This slim little battery you saw at CES 2025 is like a Tesla Powerwall for your refrigerator

It’s basically a Portable power station With the difference. There are a lot of portable power stations on the show floors Consumer Electronics Show 2025but this is designed to easily disappear behind you refrigerator Or on the wall. because Biolite The backup battery is not designed to be portable.

The idea behind the BioLite battery is to provide a simple way to back up key parts of your home without relying on the complex and expensive processes of installing a large battery. Whole house battery.

These batteries are not designed to be moved around like a typical power station, but this means that it is very easy to imagine how to use them.

Small but powerful

The BioLite Core battery packs 1.5 kWh of storage in a unit that also includes an inverter, but the BioLite Complete package also comes with a second unit, the same size and shape, with another 1.5 kWh of storage. A total of 3 kWh is important – it is the minimum household battery size to qualify for the 30% threshold Federal tax credit. The Core retails for $1,999, while the full retail price is $2,999 – or $2,099 after credit.

If you want more than 3 kWh, you can add more battery modules – up to 10.5 kWh.

The battery modules themselves are thin—just 2.8 inches wide—and flat at 13 x 29 inches. Compare that to typical portable power stations that are designed to take with you on camping trips or elsewhere. The BioLite unit is designed to hide in the nooks and crannies of your home, such as the space behind or on top of your refrigerator or mounted flat on a wall out of the way.

Easy to connect and install

BioLite batteries can connect to a standard 120V outlet without the help of an electrician because they are not integrated with your home’s electrical panel or broader electrical system. Instead, they act like a power strip connected to a battery or large uninterruptible power supply. You plug the BioLite into an outlet so it can be charged from the wall, and you plug your refrigerator or anything else you want to back up into the BioLite or power strip connected to it.

Home battery systems capable of backing up your entire home must be wired behind an electrical panel, and this type of work is not typically suited to DIY. A battery system that can return power to the grid will likely require a permit from your energy company. Since the BioLite doesn’t do any of that, you won’t have to pay the thousands of dollars you’d expect to pay to a battery installer or electrician.

The system works similarly to Uninterruptible power supply Or UPS, but it should be noted that the switching time is not instantaneous as with UPS. Your refrigerator probably won’t notice the change from mains power to standby power when the lights go out, but your desktop computer may restart.

More than just backup power

BioLite representatives told me that the batteries can do more than just power the refrigerator when the power goes out. As with portable power stations, it can be charged via solar panels, and the company plans to have it ready for release this year as well. This can keep your appliances running longer than the dozens of hours one of these systems can run your refrigerator.

Another benefit is that batteries can be used to transform your energy usage Expensive interest rates for time of use. You can run your devices from battery when electricity is expensive and recharge the battery at times when it is cheaper. These settings are processed in the application.

BioLite expects to ship the batteries later this year, but you can do it Reserve a unit now.