A little background on our current preps as far as electrical power is concerned:

We have a 22 kW Generac that runs off our 500-gallon propane tank. Can absolutely power everything in our house with no problem... until the tank goes dry.

We also have a 14 kW gasoline/propane generator that can run most things in the house to conserve propane. I would rather save our gasoline reserves for the vehicles, though.

We can heat the entire house with our fireplace insert, as long as we have power to run the blower on the insert and the furnace blower to circulate heat throughout the house.

Our current preps would get us by for a while, obviously. However, propane and gasoline reserves will still eventually run out in a long-duration grid-down scenario. So, we've been looking at solar backups.

Costco has this: https://www.costco.com/anker-solix-c800x-solar-generator-with-100w-foldable-solar-panel.product.4000320605.html at a reasonable price. It would allow us to conserve our propane and gasoline if we're careful with our power consumption. Here is our concern: How durable and reliable is it? If it sits in its box in our basement for five years before we actually use it, is it going to fire up? And would we get the 10+ year lifespan they claim?

Anybody have any experience with this brand or any other advice on solar power backups they would like to contribute? Thanks in advance.

Spotted at Pleasanton, CA Costco location. According to the most recent Costco flyer, this item will go on sale for $119.99 starting Halloween, so I'm definitely looking forward to it.

For those of you like myself who missed out on the sale last month, the Anker C300X "power station" with a 100W Fast charger can be ordered online again on costco.com for $119 ($30 off)

Keep in mind this is DC only, so no AC outlet for your small appliance like fridge or instant pot. I only want it to charge our phones and USB powered lights while camping so it's perfect for our use case.

To be fair in the middle of the a horrible experience. Their product isn't terrible, but customer service and return policy is terrible. I just went through Milton, and I will say for the price you're charged this doesn't live up to a good system especially on time to charge. Granted it is dependent on the sun, but their panels operate at 50% capacity and took 2 days to charge while I'm out of power. I mean doesn't make sense at all. Anyway, I called to return and they expect the customer to pay for the return costs. (find it buried in their "warranty").

I purchased mine through Costco, so naturally I assumed Costco's return guarantee. Not so much.

If you don't know much about these products, highly recommend doing more research and considering a different more established company with better customer service.

Just saw the Anker solix C300 DC for $109 such a good deal and it comes with its own wall charger!

I got an F3800, expansion battery and solar panel on Prime Day. Great price and generally good equipment. However the Anker Solix support sytem seems to not be aware the F3800 exists. If you try to email them it asks for the equipment you have in a search field. The F3800 does not appear there when you search and you cannot put it in manually. I selected another power station and then asked my questions about the F3800, but I don't know if that will work. The chat support person just parroted what is in the laughably sparse instruction manual. No clear answers to my UPS question below:

What I am wondering is can you put the machine in UPS mode and leave it that way 24/7/365? I told the app to never shut off the system and have the unit plugged in to AC with a fridge and freezer in the UPS sockets. It's working fine, but I've only had it hooked up that way a few hours. Kind of risky I know since the unit is known to just shut itself off without warning or notification. I figure in those cases the owner did not set the app to never shut down, but we'll see. I might way up to unfrozen mush tomorrow.

The F3800 does what I expect it to do, although you can never have enough battery capacity IMO. Not sure how it will do whn we have an actual emergency, but it can run a freezer and fridge in a hot garage for a couple days. The expansion battery is invisible in it's operation, all you do is connect the cable and it starts working. The solar panel is a bit lame. It is very floppy and difficult to handle and set up. It also only produces around 240 watts in the blazing Texas sun. I think it is being limited by extreme heat. I need to make some sort of portable frame for it to lie on top of when I'm using it. Great, one more thing to find a place to store it - blerg.

Item 1973572. Cost was actually $109.99 at my local Costco not $119.99. It's a good power station for the price, but the overcurrent protection on the USB-C ports are way too sensitive and doesn't auto-reset.

Finally got to test it yesterday with my laptop while I was out and about. I used it with a 100W USB-C to Lenovo Slim cable for my laptop which normally uses a 170W charger. My laptop does not charge from this underpowered cable, but would happily pull whatever it needs while I'm using it. I've used this setup with my Anker 100W Gan charger and also my Anker 27,650mAh power banks which never had any issues, however the Anker Solix CX300X has a really sensitive overcurrent protection that doesn't auto-reset. I'm guessing there is probably a small spike in current for a few milliseconds before my laptop switches to battery power when it needs over 100W of power. My charger and other smaller power bank handles this well, cutting out power, until the demand is again within limits. The Anker Solix CX300X does not do this, it will cut the power until I unplug and replug the USB-C cable. It's definitely quirky in this respect, so I have to plug in my charger after I've already flipped opened my laptop as the wake from sleep was enough to trip the protection.

I also tried it with my laptop car charger (which does charge the laptop). It works just fine plugged into my vehicle, but when plugged into this power bank, I can see the laptop is down clocking, and the power station struggling at around 100W-110W of current draw (according to the screen). I can hear the power station clicking, and the laptop GPU down clocking to compensate for the lower than normal voltage most likely.

Not bad for the price, but this thing definitely has some quirks. It seems to be using a different kind of power management and protection system than some of Anker's other products.

Has anyone used this for home back-up? I was quoted >$16k for a whole house generator, which I don't really need, and just want something for the rare emergencies that we have and it seems like it might be a good fit. If you did buy, did you buy any expansion batteries or a 2nd F3800 and/or the solar panels for charging. Any insight would he helpful.

I am ready to jump into a battery pack ecosystem. Intent is the ability to power my home if need be. This looks like a very good deal.

https://www.costco.com/anker-solix-f3800-home-backup-power-kit-7680wh--2x-200w-solar-panels.product.4000315214.html

Thoughts on the value? Experience with the F3800?

Comparable on Amazon minus the BP3800 currently at ~$3500 after coupon.

https://a.co/d/cdrwkgF

Sam's Club has the F3800 with 3 200W panels (no BP3800) for about $4500.

I'm seriously considering purchasing the Solix F3800 and an extra battery (the sale going on right now is almost too good to pass up.)

For months, I'd been considering an EcoFlow with their Smart Home panel - which lets me choose certain circuses to off-load onto the battery at night when my solar isn't generating anything. But then the Costco email came in and the 3700 for a Solix + Battery + 400w Solar Panel is incredibly tempting) and now it's in my cart... and I'm trying to do a flurry of research to see if it'll meet my needs and my wants.

Does anyone know if the Home Power Panel will allow me to switch certain circuits of my house to the battery at night? (the way the EcoFlow panel can?

I'm hoping to transfer a lot of the little loads to the battery in the evenings, charge it back up during the day to minimize the monthly reaming by SDGE.

hello, I'm looking into a home back up kit for emergency power and i came across anker solix units. they have a pretty high price tag, but i use anker battery packs and they are great. anyone bought or used these big solix units? I'm wondering how realistically easy or difficult they are to hook up, how long they take to charge, etc etc.

also if you have another brand you know of I'm all ears! thank you!

Hi Anker obsessed people...

My question is about the offering here: https://www.costco.com/anker-fast-charging-67w-and-30w-wall-charger-bundle.product.4000257231.html

How does this compare to Anker's more premium similar offerings in terms of size and weight? As well as performance, heat, etc.?

I am particularly interested in weight comparisons to other models that are more expensive, since when travelling every ounce counts.

Thanks!

Costco has it on sale for $499 with a 100w solar panel. I am looking for something to power a full size fridge during a power outage. I am between the C800 and C1000, but would rather keep the extra $ if the 800 will work. I wouldn't be running much else with it (maybe charging a phone).

Not sure how long it’s been like this, but there are tons of errors on the site. Wrong links, wrong text/specs, missing manuals on the app, etc.

Not very confidence inspiring for a brand if the website has zero QA

I didn't buy the Anker Solix C1000 because I'm some off-grid enthusiast or doomsday prepper. No, I got this behemoth because Mother Nature decided to play Russian roulette with my power grid, leaving me in the dark for six hours like some medieval peasant.

My trusty little 256Wh Anker couldn't even keep the fridge running, and suddenly, I found myself eyeing this 1000Wh monster. Was it overkill? Probably. Did I need it? Absolutely not. Did I want it? You bet your ass I did.

Here's what happened.

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First Impressions

When the Anker Solix C1000 arrived, I almost expected a team of bodybuilders to show up with it. Surprisingly, it was just one very annoyed UPS guy who looked like he'd rather be anywhere else. Can't blame him - this thing isn't exactly a featherweight.

The unit itself is a sleek, boxy affair that screams "I'm ready for anything" while simultaneously whispering "please don't drop me." My first thought? This better be worth the small fortune I just dropped. Spoiler alert: It kind of is, but we'll get to that.

The initial setup was smoother than expected. No batteries not included nonsense here. Just plug it in, and watch the light show begin. The display lit up like Vegas, showing me more numbers than my high school math class. Battery percentage, input wattage, output wattage - it's all there, begging you to feel like some sort of off-grid genius.

Anker brags about their "UltraFast" charging, and I've gotta hand it to them - it's not just marketing fluff. This thing gulps down electricity faster than I chug coffee on a Monday morning. Although, it does sound like a jet engine taking off. If you're planning on a quiet night in while it charges, think again. It's more white noise machine than library whisper.

Anyway, as I plugged in my various gadgets - because of course I had to test every single port - I couldn't help but feel a little giddy. My phone, laptop, even my electric toothbrush all started charging simultaneously. It was like an orchestra of electronics, and I was the maestro.

But the real test came when I plugged in my UPS system. This is where lesser power stations would've waved the white flag. Not the Solix C1000. It took on my entire home office setup without breaking a sweat. Computers, monitors, routers - all humming along like the power grid was their best friend. Not bad.

At this point, I was starting to feel pretty smug. Power outage? Bring it on. I was ready to be the neighborhood hero, the guy with the lights on when everyone else is fumbling for candles. But then reality hit: I hadn't actually used it in a real emergency yet. Was I just a doomsday LARPer with an expensive toy? Who knows. But so far, I've been impressed.

Key Features

Battery Capacity: 1056Wh of LiFePO4. What does that mean in English? It means this thing could probably power a small village in a pinch. Or, more realistically, keep your fridge running for about 10-12 hours. During my tests, it ran my entire home office setup (two computers, three monitors, router, and a bunch of peripherals) for a solid 8 hours before even breaking a sweat.

Output Power: 1800W continuous, 2400W peak. In layman's terms, it can handle pretty much anything you throw at it short of a Tesla charging station. I plugged in a space heater (because why not?), and the Solix didn't even flinch. It's like asking a bodybuilder to lift your groceries - almost insulting.

Charging Speed: This is where things get interesting. Anker claims about 80% charge in 43 minutes. In my tests, it hit 80% in about 47 minutes. Close enough that I'm not calling the complaint department. But here's the catch - it sounds like a small aircraft taking off. If you're charging this in a quiet room, prepare for some serious white noise.

Ports Galore: 11 output ports in total. USB-A, USB-C, AC outlets, car socket - if you can't find a way to charge your device with this, you might be living in 1850. I particularly love the 100W USB-C port, which charged my MacBook Pro faster than its own charger. Show-off.

Solar Charging Capability: I didn't shell out for the solar panels (my wallet was already crying), but the Solix C1000 can apparently gulp down 600W of solar power. In theory, you could fully charge this bad boy in about 1.8 hours of good sunlight. Perfect for when society collapses and we're all fighting over the last can of beans.

Smart Features: The Anker app is surprisingly not terrible. You can monitor power usage, adjust charging speeds, and even set up alerts. It's like having a power plant engineer in your pocket, minus the hard hat and union benefits.

Pros

• Power: This thing could probably jump-start a dead star. With 1056Wh capacity, it's like having a small power plant in your living room, minus the nuclear waste and disapproving looks from environmentalists.

• Charging Speed: Remember dial-up internet? This is the opposite of that. The Solix C1000 charges faster than a caffeine addict chugging espresso. 0 to 80% in under an hour? I've had slower fast food orders.

• More Ports Than an International Airport: With 11 output options, this thing is more accommodating than a Swiss hotel. USB-A, USB-C, AC outlets - if you can't charge it here, your device probably runs on magic.

• Built Tougher Than a Nokia 3310: This isn't some delicate flower. The Solix C1000 feels like it could survive a fall down the stairs and still power your house. Not that I tested this. Officially.

• Smart Features Don't Make You Feel Dumb: The Anker app is surprisingly intuitive. You can monitor power usage, adjust settings, and even set alerts. It's almost fun enough to make you wish for a power outage. Almost.

Cons

• Weight Issues: This thing is heavier than my relationship baggage. At 26.7 lbs, it's portable in the same way a small child is portable - technically possible, but you'll regret it quickly.

• Price Tag Shock: Prepare for your wallet to go on a diet. It's not cheap, and that's putting it mildly. You could buy a decent used car for this price, though the car probably won't power your house in an outage.

• Noisy When Charging: When this thing is gulping down electricity, it sounds like a mini jet engine. If you're planning on a quiet evening while it charges, think again.

• Size: It's not exactly discreet. Trying to hide this in your living room is like trying to hide an elephant under a tea cozy. Hope you like the industrial look.

Final Thoughts

After weeks of using the Anker SOLIX C1000, I've come to a conclusion. This thing is the Arnold Schwarzenegger of power stations - brawny, a bit loud, but damn reliable when the shit hits the fan.

It's perfect for the semi-paranoid homeowner who wants to keep their fridge running during the apocalypse, or for the outdoor enthusiast who can't bear to part with their creature comforts even in the middle of nowhere.

But let's be real - it's overkill for some. If your idea of "roughing it" is a hotel without room service, you might want to reconsider. This thing is for those who are serious about backup power or off-grid living. It's for the person who watches disaster movies and thinks, I could totally handle that.

The Solix C1000 isn't any everyday purchase. It's a commitment. A commitment to being that smug neighbor with lights on during a blackout, and to potentially becoming the savior of your street's frozen goods during an extended outage.

Is it perfect? Nah. It's heavy enough to double as gym equipment, and the price might make your credit card cry. But when you're comfortably watching Netflix while the rest of the neighborhood is practicing their shadow puppet skills, you'll feel like a goddamn genius.

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I recently got a pair of F3800 and home power panel on prime day to serve a manual backup for some appliances and to help offset my electric bill with some solar panels. I have a query regarding the efficiency of the inverters. First some background about my setup to pre-empt comments I've seen on some other threads.

The Anker is hooked up to my utility room sub-panel set to self consumption mode, and mainly feeding HVAC, hot water heater, etc. Average power draw is 400-800W during the day, with spike up to around 1.5kw when things are powering on. Only one unit is currently connected -- the second unit is currently not connected to the power panel. I currently have 1200W of solar panels connected to one of the units. It's 6 200W panels connected in a 2-parallel 3-series orientation. The panels are fed into a Victron solar controller that is set to output 59V. This 59V supply is then fed to the Anker solar inputs.

I have been seeing pretty poor efficiency in terms of solar input to power output from the Anker unit. It's been in the 60-70% range (more on that later). I understand and expect some power losses from converting DC to AC, but this is a lot more than I was expecting. Are other users seeing anything similar to this? I'm considering checking to see if I can return this and get a Victron setup instead based on how poor this efficiency is.

The way I reached the 60-70% number, is looking at the Anker app reported solar generation and battery (storage) discharge for each day. This way, any inefficiencies from the Victron charge controller are already accounted for as it's totally upstream of the Anker. Yesterday, the Anker app reported I generated 4.34 kWh of solar energy (which is actually very close to the 4.32 reported by the Victron controller). The anker app also reported 2.93kWh of storage discharge (which is also somewhat close to the 2.339 kWh my Emporia energy monitor reported the Anker "exported" to my subpanel). Using just the Anker app values, this corresponds to 67.8% efficiency (or 54% if you use the exported values from the Emporia monitor).

I was hoping others might chime in if anyone knows whether the inverters are just really, really inefficient, or if there's an extremely high standby usage of 2kWh per day per F3800 unit. I only have one F3800 hooked up to the power panel right now, because I only received one power cord (another one is in the mail right now). If each unit uses 2kWh per day, that would completely cancel out my solar generation.

Never used Costco Next before, but I’ve needed a new travel charging station and knew Anker was an option so figured I’d give it a shot.

Not only was the one I wanted cheaper there than anywhere else, but they even used Amazon logistics for shipping so I ordered it yesterday afternoon and it got here an hour ago.

All that to say, great experience, and will absolutely be using Next again.