run much larger appliances, such as a refrigerator, using the portable power station.
This may not be the case for every utility company, but I was able to get a $150 rebate from Southern California Edison for purchasing this model because I live in a high-risk fire area. It’s definitely worth checking if your utility company offers similar incentives.
Other Jackery Models
While my husband and I have since upgraded to a portable generator, we still use the Explorer 1000 v2 to get us through shorter, planned outages and occasional camping trips. If you’re the outdoorsy type, consider splurging on the Jackery Solar Generator 1000 v2, which includes a 200-watt solar panel that’s “lightweight, foldable, and surprisingly efficient — even on partly cloudy days,” according to a reviewer.
If you don’t need as much power or prefer something you can tote around, the Jackery Portable Power Station Explorer 300 is a great option. It provides up to 293 watt-hours, which is enough to charge a phone multiple times or power a laptop for several hours. It weighs only 7 pounds and can handle up to 300 watts of output.
Whether you’re preparing for summer storms or need reliable power for tailgating, a portable power station is one of those things you’ll be glad to have. And with prices this low for Amazon Prime Day, it’s a deal worth grabbing.
