How long will a Enphase IQ Battery 5P keep your power on?
With no sun, one Enphase IQ Battery 5P runs a fridge, freezer, furnace fan, lights, Wi-Fi, TV and microwave for about 16 h. With 7 kW of solar panels to recharge it, it gets many homes through a three-day outage.
Enphase’s IQ Battery 5P stores 5 kWh per unit and is usually installed in twos or threes alongside Enphase microinverters.
Runtime for one appliance at a time
| Appliance | kWh/day | Runtime | Power OK? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Refrigerator | 1.4 | 3.5 days | ✓ |
| Chest freezer | 0.8 | 5.9 days | ✓ |
| Modem + Wi-Fi router | 0.5 | 9.9 days | ✓ |
| LED lights (6 rooms) | 0.3 | 15.8 days | ✓ |
| Phones & laptop charging | 0.2 | 26.4 days | ✓ |
| Gas furnace blower (winter) | 3.0 | 38 h | ✓ |
| TV + streaming box | 0.5 | 9.9 days | ✓ |
| Box / ceiling fans (2) | 0.8 | 5.9 days | ✓ |
| Window AC (one room) | 7.2 | 16 h | ✓ |
| Central AC (3-ton) | 28.0 | 4 h | check surge |
| Heat pump heating (winter) | 30.0 | 4 h | check surge |
| Space heater | 6.0 | 19 h | ✓ |
| Well pump (1 hp) | 1.0 | 4.7 days | ✓ |
| Sump pump (⅓ hp, storm) | 1.6 | 71 h | ✓ |
| Electric water heater | 9.0 | 13 h | ✗ too big |
| CPAP (no humidifier) | 0.3 | 14.8 days | ✓ |
| Oxygen concentrator | 8.4 | 14 h | ✓ |
| Microwave | 0.3 | 14.4 days | ✓ |
| Coffee maker | 0.2 | 26.4 days | ✓ |
| Electric cooktop (1 burner) | 1.1 | 4.2 days | ✓ |
| Washing machine (1 load) | 0.5 | 9.5 days | ✓ |
| EV charging (Level 1, 120 V) | 5.6 | 20 h | ✓ |
Typical running watts × hours a day; starting full, no recharge. “Check surge” means the motor’s start-up draw may exceed the battery’s surge rating.
Runtime for common outage plans
| What stays on | kWh/day | 1 unit | 2 units |
|---|---|---|---|
| Keep the food cold & lights on | 2.3 | 49 h | 4.1 days |
| Essentials + furnace fan + TV | 6.9 | 16 h | 33 h |
| Rural: essentials + well + sump | 6.0 | 19 h | 38 h |
| Summer outage with window AC | 10.8 | 11 h | 21 h |
| Medical: CPAP + essentials | 2.6 | 43 h | 3.6 days |
| Most of the house incl. central AC | 33.5 | ✗ power | 7 h |
“✗ power” means everything switched on at once would draw more than the battery can deliver.
With solar: a three-day outage in 19 cities
One Enphase IQ Battery 5P plus 7 kW of south-facing panels, running the essentials above (6.9 kWh/day). The outage starts at 6 pm.
| City | Overcast January | Typical July |
|---|---|---|
| Seattle, WA | 26 h | all 3 days ✓ |
| Portland, OR | 27 h | all 3 days ✓ |
| San Francisco, CA | 61 h | all 3 days ✓ |
| Los Angeles, CA | all 3 days ✓ | all 3 days ✓ |
| Phoenix, AZ | all 3 days ✓ | all 3 days ✓ |
| Las Vegas, NV | all 3 days ✓ | all 3 days ✓ |
| Denver, CO | all 3 days ✓ | all 3 days ✓ |
| Salt Lake City, UT | 37 h | all 3 days ✓ |
| Dallas, TX | all 3 days ✓ | all 3 days ✓ |
| Houston, TX | all 3 days ✓ | all 3 days ✓ |
| Minneapolis, MN | 35 h | all 3 days ✓ |
| Chicago, IL | 31 h | all 3 days ✓ |
| Detroit, MI | 30 h | all 3 days ✓ |
| Atlanta, GA | all 3 days ✓ | all 3 days ✓ |
| Miami, FL | all 3 days ✓ | all 3 days ✓ |
| Charlotte, NC | all 3 days ✓ | all 3 days ✓ |
| Washington, DC | 36 h | all 3 days ✓ |
| New York, NY | 34 h | all 3 days ✓ |
| Boston, MA | 34 h | all 3 days ✓ |
Questions about the Enphase IQ Battery 5P
How long will a Enphase IQ Battery 5P run a refrigerator?
About 3.5 days on its own, with no solar recharge, for a typical fridge using 1.4 kWh a day.
Can a Enphase IQ Battery 5P run central air conditioning?
It can supply the roughly 3.5 kW a 3-ton unit draws, but at about 28 kWh on a hot day it would empty quickly. Check its motor-start (surge) rating with your installer.
How many Enphase IQ Battery 5P units do I need for whole-home backup?
Roughly 6 for a house with central AC and electric cooking, sized both for energy (a day of use) and for power (everything running at once). For essentials only, one or two are usually enough.
Can solar panels recharge a Enphase IQ Battery 5P during a power outage?
Yes, with Enphase IQ8 microinverters and the IQ System Controller.
Compare with other batteries
| Battery | Usable kWh | kW | Essentials runtime |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tesla Powerwall 3 | 13.5 | 11.5 | 44 h |
| FranklinWH aPower 2 | 15 | 10 | 49 h |
| SolarEdge Home Battery | 9.7 | 5 | 32 h |
| Generic 10 kWh home battery | 10 | 5 | 33 h |
| EcoFlow DELTA Pro Ultra (1 battery) | 6.1 | 7.2 | 18 h |
| Anker SOLIX F3800 | 3.84 | 6 | 11 h |
| Jackery Explorer 2000 Plus | 2.04 | 3 | 6 h |
| EcoFlow DELTA 2 (1 kWh class) | 1.02 | 1.8 | 3 h |
Specifications are manufacturer figures as of September 2026. We are not paid by any manufacturer. Verify the current datasheet before you buy.