BioLite Backup is a powerful emergency battery for your large appliances.

Instead of wiring it to the breaker box in your house, Backup with BioLite The home backup power solution uses a thin battery panel that mounts to the back of your appliances to keep them running for days on end. The solution is built around two 1.5kWh Lithium Iron Phosphate (LiFePO4) batteries, Backup Core and Backup Extend. Like other uninterruptible power supplies, the Backup Core charges continuously from the wall outlet when power is available and switches over in the event of a power outage to keep connected equipment running.

If you need more backup power, you can connect up to five Backup Extend units to your Backup Core unit to expand your total capacity to 9kWh – no contractor or electrician required for installation.

BioLite’s system was designed as a cheaper, easier alternative to whole-house backup power solutions that rely on a central battery or gas generator to keep the entire house powered during a power outage. A natural gas generator alone can cost more than $5,000, and a Tesla Powerwall can cost more than $10,000 to install.

The Backup Core battery panel retails for $1,999, but BioLite also offers a Backup Complete solution that combines one Core and one Extend battery for $2,999 and is eligible for a 30 percent home energy tax credit.The company says that the 3kWh Backup Complete has enough capacity to run an 18-cubic-foot refrigerator for up to 60 hours, plus a larger 26-cubic-foot refrigerator for up to 30 hours, along with the occasional light or other small appliance.

BioLite provides backup power solutions to consumers. Kickstarter Crowdfunding Campaign The product, which launches today, offers discounts for early backers and those who choose to make a down payment and pay the full amount in installments later. The company has been around since 2006 and has made products such as a power-generating camp stove, but this is its most expensive product to date, and the usual caveats and risks of any crowdfunded product apply here as well.

Backup by BioLite’s batteries are 29 inches tall and weigh between 35 and 40 pounds. But because they’re each just 2.8 inches thick, they can be unobtrusively mounted behind appliances or furniture, with hardware that installs in about 30 minutes, the company claims. No permanent installation is required, though, and BioLite explains that the batteries work equally well if placed on top of a refrigerator or slid under a bed.