Quiet Backup for the Circuits That Matter
Home battery systems that keep essential circuits running through an outage, sized from a load assessment and installed with the switching gear and the ESA permit the job needs.
How a Home Battery Backs You Up
A home battery hangs on a wall and stays charged from the grid, or from solar panels where a home has them. When an outage starts it picks up the circuits wired to it almost at once, so the lights stay on and the fridge keeps running. Those circuits are picked at the install and given their own backup panel, or a transfer device that stops the battery from feeding the utility lines. Runtime then comes down to two numbers: the kilowatt-hours stored, and the kilowatts your home draws while the grid is down.
Most homes keep that list short. A fridge, a sump pump, the furnace fan, a modem and some lighting draw far less than central air or an electric range, and a short list stretches one battery over more hours. For outages that last days, a standby generator can sit beside the battery: the battery covers the first hours quietly, then the generator starts when the charge runs low, carries the house and fills the battery back up. The estimators on this page give a first figure for each setup, and a load assessment at your home gives the real one.
Battery Backup Systems
Home battery systems that keep essential circuits running through an outage, sized from a load assessment and installed with the switching gear and the ESA permit the job needs.
Home Standby Generators
Whole-home standby generators, transfer switches, battery backup, and generator maintenance.
Portable vs Standby Generators
Fuel, runtime, installation and upkeep side by side, for a home weighing a generator beside a battery or in place of one.
Rates and Rebates in Ontario
The prices below are the Ontario Energy Board's and the rebate figures are the Home Renovation Savings program's, each checked on the date shown.
| Period | Hours | Cents per kWh |
|---|---|---|
| Time-of-Use | ||
| Off-peak | Weekdays 7 p.m. to 7 a.m., and all day on weekends and holidays | 9.8 |
| Mid-peak | Winter (November 1 to April 30): Weekdays 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.; summer (May 1 to October 31): Weekdays 7 a.m. to 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. | 15.7 |
| On-peak | Winter (November 1 to April 30): Weekdays 7 a.m. to 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.; summer (May 1 to October 31): Weekdays 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. | 20.3 |
| Ultra-Low Overnight | ||
| Ultra-low overnight | Every day, 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. | 3.9 |
| Weekend off-peak | Weekends and holidays, 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. | 9.8 |
| Mid-peak | Weekdays, 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. and 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. | 15.7 |
| On-peak | Weekdays, 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. | 39.1 |
Prices effective 2025-11-01, checked 2026-09-25. The Ontario Energy Board sets these prices once a year on November 1, so check the current prices before you decide anything. These prices already include an estimate of the Global Adjustment and exclude delivery, regulatory charges and tax. Ontario Energy Board electricity rates →
The Home Renovation Savings program lists battery storage at $300 per kWh of capacity, up to $5,000 and no more than 50 percent of total costs, as its solar page showed when checked 2026-09-25. Battery storage qualifies only when it is paired with a new solar system, participants cannot also hold a net metering agreement with their utility, and the program asks for written pre-approval before any equipment is bought or installed. The program's own terms govern. Home Renovation Savings solar and battery page →
Battery Library
The library sorts battery equipment into three kinds. Each card says what the equipment does and where it sits between the grid, the battery and your circuits. Product families appear under a card once their makers' published figures are in the library, and every figure is taken from those documents on the date shown.
Home battery systems
Installed batteries that store electricity and carry chosen circuits when the grid goes down.
Backup panels, transfer devices and controllers
Panels, gateways and controllers that sit between the grid, the battery and the circuits it backs up.
Power stations connected through a transfer switch
Large battery power stations that a licensed electrician connects to a home through a panel or a transfer switch.
Battery Tools
Home Battery Runtime Estimator
Hours a home battery carries your essential loads, and the units a target runtime needs.
Open the Estimator →Generator and Battery Hybrid Estimator
How a battery and a standby generator share an outage, and the generator hours per day.
Open the Estimator →Time-of-Use Battery Savings Estimator
What moving kilowatt-hours from the peak to the overnight period changes on an Ontario plan.
Open the Estimator →Generator sizing, fuel use and the unit converters are on the generators hub. Generators Hub →
Before an Installation
Ontario's Electrical Safety Code says nearly every electrical job has to be reported to ESA, the Electrical Safety Authority, by filing a notification of work, and the filing comes before the work starts. A battery system wired into a home's panel is part of that. Once the installation is finished ESA reviews the work, and when it passes, the contractor who filed the notification receives a Certificate of Acceptance. ESA describes the certificate as proof that the job meets the Code; keep it for your insurer and for a future sale. The ESA guidance this rests on was checked 2026-09-25. ESA on notifications of work →
Before we quote, an electrician visits to check the panel and the service size, note which circuits you want on backup and how much each one draws running and starting, and look at where the battery and inverter can mount. ESA says licensed electrical contractors are the only businesses in Ontario allowed by law to do electrical work in your home. You can check any contractor's licence, ours included, with ESA's own search. How to Check an ESA Licence →
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