Home / Methodology

Methodology

BlackoutSmart is a reference, not a store and not a lab. The catalog published on 7 November 2026 was read from manufacturer pages that day. This page is the rule set those records follow.

What gets stored

A specification is stored only when a manufacturer or retailer page states it. The model page lists the URL and the retrieval date. If the page does not state the field, the table says unknown. BlackoutSmart does not fill unknown watt-hours by converting milliamp-hours, and it does not treat a model name such as “20K” as a measured capacity.

MSRP is stored only when the page uses that word. A “regular price,” a crossed-out number, or a sale price is stored separately as a displayed figure, with the label the page used when that label was clear. Two displayed figures are not subtracted. The gap is not called savings.

When pages disagree

If a spec table and a heading on the same page differ by a small rounding amount, the spec table is the recorded value and the other figure is printed under Conflicts. If the disagreement is large, or the pages are different documents from the same brand, the field stays unknown and both figures are quoted. The Midland ER310 battery size is the pattern: 3500 mAh and 2600 mAh both appear in Midland’s own material, so the capacity cell is unknown.

A user guide that states 230 V output is not silently merged with a 120 V listing. The record says which document it follows.

What is not stored

• Star ratings, review counts, and hands-on test claims. This project has not tested the gear.
• Runtime marketing such as “hours for a fridge,” unless the page defines the appliance. Even then it is kept as the manufacturer’s sentence, not as this site’s result. Use the calculator with the nameplate watts.
• Percent-lighter or percent-smaller claims when the page does not define the comparison set.
• Retailer offer history. The observation file is empty.

Price language

Until a retailer feed is connected, every model page says that price tracking starts when authorized retailer feeds are connected. After observations exist, the low in this site’s own file will be described as the lowest observed since the date of the earliest stored observation. That sentence is about the file we have. It is not a claim about prices before that date, and this site does not use a phrase that means “the lowest price ever.”

The adapters for Walmart, Best Buy, Goal Zero / Partnerize, Anker, and Amazon are disabled and throw before any network call. Amazon’s Creators API has required qualifying sales, an offers cache of about an hour, and retention limits that have to be re-read before any Amazon price is stored. Details are on the price feeds page.

Calculator

The calculator is arithmetic:

• Usable watt-hours = capacity × (depth of discharge ÷ 100) × (inverter efficiency ÷ 100).
• Average load = (running watts × duty cycle) + idle draw.
• Runtime = usable watt-hours ÷ average load.

Depth of discharge and inverter efficiency default to planning assumptions (90% and 85%). They are not copied from the catalog, because those figures were not on the cited pages. Idle draw is copied only when a page states standby consumption. Duty cycle is 1 unless you pick a fridge preset, and those presets say they are assumptions. If running watts exceed the recorded continuous rating, or starting watts exceed the recorded surge or peak figure, the page says so. If the rating is unknown, the check says it cannot be completed.

X-Boost and SurgePad numbers are not added on top of the continuous rating. Where a page lists them separately from surge, they stay in the notes.

Corrections

A wrong number should be corrected in public, with the date. The corrections log is empty because this is the first publication.