(BPT) - If you've ever endured a power outage for any length of time, you know what a hassle it is. And one of the biggest issues? The loss of food and/or medications in your fridge and freezer. What you may not know is that you don't have to buy a big, general purpose power station that provides more capacity than you'll ever need. Before the next power outage, be prepared with a smart solution designed just for your refrigerator, even if you have a limited budget and minimal space.
Here are four key areas to keep in mind when choosing backup power for your kitchen's most essential appliance.
1. Focus on fit and placement
Especially if you live in a small home or apartment, every inch counts. You'll need a backup power solution that fits easily in a narrow gap whether that's beside, behind or on top of your refrigerator. Unfortunately, many dedicated fridge backup units on the market today run close to 2.9 inches thick, which can make it challenging to fit in a narrow space.
One great solution is the ultra-slim 2.6-inch FridgeGuard from Jackery, a global leader of essential home backup, innovative solar generators and portable power stations. This unit comes with a gravity sensing display that automatically adjusts between portrait and landscape, depending on which way you want to mount it. FridgeGuard also weighs nearly half of what many competitors' models weigh, making it easier to fit anywhere in your kitchen.
2. Choose design that makes a difference
Because your fridge backup may be highly visible in your kitchen, you'll want a design that looks good and easily blends into the room.
FridgeGuard was developed with the award-winning industrial design studio Huge Design in California, and is the winner of five international design awards: iF Design Award, MUSE Design Awards, Green Good Design Award, A' Design Award and Competition and SHOP Design Award. The unit boasts a paint-free metal injection molded front cover with a quick release, customizable design.
3. Seek technology created with purpose
The last thing you want in a backup system is to pay for a huge amount of capacity your fridge will never use, that can't act quickly enough to ensure your fridge won't lose power, or that puts undue strain on your refrigerator's motor.
Instead of the significantly higher output most comparable units carry, FridgeGuard's 800W rated output and 1600W surge capacity are sized specifically to what a refrigerator actually draws, roughly 100W to 200W continuous with startup surges up to 800W.
FridgeGuard's Delay Start mode also gives your refrigerator compressor a moment before restart, easing strain on the motor and extending backup runtime. You can choose Delay AC mode to relieve the refrigerator compressor or a sub-10ms UPS to seamlessly restart your refrigerator so that the compressor won't stop at all.
The result? A system built around one job: making sure your refrigerator retains power.
4. Select an accessible, well-priced unit
The last thing you want is to spend money on an electrician on top of buying expensive backup power that's more than you need. Unlike other units that require installation, FridgeGuard simply plugs in and is ready to go, no installation or electrician required, making it a practical choice for renters and first-time buyers.
And unlike the roughly $900 price point of other major dedicated fridge backup systems currently on the market, FridgeGuard starts at $549.99 at Costco, providing a more accessible, affordable unit to protect your fridge through an outage.
Backup you can count on
With FridgeGuard you'll also get a five-year warranty, plus a LiFePO4 battery rated for 6,000 charge cycles at 70% capacity retention, which translates to 16 years of reliable daily use. Choosing a smart solution can give you peace of mind, even during an extended power outage.
Learn more at Jackery.com.
