The honest home-battery guide
Should you actually buy a home battery?
We model your real numbers in about 30 seconds: likely savings, backup hours, and the incentives you actually qualify for. Then we tell you the truth, even when the answer is no.
Worth It? · instant verdict
More states coming soonFree · No account · We never sell your data
Or find your incentives by ZIP without running the full calculator.
● We take no money from installers or manufacturers to change a verdict, and we publish the ones that are not worth it.
$0
Federal purchase credit for a 2026 buyer (25D expired Dec 31 2025)
IRS, 2026
$14k-$18k
Typical installed cost, one battery
HBR install survey 2026
6-13 yrs
Realistic payback without solar
HBR modeling
~13.5 kWh
Usable capacity of a mainstream unit
Manufacturer specs
Honest comparisons
Compare all batteries →13.5kWh usable
Tesla Powerwall 3
High continuous output in one integrated unit, if you do not need to expand much.
15kWh usable
FranklinWH aPower 2
Its smart panel does whole-home load management most rivals leave out.
5kWh usable
Enphase IQ 5P
Fully modular and microinverter-based: granular to size, but more parts to install.
Latest guides
Archive →Buying
Do you need a battery, or just a generator?
The honest decision tree most sites skip.
Jun 24, 2026·9 min✓ Verified
Rates
Time-of-use plans, explained without jargon
Why a battery is worthless on the wrong rate plan.
Jun 18, 2026·7 min✓ Verified
Incentives
Is there still a home battery tax credit in 2026?
What changed when the homeowner credit expired, and the lease route that survived.
Jun 11, 2026·6 min✓ Verified
Reality check
When a battery is NOT worth it (yes, really)
Five situations where we tell readers to wait.
Jun 2, 2026·8 min✓ Verified
State reports
Where you live changes the math
Rates, incentives, and outage risk vary so much by state that the same battery can pay back in 6 years or never. Each report uses that state's real EIA average rate, and says so plainly when a state offers no battery incentive at all.
Our promise
We are reader-supported and take no ad or installer money. Some product links are affiliate links, disclosed plainly on every page that carries them, and they never change a verdict. Every rating method and every product we do not recommend is published in full.
✓ No installer ad money
✓ Sources & dates on the record
✓ We publish the losers