Consumer Reports has no financial relationship with advertisers on this site. The typical American household loses power once or twice a year for an average of about 3 hours, according to the U.S.

Our editor-tested and researched portable and whole-home options keep appliances and other essentials running during an ...

Mike De Socio is a CNET contributor who writes about energy, personal finance, electric vehicles and climate change. He's also the author of the nonfiction book, "Morally Straight: How the Fight for ...

Start by making a list of the devices and appliances you need to power and add up the number of watts it takes to run them. Consider the fuel options to generate backup power, whether it's gas or ...

When you shop for a home generator, you are usually reacting to the memory of a blackout, not calmly running numbers. That is how you end up with a unit that is far too small to keep your real ...