Which appliances can a portable power station run?

Which appliance do you need to power?

How is each appliance answer worked out?

Each answer compares a cited wattage for the appliance with every model's published output ratings, then calculates runtime from battery size. Nothing on these pages comes from running an appliance on a station. We compared published specifications and suitability criteria.

• Running watts. Each appliance page uses a typical running figure from a named source, linked in its "Where do these wattage figures come from?" section. The page also shows the low and high figures when the source gives a range.
• Start-up surge. Where a source publishes a start-up draw, the page uses it. Motors and compressors are the loads that have one.
• Duty cycle. Fridges and freezers switch on and off with their thermostat. Where a source gives the share of time they run, the runtime uses it.

A station passes when the running watts fit its continuous AC rating and the start-up draw fits its surge rating. When a maker doesn't publish a surge rating, the check uses the continuous rating instead, which is the cautious choice. Runtime is then rated capacity × 85% inverter efficiency ÷ (running watts × duty cycle).

Here's the arithmetic on round numbers. A 1,200 Wh battery gives about 1,200 × 0.85 = 1,020 Wh at the outlet. A 300 W load that runs nonstop lasts about 1,020 ÷ 300 = 3.4 hours. If the same load runs only half the time, it averages 150 W and lasts about twice as long.

Why do some appliances share one page?

Appliances share a page when our sources give them the same running watts, the same start-up draw and the same duty cycle. Identical inputs give identical answers for every model, so a second page would repeat the first one word for word.

The runtime calculator lists 49 appliances. The checks here fold the ones with matching figures into 26 pages. When a page covers more than one appliance, it says so near the top and names the others. A few close relatives with a different draw, such as a smaller version of the same device, get their own short section on the parent page instead of a page of their own.

The grouping is by numbers only. Two devices that sound alike can land on different pages if their sources differ, and two devices that sound unrelated can share one if the figures match.

What are the three kinds of load, and why do they behave differently?

Most household loads fall into three groups: electronics, motors and heating. Each group tests a different part of the station, so knowing which group your appliance belongs to tells you which spec to read first.

Electronics

Routers, laptops, TVs, Starlink dishes and CPAP machines draw little power and have no real start-up surge. Every current model can run the small ones. The question is only how long. A charger or adapter rating is a ceiling, not what the device draws. A laptop charger's rating is the most it can pull while charging under load, and ENERGY STAR's median notebook idles at 4.9 W on a 65 W adapter. (ENERGY STAR Certified Computers V9.0 (dataset), ENERGY STAR, 2026) See the laptop check for how that plays out.

Motors and compressors

Fridges, freezers, pumps, air conditioners and power tools need a burst of power to start, then settle to a much lower running draw. The surge rating decides whether the station can start them at all. That burst is why a station with plenty of continuous output can still fail. The refrigerator check and the guide to surge vs running watts go into the start-up problem in detail.

Heating

Space heaters, coffee makers, kettles and microwaves turn electricity into heat. They have little surge, but they run at a high, steady draw, so they need a large inverter and empty the battery fast. A standard 15 A, 120 V circuit tops out at 15 × 120 = 1,800 W, and a 1,500 W kettle or space heater uses most of that. Watch the label on cooking appliances. A microwave's advertised wattage is its cooking power, and it pulls noticeably more from the outlet. (Features and Specifications - Microwave Oven - NN-SU696SAWH, Panasonic North America, 2026) The space heater check shows how short the runtimes get.

How do you check an appliance using its own label?

Read the input watts on the label, or multiply the volts by the amps if it only lists those, then enter that figure in the runtime calculator. Your own label beats the typical figure on these pages, because models of the same appliance can differ a lot.

1. Find the rating plate. Check the back, the bottom and the inside of the door. On a charger or power brick, it's printed on the brick.
2. Get watts. If the plate gives watts, use them. If it gives amps, multiply by the voltage. A plate that reads 5 A at 120 V means up to 5 × 120 = 600 W.
3. Treat the plate as a ceiling. We read the plate figure as a maximum, so if your appliance draws less, the runtime you get from it is cautious. A fridge or other thermostat load switches off between runs, so its average sits below its running figure; ENERGY STAR's median full-size fridges work out to about 41–73 W on average (ENERGY STAR Certified Residential Refrigerators (dataset), ENERGY STAR, 2026).
4. Allow for start-up. If your label lists no start-up draw and the appliance has a motor or compressor, pick a station with surge headroom well above the running figure.
5. Run the numbers. Open the power station runtime calculator, pick the closest appliance, and type your own watts over the default.

Why can't a large station run an appliance that looks small enough?

A station fails a check for one of two reasons: its inverter is too small for the running watts, or its surge rating can't start the motor. Each appliance page lists the failing models under those two headings, with the figure that stops each one.

The second reason surprises people. Battery size has nothing to do with it. A big battery behind an inverter with a modest surge rating can run a fridge for a long time once it's going, but it can't get the compressor started. When a maker doesn't publish a surge rating at all, the check falls back to the continuous rating. That can mark a model as unable to start a motor it could in fact start. We would rather be cautious than guess.

A few appliance pages also note that their source gives no start-up figure. For those, the page checks running watts only, and the start can still be a problem. Leave extra surge margin.

How should you read the runtimes on these pages?

Read them as estimates for one appliance at a time from a full charge. Loads without a cited duty cycle are treated as running nonstop, so their runtime is a worst case. A sump pump, furnace blower or space heater with its own switch or thermostat runs longer than shown for every hour its switch or thermostat keeps it off.

Very small loads have the opposite problem. An inverter uses some power just to stay on, and with a router or a phone charger that overhead can cut runtime well below the simple estimate. (Performance Model for Grid-Connected Photovoltaic Inverters (SAND2007-5036, King et al.), Sandia National Laboratories, U.S. DOE, 2007) If your device can run from the USB or 12 V ports, turn the AC outlets off.

When you plan to run several things at once, add them together in the calculator. The appliance pages don't stack loads.

What should you do for medical devices and loads not listed here?

For a medical device, follow the device maker's guidance on backup power and keep a margin above any estimate on this site. The CPAP check shows how much the heated humidifier changes the answer, which is the kind of detail only the maker can confirm for your setup.

For an appliance with no page here, use the label method above in the calculator. Large loads that run on 240 V, such as some well pumps and central air units, aren't covered by these 120 V checks. Those need a station with 240 V output or a panel connection, and wiring into a home panel is a job for a licensed electrician with the right permits. How to size a power station walks through planning for a mix of loads.