Your numbers
1
Your desk setup
2
Work hours and battery characteristics
Battery & storage
Battery size for home office backup
Check off your desk setup and set your work hours. Get a battery size for keeping remote work running through an outage.
How it works
Three steps to sizing your home office
Step 1
Check off your actual desk equipment
Include the router, since internet access matters as much as the computer itself for remote work; the internet router backup tool covers this specifically.
Step 2
Set your working hours
A typical workday is a reasonable target duration for this small, focused load.
Step 3
Consider a portable power station
Given how small this load typically is, a portable unit may cover it without a full home battery system. The critical loads calculator helps if you're combining it with other essentials.
Understanding home office backup sizing
Why home office loads are small compared to most household backup needs
A typical home office setup, desktop, monitor, router, and desk lamp, draws around 225 combined watts, a fraction of what appliances like refrigerators, well pumps, or HVAC systems require. This makes home office backup one of the smallest and most affordable loads to cover on its own, often well under 3 kWh for a full workday, a cost the quick financing comparison tool in our Financing category can put into concrete terms if you're weighing it against a larger system.
Why the router matters as much as the computer
A perfectly functioning, battery-backed computer is of little use for remote work without internet access, which makes the router and modem essential inclusions in this load list, not optional extras. It's also worth checking with your internet provider whether their equipment at the neighborhood level stays operational during a local power outage, a topic the internet router backup tool covers directly, and one the FCC's guidance on backup power for communications services addresses at the provider level.
When a portable power station is the more practical choice
Given how small a home office load typically is, a portable power station in the 1 to 2 kWh range often covers a full workday without requiring a full home battery installation, especially if home office backup is the only load being considered, an option ENERGY STAR's product database lists as a category of its own separate from whole-home battery systems. This can be a much more affordable path to remote work continuity than installing a whole home battery system for this purpose alone.
What to do with this number next
If you're backing up more than just the home office, the critical loads calculator combines this with other essentials into one battery size, or the security system backup tool looks at connectivity specifically if that's your main concern. If your home office setup includes EV charging for a commuter vehicle, the commuter EV daily charge solar sizing tool in our Solar + EV Integration category covers that separate load.
Questions
Frequently asked
A typical home office with a desktop computer, monitor, router, and desk lamp at 225 combined watts needs only about 2.2 kWh for an 8 hour workday, small enough that even a portable power station can often cover it.
Often yes. Since home office loads are typically small, a portable power station in the 1 to 2 kWh range can frequently cover a full workday, avoiding the need for a full home battery installation if this is the only load being backed up.
Yes, and it's easy to overlook. A backed-up computer is useless for remote work without internet access, so the router and any modem need to be included in the load list, and it's worth confirming your internet provider's equipment itself stays up during a local power outage.
A laptop with its own internal battery draws significantly less continuous power than a desktop and monitor setup, and its built-in battery provides some backup on its own even without any external battery system, making it a lower-power option for remote work during outages.