Power Station Guides

Search any sizing question in this category — 'what size power station to run a refrigerator', 'can a 1000W power station run a fridge', 'how many watt-hours does a CPAP use' — and the results are dominated by manufacturer blogs. Anker, Jackery, EcoFlow, BLUETTI and half a dozen others all publish the answer, and every one of those pages ends by recommending that manufacturer's own unit.

That is not dishonest, exactly. It is just structurally incapable of saying 'buy the competitor's, it is better for you' or 'buy nothing, you do not need this'. These guides exist to say both when they are true.

Start here if you are starting from zero

What size power station do I need is the pillar page — an appliance table, the arithmetic, and how to turn your own list into a number. If the units confuse you (and mAh versus Wh confuses nearly everyone), read watt-hours explained first; it is 600 words and it makes the rest of the site legible.

The two numbers that matter, and why people mix them up

Watts are a rate: how much a device draws at any instant. Watt-hours are a quantity: how much energy the battery holds. A power station has both a wattage limit (what it can run) and a watt-hour capacity (how long it can run it), and they are independent. A 300W/288Wh unit cannot run a 1,500W kettle for even one second. A 2,000W/1,024Wh unit runs the kettle happily and then runs out in under an hour of continuous boiling.

Chemistry, lifespan and the weight you pay for it

Almost every current unit worth buying uses LiFePO4 cells, rated for 3,000-4,000 cycles against a few hundred for the older NMC packs. That is the difference between a unit that lasts a decade of weekly use and one that noticeably fades in three years. The trade is weight: LiFePO4 stores less energy per pound. LiFePO4 vs NMC covers when the older chemistry still makes sense, and how long portable power stations last turns cycle ratings into calendar years.

The guide nobody else writes

The weight guide exists because every competitor lists weight in a spec table and then never discusses it. It is the spec most likely to determine whether the thing gets used, and the published range in a single capacity class is close to 50%. If you are choosing between two units with similar numbers, that page is the tiebreaker.

Answering a specific question

• Can a power station run a refrigerator? — surge, duty cycle and the real 24-hour figure.
• What can a 1000W power station run? — the appliance list, and where the ceiling actually is.
• How many watt-hours does a CPAP use? — with and without the heated humidifier, which changes everything.
• How long do portable power stations last? — cycles, calendar ageing, and what kills them early.