I think it's hard to be having a portable generator + interlock + natural gas connection.

Really the only downside is having to go manually turn it on, but that's maybe 5 minutes of effort.

Having some battery backups would help bridge that time gap, but for the cost, you really can't beat it.

It can be a more than just turning it on. This was the set-up I was completely sold on, but realistically, I would have to pull it out of the garage and move it across my front yard to the opposite side of my house. We just couldn't figure out a good way to leave it in place and protect it from the elements (not to mention prevent a citation from the covenants board). Not ideal in bad weather or in the middle of the night. Also, kind of a PITA for short outages.

With Base, I'll just be using my Duromax to charge the battery, if the outage is extended.

htxag09 said:

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For all your calculations, y'all are acting like Base's power rates are competitive, they aren't.

ETA: I just did the math on my current plan vs. the base plan. Based on my electricity usage / month last year, the base plan would cost me an extra $350 over the next 12 months. And plans are cheaper now than when I renewed a few months ago. If I compared it to today's 12 month plans, base would cost $700 more over the next 12 months.

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Where are you getting your rates from? Because that's not what I'm seeing.

The thing is the interlock I was just quoted for my new home was $1000.

So going with Base the install is cheaper. Yes I've got to pay $20 a month but I'm already doing that for Energy Ogre so I have peace of mind I won't miss renewal.

Also it is pretty nice to consider with Base I won't be getting random middle of the day calls from my wife that the power is out and if I can go home to plug in the generator so her and the kids can be comfortable. If it's still out when I get home I can hook it up then.

We were getting similar quotes for the Interlock, and went down this same path for that very reason.

TXTransplant said:

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For $20/month, I think it's worth it. I'm not including the cost of the transfer switch install because that belongs to your house. You have to get one no matter what type of generator system you install, and it could be repurposed if you drop Base. My coworker said Base also installed soft starts on his A/C units for no extra above the installation charge. Those are all home "upgrades", IMO.

A whole house permanent generator has similar monthly costs, above the five-figure installation, because those units require regular testing and maintenance. Not to mention, any repairs or service are on you.

$20/month is $15k (assuming that's the average cost of a Generac) spread over 750 months.

I often have short duration outages (several hours long) in my area. It's a hassle to fire up a portable in that situation, especially if it's at night or in bad weather, but they sure are annoying (especially if you work from home).

The catch to base, IMO, is going to be if they can keep electricity costs down. If they start to jack up rates, then it could get expensive. I already have a hard time finding decent electricity rates since I use <1000 kWh 9 months out of the year, so for now 7.7 cents is a good deal for me. The extra $20/month is just insurance that I won't have the headaches that come with short duration outages.

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that's a nice perk if you can get it, but these costs are getting recouped somewhere (or the company won't last). As mentioned, the penny or two arbitrage in power costs will start to add up.

I do feel like I'm rolling the dice a bit with my electricity costs. But I'm locked in at 7.7 cents for the next 36 months, which is slightly better than the contract I signed with Think a few months ago. I'm just gonna kick than can down the road and make it a 2029 problem.

it's not going to sink you either way and having a seamless solution has a lot of value.

I'll be curious to see how it works for extended outages. Running one A/C (sparingly) would help quite a bit.

TXTransplant said:

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I do feel like I'm rolling the dice a bit with my electricity costs. But I'm locked in at 7.7 cents for the next 36 months, which is slightly better than the contract I signed with Think a few months ago. I'm just gonna kick than can down the road and make it a 2029 problem.

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you realize none of you contracts are guaranteed right? Now most of them rate never changes but it can.

I can talk about the soft starts. For my $2000 install fee they came and installed a MicroAir flex soft start on both of my AC units. They require a soft start if you get the batteries

I had one of them fail, and the vendor (Belton AC) came out the next morning and replaced them both.

It's covered as long as you are a Base customer.

So my $2000 install fee got me 2 soft starts and the full install of my system. I feel like I ended up with a good deal. For 29/month I have batteries that will give me a good amount of backup - plus a place to hook my generator in without needing an interlock and it will filter my power and not dump generator power directly into my house. The one outage we've had since I got it used 4% in 2 hours or so. I have a 4k sq ft house and 2 AC units. My dog really appreciated it.

I'm not sure I agree with all the hate. Will the batteries last days on their own? No way

Will they last long enough to get the generator hooked up after a hurricane passes? For sure

I would expect at least 24 hours based on what I've experienced with my own Base system if the batteries are full. But again - it's not just batteries. It's also a safer way to feed generator power into your house without needing to buy an inverter generator.

They also do proactive monitoring of the system. I got a text yesterday they are dispatching a tech to check the batteries health. Do I know why? No. Do I care? Also no!

To me that's the beauty of the whole thing. I don't own the batteries. I don't want to own the batteries. Batteries die. Cells go bad, all sorts of stuff happens. For $29/month I'm offloading all that risk to someone else.

$2000 makes more sense if they're installing soft starts. I saw $700 somewhere else, which seemed low.

Everyone has their own priorities. I personally think the "dirty power" thing is overblown and it hasn't been an issue with my crappy Chinese Westinghouse, but it you have a CPAP or other sensitive equipment, I could see that being more of a priority.

Piggy backing a generator onto this system is a nice "fail safe" for longer outages, but that removes the whole "plug and play" aspect of this solution in my mind. In that case, I would rather just plug my generator into my house and not deal with the battery pack.

My personal reason for buying a generator was for those (somewhat rare) situations where power is out for extended periods and I don't want to waste a couple fridges full of food and/or have to schlep around to a hotel. This product wouldn't be the perfect solution for that, so I'm sticking to my old school generator.

It's $695 for the single unit (used to be 25 kW, but they are testing the 40 kW units). The install cost is higher if you want/need more than one unit. Monthly cost is also higher for 2.

A single 40 kW unit is fine for my 2300 sq ft house (no pool), so those are the costs I'm sharing.

Cryption's comment about the noise is underrated. My BF has called that out as a huge benefit now that his is installed and has kicked on.

I know I can hear all the generators from my neighbors inside my house. It's kind of annoying, so I'm actually looking forward to not having it literally right outside my door.

I also think YMMV on this depending on how frequently you have outages in your area. We've been fighting Centerpoint for years. At one point, power was randomly going out multiple times a month for hours at a time (the worst was15 hours in 11 days at one point). It's somewhat better now, but we still have issues. We are all just tired of it and want to take back some semblance of control.

Agreed it fits that well. I see the value, conceptionally. I just think the math everyone is posting doesn't add up, to me.

First, the upfront costs. I had an interlock kit installed for $500, not sure all these $1k bids. I had soft starts installed this year at around $600. So if those are included, yes, that's a big plus and helps the math.

But the bigger thing is the monthly costs. For me, as I sit right now, I'd be paying the $20 fee plus $30 for more expensive electricity. $50 a month simply is not worth that extra convenience. Especially when you consider you're renting and at the mercy of the company. That rental will never go away, it'll likely get higher, that electricity will never be cheaper than market rates, etc.

Meh on the noise. Of my 5 neighbors, 3 have whole home generators. Me going with a battery pack isn't going to magically make my house quiet.

Except I'm not comparing it to a $15k whole home generator. That's a moot point to me as I think that's a waste of money.

I'm comparing it to my current setup of my truck generator that powers my house. That's $0. Worst case and for those without a generator, I have a quick disconnect at my gas line and looking at picking up a trifuel generator, so $1,500. That's a breakeven of less than 3 years, and that's assuming BASE doesn't increase pricing along the way.

Most power outages are in situations or are resolved quickly enough that I don't care to set up the generator. We're fine without power for that one or two hours. If we're getting the kids ready for bed, think it'll be longer, etc., I take the 10 minutes to hook up my truck.

That's what I'm comparing to $50 / month indefinitely.

And, again, I'm not saying I don't see the value for some. Main reason I even partook in the conversation was because the math of this being cheaper just doesn't add up to me. If you see that increased cost, know them, and see value. That's great, your decision and I'm not saying it's wrong. But selling people on all these benefits and of it being cheaper is pie in the sky math

ETA: Also, all this math is ignoring the $500 you owe them when you want/need to terminate.

This is some girl math right here. Go buy a $70k truck so the generator cost is $0!

Agree the whole "save you a lot of money" is probably false in 99% of situations. There are people like my parents who are on a month to month power plan they've been on for years paying an ungodly amount. They would save money if I could ever convince them to make a switch - ANY switch not just Base.

Honestly man I think we are in a lot of agreement. There is value to be had, but that value comes with a price. If the price is worth it (to some like me it totally is) then heck yeah.

But I think the discussion has probably given some info to others in the thread who are on the fence. $2000 upfront and $29/month is what I pay for 2 batteries, plus a non-zero increase on actual power. The return is exactly what they advertise. You get access to the batteries (not ownership of them), a generator port, soft starts on the AC, and hardware + install.

I enjoyed the discussion bud.

Anyone interested hit me up for a referral code and we will both get $250 bill credit on power!

SabineAg said:

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This is some girl math right here. Go buy a $70k truck so the generator cost is $0!

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Except I already had the truck. Also included the cost of a Tri fuel generator for general comparison.

Yeah, I'm not under any illusion this is gonna save me money. It's getting me something I wouldn't otherwise have at a price that I find reasonable (for now).

Honestly, when my BF first brought it up, my immediate reaction was "No!" I think he was a little annoyed with me. But after further investigation, it's better than I expected. Let's see if I still feel that way in 2-3 years or if I regret it.

That's why I went with it. The flexibility is amazing

https://www.basepowercompany.com/?heard_from=Referral&referrer_name=40237716826&first_name=Benjamin

My referral link if you haven't signed up We will both get $250 bill credit if you use it!