Homeowner's battery test points to a quieter way to keep an oil furnace running through the night

One homeowner with a portable power station performed an experiment to see whether it could weather overnight winter outages, and do so quietly.

The goal was for the Anker SOLIX S2000 to power their oil furnace for the nine-hour test. They then shared their results with Reddit's r/AnkerSOLIXCommunity.

Here's what to know

In a Reddit thread, the original poster described charging their power station to 100% before connecting it to an EZ Gen switch supplying their forced-air oil furnace. 

The test began at 5:30 a.m., when the outdoor temperature was 25 degrees Fahrenheit, and the thermostat was set to 66 degrees. Just 15 minutes later, the scheduled thermostat setting rose to 69 degrees. By the end of the experiment, the power station still had 20% battery left.

The OP also noted that the furnace did not run continuously during the test. They wrote, "Outdoors was 50F when I ended the test so it didn't run quite as much as it would if it was in the 20s all day, but it would definitely keep us warm overnight during a power outage, very happy with it." 

Commenters streamed into the thread to add their two cents and warnings. One wrote, "just make sure, whatever you do, you never plug it into grid power or generator power while it's connected to the EZ Gen switch… I had a different power station that got fried the second the grid power connected. So, always charge it separately."

Another wrote, "Good test with encouraging results. Being able to get through a cold winter night without having to run a noisy gas generator probably gives you confidence and peace of mind."

A third user echoed this, adding, "Impressive! Being able to run a furnace all night on a cold, cold night without a generator is very, very valuable."

Where can I learn more?

Keeping a fuel-fired furnace running during an outage means figuring out how to connect backup power safely and how long it will last. These stories cover homeowners' experiences with furnace backup systems, wiring safety, and battery performance on cold nights.

• One homeowner sought automatic backup power for an oil furnace and two sump pumps.

• A portable power station owner received a fail-safe redesign after flagging furnace-connection risks.

• A prepper spent $80 on an EZ Generator Switch to power a gas furnace.

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