What can a 1000-watt power station run?
A 1,000-watt power station runs anything that draws under 1,000 W while running: a TV, a laptop, a Wi-Fi router, fans, LED lights and a slow cooker. It won't run a 1,500 W electric kettle or a space heater on high. On a 1,000 Wh battery, about 870 Wh reaches the outlet, which runs a full-size fridge about 16 hours or a TV about 5.8 to 13 hours.
"1000-watt" gets used for two different numbers. Rated output in watts (W) decides what a station can run. Battery capacity in watt-hours (Wh) decides how long. This page covers both.
What runs on 1,000 W of output, and for how long?
Everything in the top half of this table fits under 1,000 W. Runtimes are on a 1,024 Wh station such as the EcoFlow DELTA 3 Plus, at our 0.85 efficiency assumption (870.4 Wh at the outlet), from the highest sourced wattage to the lowest.
| Appliance | Running watts | Under 1,000 W? | Runtime on 1,024 Wh |
|---|---|---|---|
| Phone charger [23][24] | 5 to 20 W | Yes | about 43 to 174 h |
| LED bulb (60 W equivalent) [25] | 8.8 W | Yes | about 98 h |
| Wi-Fi router [21][26] | 18 to 30 W | Yes | about 29 to 48 h |
| Laptop [22][27] | 35 to 70 W | Yes | about 12 to 24 h |
| Ceiling fan [22][28] | 31 to 175 W | Yes | about 4.9 to 28 h |
| TV [20][21][22] | 63 to 150 W | Yes | about 5.8 to 13 h |
| Box fan [21][29] | 85 to 200 W | Yes | about 4.3 to 10 h |
| Slow cooker [21][30] | 200 to 250 W | Yes | about 3.4 to 4.3 h |
| Refrigerator [21][22][30][31] | 700 to 725 W | Yes, if surge covers the start | about 16 h at its 52 W average |
| Chest freezer [30][32] | 700 W | Yes, if surge covers the start | about 34 h at its 25 W average |
| Microwave [21][22][30][33] | 750 to 1,480 W | Depends on the model | about 35 min to 1.1 h |
| Space heater [22][34][35] | 750 to 1,500 W | Low setting only | about 35 min to 1.1 h |
| Coffee maker [21][22][30] | 900 to 1,500 W | Depends on the model | about 35 to 58 min |
| Sump pump [21][30][36][37][38] | 800 to 1,200 W | Depends on the model | about 44 min to 1.0 h |
| Electric kettle [39][40] | 1,500 W | No | about 35 min on a bigger inverter |
Every wattage comes from a cited source on our appliances list: ENERGY STAR data, generator makers' wattage charts, Virginia Cooperative Extension and appliance spec sheets. Runtimes are rounded down the same way the calculator rounds them. Plug in your own in the runtime calculator.
How is the runtime worked out?
runtime = Wh x efficiency / load W. For a 150 W TV on a 1,024 Wh station: 1,024 x 0.85 / 150 = 870.4 / 150, about 5.8 hours. At the 63 W ENERGY STAR median for a 42 to 44 inch TV it is 870.4 / 63, about 13.8 hours.
Efficiency is the share of battery energy that reaches the AC outlet after the inverter. Most makers don't publish it, so we use 0.85 and say so. How we got these numbers.
Fridges and freezers are different: their compressors cycle, so the battery lasts by their average draw, not their running watts. The median ENERGY STAR full-size fridge uses 457 kWh a year, about 52 W on average, so 870.4 / 52 is about 16.7 hours. The median full-size chest freezer uses 218 kWh a year, about 25 W, so about 34.8 hours.
What can't a 1,000 W station run?
Heating appliances at full power. An electric kettle draws 1,500 W (Hamilton Beach and Cuisinart both list 1,500 W), a portable electric grill 1,560 to 1,650 W, and a space heater 1,500 W on high. All are over a 1,000 W rating, so the station shuts off or refuses them.
Some stations have a boost mode for heating loads. EcoFlow's X-Boost, Anker's SurgePad and BLUETTI's Power Lifting run resistive devices above the rated output at reduced power, so a kettle heats more slowly. We list boost modes on station pages but don't count them in our checks.
Why do motors need more than their running watts?
Motors and compressors pull a short starting surge several times their running watts. That surge, not the running figure, is often what trips a smaller station.
A fridge runs at 700 to 725 W by generator charts but needs 2,200 to 2,900 W for a moment to start. A sump pump runs at 800 to 1,200 W and needs 1,300 to 3,200 W to start. So a station rated 1,000 W only runs these if its maker publishes a surge rating high enough. The DJI Power 500, for example, is rated 1,000 W but DJI doesn't publish a surge figure, so we can't confirm it starts a fridge.
Which 1,000 Wh stations have more than 1,000 W of output?
Most of them. Of the 11 stations in our data with 998 to 1,264 Wh, ten are rated 1,500 to 2,200 W. The exception is the DJI Power 1000 Mini at 800 W.
| Station | Battery | Rated output | Surge |
|---|---|---|---|
| Goal Zero Yeti 1000 (6th Gen) [2][3] | 998 Wh | 2,000 W | 3,600 W |
| DJI Power 1000 Mini [4][5] | 1,008 Wh | 800 W | not published |
| Anker SOLIX C1000 Gen 2 [6][7][8] | 1,024 Wh | 2,000 W | 3,000 W |
| BLUETTI Elite 100 V2 [9][10][11] | 1,024 Wh | 1,800 W | 3,600 W |
| EcoFlow DELTA 3 [12] | 1,024 Wh | 1,800 W | 3,600 W |
| EcoFlow DELTA 3 Plus [1] | 1,024 Wh | 1,800 W | 3,600 W |
| DJI Power 1000 [13] | 1,024 Wh | 2,200 W | 4,400 W |
| Anker SOLIX C1000 [7] | 1,056 Wh | 1,800 W | 2,400 W |
| Jackery Explorer 1000 v2 [14] | 1,070 Wh | 1,500 W | 3,000 W |
| BLUETTI AC180 [15][16] | 1,152 Wh | 1,800 W | 2,700 W |
| Jackery Explorer 1000 Plus [17] | 1,264 Wh | 2,000 W | 4,000 W |
With 1,500 W or more of output, a 1,000 Wh station can run a 1,500 W kettle or heater, just not for long: 870.4 / 1,500 is about 35 minutes. The station pages show the full checks for the EcoFlow DELTA 3 Plus, Anker SOLIX C1000 Gen 2 and Jackery Explorer 1000 v2.
How long will a 1,000 W station last running a microwave or space heater?
About 35 minutes to an hour on a 1,024 Wh battery, if its output covers the load. A microwave draws 750 to 1,480 W by our sources, so 870.4 / 1,480 is about 35 minutes of cooking and 870.4 / 750 about 1.1 hours.
A space heater on low (750 W) lasts about 1.1 hours and on high (1,500 W) about 35 minutes. See the full checks for the microwave and the space heater.
What do these estimates leave out?
Batteries hold less as they age and in the cold, and most stations keep a small reserve. Your appliances may draw more or less than the published figures; the label on yours, or a plug-in watt meter, beats any table.
What should I read next?
Quick answers
What can a 1000-watt power station run?
Anything that draws under 1,000 W while running, such as a TV (63 to 150 W), a laptop (35 to 70 W), a Wi-Fi router (18 to 30 W), fans, LED lights and a slow cooker (200 to 250 W). It can't run a 1,500 W kettle or a 1,500 W space heater on high.
How long will a 1000 Wh power station last?
A 1,024 Wh station delivers about 870 Wh at the outlet (1,024 x 0.85). That runs a 52 W average fridge about 16 hours, a TV about 5.8 to 13 hours, a laptop about 12 to 24 hours and a 1,500 W kettle about 35 minutes.
Can a 1000 Wh power station run a refrigerator?
Most can. A fridge needs about 725 W running and 2,200 to 2,900 W to start, and 10 of the 11 stations in our data with 998 to 1,264 Wh are rated 1,500 to 2,200 W, and 8 of them publish a surge of 3,000 W or more. At the ENERGY STAR median of 52 W a day, a 1,024 Wh station runs it about 16 hours.
Is a 1000-watt power station the same as a 1000 Wh power station?
No. Watts is the rated output, how much power it delivers at once. Watt-hours is the battery size, how long it lasts. Most 1,000 Wh stations are rated well above 1,000 W of output.