What’s the difference between setting my Backup Reserve to 100% VS. Enabling “One-Time Max Power” (Tesla Powerwall) or “Emergency Backup” (FranklinWH aPower)?
Short answer: they do very similar things during a storm. The difference is mostly about what happens afterward.
Backup Reserve (Manual Setting)
The Backup Reserve slider lets you choose how much battery energy is held back for outages.
- Setting it to 100% tells your home battery to keep all stored energy reserved for backup
- This setting stays in place until you manually change it
- Best if you want full, ongoing control
Think of this as a manual, always-on preference.
One-Time Max Power or Emergency Backup (Temporary Shortcut)
When Storm Watch (Tesla) is active, Tesla may offer a One-Time Max Power options. Likewise, for FranklinWH, when Storm Hedge is active, FranklinWH may offer an Emergency Backup option.
- These options temporarily tell your battery to charge to full and hold that energy
- It’s designed specifically for a storm event
- Once the weather alert ends, your system automatically returns to its previous settings
Think of this as a set-it-and-forget-it storm mode.
Which Should You Use?
During a storm, either option is perfectly fine. Both prioritize having as much backup power available as possible.
- Choose One-Time Max Power (Tesla) / Emergency Backup (FranklinWH) if you want something temporary that resets on its own
- Choose Backup Reserve at 100% if you prefer a manual setting you can adjust later
A Reassuring Note for First-Timers
If you’re seeing new options appear in the app during a storm, that’s normal. Tesla and FranklinWH surface these tools to make storm prep easier, not more complicated. So if your battery entered into its storm mode automatically and you selected One-Time Max Power or Emergency Backup, your system is behaving exactly as intented!
If the battery charged up and is holding power, that’s a good sign.
