Power stations

What size power station do you need for a power outage?

By Karan S. · Updated October 26, 2026 · Numbers come from official data and update with it.

Short answer: to keep a fridge, a fan, a TV and a laptop going through a typical day, you need about 1,948 Wh. A 1,000 Wh power station covers about 11 hours of that day. A 2,000 Wh one covers about 21 hours. The surge rating also needs to clear 1,200 W so the fridge can start.

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Quick picks

Anker SOLIX C1000 (C1000X)

1,056 Wh · 1,800 W · 2,400 W surge

View on Amazon or see it on Anker SOLIX's site

Jackery Explorer 2000 v2

2,042 Wh · 2,200 W · 4,400 W surge

View on Amazon or see it on Jackery's site

BLUETTI AC200L

2,048 Wh · 2,400 W · 7,200 W surge

View on Amazon or see it on BLUETTI's site

Step 1: add up what you’ll run

These are typical daily figures from the ENERGY STAR lists. Your own appliances may use more or less.

Appliance	Average draw	Use per day	Energy per day
Refrigerator	52 W	All day, the compressor cycles	1,252 Wh
Ceiling fan (high speed)	30 W	8 hours	240 Wh
TV (50–55 inch)	84 W	5 hours	420 Wh
Laptop	—	A normal day’s use	36 Wh
Total			1,948 Wh

Working from home with a Starlink Mini adds about 960 Wh a day if it runs around the clock, which makes the total 2,908 Wh.

Step 2: check the surge

The fridge is the hard part. Its compressor needs about 1,200 W for a moment as it starts (Honda’s wattage guide), so pick a power station with a surge rating comfortably above that. Fans, TVs and laptops have no real start-up surge.

Step 3: match the battery

We assume 85% of the battery is usable. The last column is how much of that typical day each power station covers on one charge.

Power station	Battery	Surge	Covers about
EcoFlow RIVER 3	245 Wh	600 W	Can’t start a fridge
EcoFlow DELTA 3 Plus	1,024 Wh	3,600 W	11 hours
Anker SOLIX C1000	1,056 Wh	2,400 W	11 hours
Jackery Explorer 1000 v2	1,070 Wh	3,000 W	11 hours
BLUETTI AC180	1,152 Wh	2,700 W	12 hours
Jackery Explorer 2000 v2	2,042 Wh	4,400 W	21 hours
Anker SOLIX C2000 Gen 2	2,048 Wh	4,000 W	21 hours
BLUETTI AC200L	2,048 Wh	7,200 W	21 hours

Our pick by outage length

A few hours, or overnight: a 1,000 Wh class station such as the Anker SOLIX C1000 or EcoFlow DELTA 3 Plus.
A full day: a 2,000 Wh class station such as the Jackery Explorer 2000 v2 or BLUETTI AC200L.
Several days: pair a 2,000 Wh station with a solar panel, or look at a generator with our generator size calculator.

In India, where cuts are often short and frequent, a home inverter with battery is the usual choice for fans and lights. A power station makes more sense if you need it to be portable or silent.

What not to run on a power station

Heating appliances drain a battery fast. A space heater draws about 1,500 W, so even the biggest station here would last only around 1.2 hours. A microwave is fine for a few minutes, but don’t plan meals around one.

Measure your own appliances

Typical figures get you close. A plug-in electricity usage monitor shows the real Wh your fridge or TV uses in a day. Swap those numbers into Step 1, or tick your appliances in the power station checker.