What Size Power Station Do You Need for Camping?

The sizing math

Every power station lists two numbers. Watt-hours (Wh) are the size of the tank: how much energy it holds. Watts (W) on the AC outlets are the size of the pipe: how much it can deliver at once. Our solar and power station guide explains both. To size one for camping:

1. List your gear with its watts and the hours a day you'll run it. The label or the manual usually lists watts.
2. Multiply and add. Watts × hours = watt-hours a day for each item.
3. Divide by 0.85. Power stations lose some energy turning battery power into AC and USB. Jackery's own manual estimates run time as capacity × 0.85 ÷ your device's watts, and our Power Station & Solar Sizer uses the same 85%.
4. Multiply by the days you'll go without recharging. If you'll have solar, subtract what the panel puts back each day.
5. Check the AC watts. The station has to handle everything that runs at the same time, plus the biggest single item.

The calculator does all of this with a pick list of common camp gear, so you don't need to look up every watt.

What common camp gear uses

Cooler: Dometic lists 0.98 Ah per hour at 12 V in 90 °F heat, about 12 W. Thermoelectric: OutdoorGearLab's measured steady draw. CPAP: our planning figure, see our CPAP camping guide. Laptop, blanket, coffee maker, microwave and heater: Virginia Cooperative Extension. Phones: our estimate. Hours are examples; use your own.

The pattern is clear. Things that make heat (coffee makers, heaters, hair dryers, electric grills) use hundreds or thousands of watts. Electronics and LED lights use a few watts to a few dozen. A station can run electronics for days and heat-makers for minutes.

A weekend camp, worked out

Here's a typical truck or tent setup run through our Power Station & Solar Sizer:

Watts from the calculator's gear list. The tent fan, lights and phones are estimates, so check your own gear's labels.

• 3 days, no solar: 3 × 527 = 1,581 Wh. The next common size up is 2,000 Wh.
• 3 days with a 200 W panel and 5 sun hours: the calculator plans on 75% of the panel's rating getting stored, so 200 × 5 × 0.75 = 750 Wh a day. That's more than the 527 Wh you use, so the station only needs to hold one day: 527 Wh, rounded up to a 700 Wh station.
• Panel to just keep up: 527 ÷ (5 × 0.75) = 141 W, so a 150 W panel.

That's the big lesson: a modest solar panel lets you buy a much smaller, lighter station. Add a CPAP with a heated humidifier and the daily total roughly doubles to about 1,026 Wh, so you'd want about 300 W of panel, or a 3,600 Wh station (3 × 1,026 = 3,078 Wh) for three days without solar.

What each size really runs

Days = station Wh ÷ daily use from the station (cooler: 288 ÷ 0.85 = 339 Wh a day; weekend camp: 527 Wh a day). Treats the full rated capacity as usable, like our calculator does. Real stations give a bit less as they age and in the cold.

Check the AC rating as well as the watt-hours. Jackery's 550 Wh Explorer manual says its AC outlets handle devices up to 500 W total, which rules out a coffee maker. Bigger stations go higher: EcoFlow lists 1,800 W continuous and 2,700 W surge for its 1,024 Wh DELTA 2. Compare picks on our power stations page.

Will it run a fridge?

Yes, if it's the right kind of fridge.

• 12 V compressor cooler: yes, easily. OutdoorGearLab measured compressor coolers holding temperature on about 6 to 11 watts once they were cold. Dometic's CFX3 35 rating of 0.98 Ah an hour works out to about 12 W, or about 282 Wh a day, even in 90 °F heat. Plug it into the station's 12 V outlet so you skip the AC conversion.
• Thermoelectric cooler: not for long. They run all the time. OutdoorGearLab measured about 46 to 62 W steady. At 50 W that's 1,200 Wh a day, or about 1,412 Wh from the station, so even a 1,000 Wh station won't make it through one day.
• A household fridge: only a big station. Virginia Cooperative Extension lists 725 W for a 16 cubic foot frost-free fridge while it runs. It cycles on and off, but its compressor needs a burst of extra watts to start, so the station needs a high surge rating and plenty of watt-hours.

Chill the cooler and food at home on wall power before you leave. Pulling it down from warm takes the most power. OutdoorGearLab measured about 43 to 63 W for most compressor coolers while they cooled down.

Will it run a space heater?

Technically, a big one can. Practically, not for long. Virginia Cooperative Extension lists portable heaters at 750 to 1,500 W. Using Jackery's formula on a 1,024 Wh station like the DELTA 2:

• 1,500 W (high): 1,024 × 0.85 ÷ 1,500 = 0.58 hours, about 35 minutes.
• 750 W (low): 1,024 × 0.85 ÷ 750 = 1.2 hours, about 70 minutes.

Smaller stations often can't run a heater at all, because the heater's watts are above the AC outlet's rating.

Better ways to stay warm on battery power:

• Heat yourself, not the tent. A single electric blanket is about 60 W, so 6 hours is about 360 Wh, or about 424 Wh from the station. Heated vests and socks run on their own small batteries. Our Heated Gear Battery Life Calculator works out those batteries.
• Use a heater made for camping. If you'll use a propane heater, our Propane Heater Run Time Calculator works out fuel, and the heater's manual tells you whether it's rated for indoor use and how much ventilation it needs.

If you do run an electric heater, follow CPSC's rules: keep it at least 3 feet from bedding and anything that can burn, and turn it off when you go to sleep.

Will it run an air conditioner?

For an hour or two, if it's small. The Department of Energy rates room air conditioners by EER, which is cooling in BTU per hour divided by watts. So a 5,000 BTU unit with an EER of 10 draws about 500 W.

• On a 1,024 Wh station: 1,024 × 0.85 ÷ 500 = about 1.7 hours.
• For a whole 8-hour night: 500 × 8 ÷ 0.85 = about 4,700 Wh, which is a very large station or a lot of solar.

Like a fridge, an AC's compressor needs extra watts to start, so check the station's surge rating. Real draw depends on the unit's EER and how hot it is. A 12 V fan near you uses about 10 W and runs all night on a small station, so for most tent and truck camping a fan is the better plan.

Questions people ask

What size power station do I need for a weekend of camping?

For a 12 V cooler, fan, lights and phones, about 527 Wh a day. Two days without solar is about 1,054 Wh, just over 1,000, so a 1,500 Wh station. With a 150 to 200 W solar panel in good sun, a 700 Wh station is enough.

How long will a 1,000 Wh power station run a fridge?

About 3 days for a 12 V compressor cooler like the Dometic CFX3 35, by our math (1,000 ÷ 339 Wh a day). Less in very hot weather or if you open it a lot. A thermoelectric cooler won't make it through a day.

Is a 1,000 Wh station the same as 1,000 watts?

No. Watt-hours are how much it stores. Watts are how fast it can deliver. A 1,000 Wh station might deliver 1,500 W for about half an hour, or 10 W for about three and a half days.

Can a power station run a coffee maker or microwave?

Yes, if the AC rating covers it. Coffee makers are 900 to 1,200 W and microwaves 750 to 1,100 W, according to Virginia Cooperative Extension. They only run a few minutes, so they use less energy than you'd think: 15 minutes of a 1,000 W coffee maker is 250 Wh at the outlet, or about 294 Wh from the station.

Is it safe to use a power station inside a tent?

It makes no fumes, unlike a gas generator, which CPSC says must stay outdoors and well away from where people are. Keep the station dry, ventilated and away from bedding, and don't cover it while it's working hard.

Can I run things while the station is charging from solar?

Many stations allow it, called pass-through charging. Check the manual for yours. Our solar and power station guide covers how it works.

Does cold weather affect a power station?

Yes. Batteries give less in the cold, and lithium cells shouldn't be charged below freezing. LiTime, for example, rates its LiFePO4 battery for charging only above 32 °F. Check your station's manual for its limits, and keep it inside the tent or truck at night.