What Size Power Station for Van Life?
There is no single number, because a weekender and a full-time remote worker are different builds. Here are four, with the arithmetic for each.
The short answer
| Build profile | Daily draw | Capacity | Solar input to aim for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Weekender, no fridge | About 300Wh | 500-1,000Wh | 100-200W |
| Weekender with a 12V fridge | About 650Wh | 1,000Wh | 200-400W |
| Full-time remote worker | About 1,100Wh | 2,000Wh | 400-800W |
| Full-time, winter, heating fan | About 1,800Wh | 3,000Wh+ | 800W+ |
The single most useful thing to understand about van power is that capacity and recharge are two different purchases, and most people only make the first one. Capacity determines how many days you can go without sun. Recharge rate determines whether you can live in the van at all. A 1kWh unit with 600W of roof array will outlast a 3kWh unit with none, indefinitely.
Profile 1: the weekender
If this is you, do not over-buy. You leave home full and you come home to an outlet. A 1kWh unit is generous, and the money is better spent elsewhere in the build.
Profile 2: the weekender with a fridge
The fridge doubles everything, which is the pattern across this whole site. It is also the point at which solar starts to pay, because 200W of panel on a decent day comfortably exceeds a fridge's daily average draw.
Profile 3: the full-time remote worker
This is the profile where the expansion path matters most, because you can start at 1kWh with good solar and add capacity when you discover which month of the year breaks it. The van life roundup ranks units on exactly that criterion.
Profile 4: full-time in winter
Winter changes three things at once and it catches people out every year.
- Shorter days and lower sun angle mean solar harvest can drop to a third of summer output, or less at high latitude.
- A diesel or propane heater's fan and glow plug draw electricity even though the heat is not electric — often 300-600Wh a day in cold weather.
- Cold reduces usable battery capacity, and no lithium battery should be charged below freezing. Most units block sub-zero charging automatically, which means a frosty morning can mean no solar at all until things warm up.
Then check output, separately from capacity
None of the arithmetic above tells you what wattage you need. That comes from your single biggest load. An induction hob or a 1,500W kettle means shopping at 1,800W of continuous output or more, regardless of how modest your daily watt-hour total is. What a 1000W power station runs has the appliance list.
And before you commit to a box at all, it is worth reading power station vs a 12V house battery. For a build you will live in for years, the wired system is often the better economics — the box wins on convenience, removability and requiring no electrical work.
Questions