BLUETTI Backup Power FAQs

A watt is a measure of how fast something uses electricity right now. Think of it like the flow rate out of a garden hose. A ceiling fan sips about 60 watts. A refrigerator draws roughly 100 to 200 watts while the compressor is running. A microwave gulps 1,000 watts or more.

A kilowatt is simply 1,000 watts. It is a shorthand people use so they are not writing out big numbers. 1,800 watts and 1.8 kilowatts mean exactly the same thing.

This is the one that matters most when you are shopping.

A watt hour (Wh) measures how much electricity is stored, not how fast it flows. Back to the hose analogy: watts are the flow rate, watt hours are the size of the tank.

A kilowatt hour (kWh) is 1,000 watt hours. Your HECO bill is measured in kilowatt hours.

The simple math:

Watt hours stored ÷ watts being used = hours of runtime

Every BLUETTI has two numbers on the box. One is the capacity in watt hours, which tells you how much is in the tank. The other is the output in watts, which tells you how much you can run at one time. You need both to be right for your situation.

Sure. The BLUETTI Elite 320 stores 3,200 watt hours, which is the same as 3.2 kilowatt hours.

Run a 100 watt load on it, say a small chest freezer or a cluster of lights, fans and a router:
3,200 watt hours ÷ 100 watts = 32 hours on paper

In a real Hawaii home, with heat, inverter losses and the doors opening, plan on closer to 24 to 27 hours. Still more than a full day of continuous 100 watt draw.

Change the load and the answer changes fast:

Remember, the same battery can last three days or three hours. It depends entirely on what you plug into it.

Start with the appliance, not the battery.

1. Find the make, model and year on the appliance label.
2. Look for watts, or for volts and amps. Volts × amps = watts.
3. Better yet, find the kWh per year figure on the yellow EnergyGuide label and divide by 365. That gives you daily use.
4. Compare that daily number to the watt hours of the BLUETTI you are considering.

That comparison is your first and best indicator of runtime.

Quick example: A newer 18 cubic foot refrigerator uses about 1.5 kWh per day. A BLUETTI Elite 320 holds 3.2 kWh. That is roughly two days on paper. In a real home, plan on about a day and a half.

More than most people expect.

• A refrigerator sitting in direct sun works harder and pulls more power.
• A garage or lanai fridge in Hawaii heat can use 20 to 40 percent more energy than the same unit indoors.
• Tight cabinets and blocked vents trap heat, so the compressor runs longer.

If your second fridge lives in the garage, budget more capacity than the label suggests.

Just as much as location.

• Older appliances use more power. A 15 year old fridge can draw close to double what a new one does.
• Dirty condenser coils trap heat and force longer compressor cycles.
• Cracked or loose door seals leak cold air 24 hours a day, outage or not.

A well maintained appliance is the cheapest runtime upgrade you can buy. Clean the coils, check the seals, and you have added hours to every battery in our showroom for free.

Published runtimes are best case lab numbers. Real homes are warmer and busier.

Our honest advice: plan on 20 to 30 percent less than the math says, then be pleasantly surprised.

A few things that push you back in the right direction:

• Add a solar panel and you can stretch runtime by a day or more.
• Keep the refrigerator doors closed and switch the ice maker off. Small habits buy real hours.
• Run essentials only.

Refrigeration. Fans. Wi Fi. Phones. Medical devices.

That is the list. Everything else can wait until the grid comes back.

It ranges from something you can carry with one hand to something you roll. Here is the full lineup we carry:

A note on the heavier units. The Elite 320 and Elite 400 both have shock absorbing wheels and a telescoping handle, so you roll them like a suitcase rather than carry them. The Apex 300 and B500K are place and leave units. If stairs are involved, plan for a second set of hands. We deliver island wide, and our crew can set it where you want it.

Why the FridgePower is shaped that way. At just 3 inches thick, it is built to disappear. Slide it behind the refrigerator, mount it on the wall, tuck it in a side cabinet or lay it flat on top of the fridge. It fits the gaps in almost any kitchen, which is exactly why it works so well in Kakaako and Hawaii Kai condos where floor space is precious.

A 100 watt load is a useful yardstick. Think LED lighting for a room, a fan, a modem and router, and a phone charging.

The “plan on” column is the real world number after Hawaii heat, inverter losses and normal household use. We would rather set the expectation honestly and have you come back happy.

The short version:

• Premium 30 V2. Phones, laptops, a fan, a CPAP for a night. Grab and go. Great for the car, the beach and the emergency kit.
• FridgePower. Set it and forget it refrigerator and essentials backup. Ultra slim, mounts out of sight, switches over in 10 milliseconds so your fridge never notices the outage. Expandable with Bluecell 200 modules up to roughly 8 kWh.
• Elite 320. Our most popular unit. 3.2 kWh on wheels, about two days of essentials, and it moves room to room easily.
• Elite 400. The most capacity in a rolling unit, just under 4 kWh, for households that want the longest runtime without a permanent install.
• Apex 300. The heavy load and whole home leaning option. 3,840 watts of output, 120V and 240V at the same time, and expandable with B500K batteries for serious multi day or small commercial applications.

Not sure? Bring us your numbers. We will match you to the right unit rather than the biggest one.

Not typically, and we will tell you that straight. A portable unit is built to carry your critical loads through an outage: refrigeration, lights, fans, internet, devices and medical equipment. Central air conditioning, an electric range and an electric water heater are outside what a portable is designed to do.

If whole home backup is what you are after, that is a rooftop solar and battery conversation, and we do that too. Ask us.

Yes, and we recommend it for anyone planning past a day or two. A panel turns a battery that runs down into a system that recharges every morning. In Hawaii sun, that is the difference between a day and a half of runtime and riding out a multi day outage.

We carry BLUETTI foldable panels and can source larger third party panels for clients who want more input.

Yes. Every unit we carry is battery only, with no gas, no fumes, no carbon monoxide and no fuel to store. That is the single biggest advantage over a generator, especially in a condo or a townhouse where a generator is not an option at all.

All units use automotive grade LiFePO4 cells, which are the safest and longest lived chemistry in the category, rated for thousands of cycles.

• Keep it plugged in. Most units run as a UPS, so they stay topped off and switch over automatically when the grid drops.
• If you store it unplugged, recharge it every three to six months.
• Use the BLUETTI app to monitor charge level and get storm and outage alerts on your phone.
• Charge fully when a storm is in the forecast. The app can do this automatically.

We are Hawaii’s authorized BLUETTI dealer, and we have been powering island homes since 2009 with roughly 12,000 customers behind us. Buy from us and you get local hands to talk to, local delivery, local support and a team that knows what an actual Hawaii outage looks like.

Please do. Our Innovation Center is at:
SALT at Our Kakaako, 660 Ala Moana Blvd, Suite 220A, (above Moku Kitchen.)
We are open 9 to 5. Units are on the floor and running.

Yes. Island wide delivery, or pick up free at the showroom.

Snap a photo of the label on your refrigerator, freezer or medical device and bring it in, or email it over. We will run the math with you and match you to the right unit.