Whole-Home Battery Backup for Townhouses (2026)
If your HOA bars a generator, or there’s no yard to put one in, the backup is a battery, usually kept indoors. For a townhouse with a heat pump or central AC we’d pick the EcoFlow DELTA Pro 3: it makes 240V from the unit for a heat pump or central AC, EcoFlow rates it for an 8,000W surge, and it lists UL 9540, the standard residential fire codes ask for.
Our Picks at a Glance
| Unit | Output | 240V | Capacity, Max | Weight | Hookup | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EcoFlow DELTA Pro 3 | 4,000W (8,000W surge) | From the unit | 4,096 Wh, about 12 kWh | 113.5 lb | Smart Home Panel 2 or transfer switch | ~$2,799 | DELTA Pro 3 on Amazon |
| Bluetti Apex 300 | 3,840W | From the unit, set by a switch | 2,764.8 Wh, 19.35 kWh | 83.78 lb | Transfer switch via 14-50R | ~$1,498.98 | Apex 300 on Amazon |
| Jackery HomePower 2000 Plus v2 | 2,400W | No | 2,048 Wh, about 12 kWh | 41.45 lb | Plug in | ~$1,069 | HomePower 2000 Plus v2 on Amazon |
What Changes in a Townhouse
The battery lives inside
With shared walls and a small lot, the unit usually goes in a utility closet, the garage or a basement. Residential fire codes cap how much battery energy can sit in each spot. UL’s summary of the 2021 International Residential Code (section R328) and NFPA 855 lists these limits:
| Rule | Limit |
|---|---|
| Each unit | 20 kWh maximum |
| Utility closet, basement, storage space | 40 kWh total |
| Garage, exterior wall, outdoors | 80 kWh total |
| Spacing between units | 3 feet, less with a UL 9540A test report |
| Listing | UL 9540 |
If your building department counts a base unit and its packs as one unit, a fully expanded Apex 300 at 19.35 kWh sits just under the 20 kWh per-unit cap; all three picks stay under half the 40 kWh closet total. Whether your town has adopted that code edition, and whether it treats a portable unit wired to your panel as an energy storage system, is a question for the building department before the electrician pulls a permit. Of our picks, only the DELTA Pro 3 lists UL 9540 in the specs we have on file, so raise the Apex 300 with the building department before it’s wired to your panel.
Stairs
The HomePower 2000 Plus v2 is 41.45 lb, light enough for one person to carry up a flight. The Apex 300 is about 84 lb and the DELTA Pro 3 is 113.5 lb; plan on two people, and put them where they’ll stay. The Anker SOLIX F3800 Plus weighs 136.7 lb, and Anker says its 240V port shuts off while it charges from a wall outlet, so it can’t wait on standby; neither suits a townhouse.
The HOA and the outside wall
An outdoor inlet box or a conduit run on the facade changes the exterior, so check whether your HOA’s rules cover it before the electrician starts. A Smart Home Panel 2 or a transfer switch mounted beside your indoor panel keeps the work inside.
Our Picks
EcoFlow DELTA Pro 3
The DELTA Pro 3 is the only unit here with a published surge rating, 8,000W, which you can check against your compressor’s starting draw. It makes 120V and 240V from the unit, switches over in 10 ms, and EcoFlow’s Smart Home Panel 2 ties it to your circuits from inside. One unit grows to about 12 kWh with two Extra Batteries. One catch from EcoFlow’s specs: the front 120V and 240V output buttons can’t be on at the same time, so if you need both from the unit at once, confirm the hookup with EcoFlow or your installer.
Best for: A townhouse with a heat pump or central AC that has to run during an outage.
Skip if: Nothing in your panel runs on 240V; the HomePower 2000 Plus v2 costs well under half as much.
Bluetti Apex 300
A physical switch sets it to 120V or 240V, and its 14-50R feeds a transfer switch for up to 3,840W. That covers essential 240V circuits for a little over half the DELTA Pro 3’s price. Bluetti publishes no surge figure and says motors may start at 2 to 4 times their rated power, so check a heat pump’s starting draw against 3,840W first. Charging faster than 15A from the wall calls for a 60A two-pole breaker upstream and a licensed electrician, per Bluetti.
Best for: A townhouse with a modest 240V load and a tighter budget.
Skip if: You’d rather not size a compressor start against an unpublished surge figure, or you want a UL 9540 listing in hand for the permit.
Jackery HomePower 2000 Plus v2
It backs up essentials only: you plug the fridge and router into it, with no panel work and nothing on the exterior. Jackery rates it at 30 dB at one meter in Quiet Mode, which matters with a neighbor on the other side of the wall. Add Battery Pack 2000 Plus v2 units to reach about 12 kWh, and note that the original Battery Pack 2000 Plus doesn’t fit.
Best for: Renters, owners who’d rather skip the HOA conversation, and homes with nothing essential on 240V.
Skip if: Your heat or cooling runs on 240V; Jackery says the v2 can’t pair for 240V.
Before You Call an Electrician
Total the circuits you need using our battery sizing guide, decide between a smart panel and a manual transfer switch with our manual vs. automatic transfer switch guide, and then ask the electrician to confirm the code edition your town enforces. For loads past 4,000W, our whole-home battery backup guide covers the 6,000W F3800 Plus.
How We Picked
We weighed 240V output, surge rating, weight, how each unit connects to a panel, and fire-code fit for an indoor install. Specs come from each maker’s product pages, manuals and FAQs; the code limits come from UL’s summary of 2021 IRC R328 and NFPA 855. Prices were read on Amazon on October 25, 2026. We have not tested these units hands-on. Our editorial policy explains how picks are made.