Before choosing equipment, write down what you want available during an outage, how your household uses it, and what you are willing to pause. Bring that worksheet to a design consultation. Treat it as a statement of your priorities, not a calculation of battery quantity or a promise about operating time.
Start with the guide to whole-home backup for a 200A or 400A Utah home. Ask Solar Mike designs for 200A and 400A service panels; the backup architecture is confirmed at site verification . This worksheet gives that conversation a practical starting point without treating service size as an equipment recommendation.
What matters most to your household?
Begin with the activities you want to protect. Rather than writing only “the kitchen,” name the task: keeping food cold, preparing a meal, or using a particular outlet. Rather than writing “my workspace,” list the equipment you actually use. Describe the outcome you want, then ask the designer to connect it to the relevant equipment and electrical layout.
Give each item one of three homeowner priorities: important to keep available, useful when practical, or acceptable to pause. These are your preferences, not engineering classifications. If two people in the household would rank something differently, include both preferences in your consultation notes. A shared list is easier to review than several conflicting assumptions.
What should you record for each item?
Use one row for each item rather than combining a room into a single label. If you do not know an answer, write “unknown—confirm at the visit.” Do not guess an electrical specification or open electrical equipment to complete this worksheet.
| Worksheet field | What to bring to the discussion |
|---|---|
| Item and location | The equipment name, where it is used, and a photograph of an accessible label if available. |
| Household priority | Important to keep available, useful when practical, or acceptable to pause. |
| Normal use | When you use it and whether your routine changes by season. |
| Other equipment | What else you normally use at the same time. |
| Unknown details | Questions for the designer about the equipment, circuit, or proposed scope. |
| Written answer | Where the final proposal addresses this item or states an exclusion. |
Keep the original list when the proposal arrives. You can then mark each row “answered,” “excluded,” or “still unclear.” This is a communication checklist. It does not turn a household preference into a confirmed capability.
How should you describe your normal use?
Bring the electricity-use records you already have, along with notes about your routine. Ask which additional records would be useful for the visit. Explain whether a recent bill reflects your typical household or an unusual period, such as visitors, travel, or a change in who lives at home.
Describe a normal weekday and a normal weekend. Note when people are home, when meals are prepared, and when you usually charge a vehicle or use workshop equipment. If your summer and winter routines differ, include both. These notes help you explain what you mean by “normal use” without pretending that a monthly total describes every moment of the day.
Keep measured records separate from recollections. Label an estimate as an estimate. If you are uncertain about how long something runs, say so and ask how that uncertainty should be handled in the design discussion.
What are you willing to pause?
Discuss optional activities as explicitly as essential ones. Would you prefer to postpone laundry, vehicle charging, a workshop project, or another activity during an outage? Would that answer change if the interruption continued longer than expected? Record your preferences rather than assuming the proposed system will make those decisions for you.
Ask how each preference would be reflected in the written plan. Which items would depend on your operating choices? Which details still require a site visit? What information is missing? Avoid accepting a vague answer such as “everything should be fine” when your worksheet contains a specific unanswered question.
Which combinations need a discussion?
Make a short list of activities you tend to do together. For example, your household might prepare dinner while using other equipment. This is an illustration of a routine to discuss, not a statement that a particular system can run that combination.
Ask the designer to explain the assumptions behind the proposed operating plan. If there are limits or exclusions, ask for them in writing. Keep the distinction between your desired experience and the scope that has actually been evaluated. Do not use this worksheet to select equipment quantities yourself.
How do panels and controls enter the conversation?
Once your priorities are written down, connect them to the questions in the gateway and backup-panel guide. Ask which part of the home the proposal includes and which details remain subject to verification. Whole-home versus essential-load backup and gateway count are determined at site verification and engineering .
Request a clear explanation of any difference between your preferred list and the proposed scope. Record any disagreement as an unresolved question for the designer. Keep revisions together so that an earlier conversation is not mistaken for the final agreed scope.
What should you take to the consultation?
- Your ranked list of household activities and equipment.
- Available electricity-use records, with unusual periods identified.
- Notes on normal routines, seasonal changes, and activities you can pause.
- Accessible equipment information you already have, plus a list of unknowns.
- Any proposal you want to discuss and the questions it leaves unanswered.
Ask the person reviewing the list to distinguish confirmed items from open questions. Request the next step for each unresolved detail. The purpose is to move from a broad phrase such as “back up my home” toward a shared description that can be evaluated.
Common worksheet questions
Does completing this list tell me how many batteries to buy?
No. It records household priorities and information for a design discussion. It is not a sizing calculator or an engineering review.
What if I cannot identify a circuit or equipment detail?
Mark it unknown and ask what information the site visit should confirm. Do not invent a value simply to fill an empty box.
Should every item receive the highest priority?
Use the priorities that honestly describe your household. If everything feels equally important, explain why and ask the designer to walk through the unresolved choices with you.
What should happen after I receive a proposal?
Compare it against your original worksheet. Ask where each priority is addressed, which items are excluded, and what remains unconfirmed. Keep the answers with the proposal.
Ready to discuss your list? Book a design consultation and bring your backup priorities and unanswered questions.
