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How many watts does my appliance actually use?

A nameplate watt figure is a ceiling, not a reading. Most of these loads draw a range that depends on the model, the room and how hard the thing is working, and some of them draw several times their running figure for the half-second they start up — which is the number that actually decides whether a power station can run them.

Every row gives the running range and names where its start-up figure came from. Where that figure is a manufacturer’s own, it says so; where it is a conservative category envelope, or where we could find none at all, it says that instead, and the verdicts on this site are capped accordingly rather than assuming the machine starts cleanly.

Work out how long these run →

Loads are grouped by what you are powering, so anything that matters in more than one situation is listed in each of them.

Home backup 30 loads

The loads a household actually loses in an outage. Two of them — the fridge and the sump pump — are why most people start reading about this at all.

Welder (stick / MIG) 2,300–11,500 W Start-up: None found Hair dryer 1,875 W Start-up: None found Pancake air compressor 935–1,800 W Start-up: Category envelope Air fryer 1,500–1,700 W Start-up: None found Electric kettle 1,500 W Start-up: None found Electric space heater (1500 W) 900–1,500 W Start-up: None found Coffee maker 1,400 W Start-up: None found Portable air conditioner 1,300 W Start-up: Nameplate figure Portable split air conditioner (hose-through-window) 950–1,500 W Start-up: None found Washing machine 1,200–1,320 W Start-up: None found Window air conditioner 667–1,000 W Start-up: Nameplate figure Sump pump 720 W Start-up: Nameplate figure Inverter window air conditioner (U-shaped) 500–800 W Start-up: None found Well pump 660–1,215 W Start-up: Nameplate figure Variable-speed pool pump 121–627 W Start-up: None found Mini-split heat pump 560–1,740 W Start-up: Nameplate figure Home oxygen concentrator 275–639 W Start-up: None found Mini fridge 81–161 W Start-up: Nameplate figure LED TV 32–171 W Start-up: None found Aquarium heater 50–300 W Start-up: None found Electric blanket 60–92 W Start-up: None found Full-size refrigerator 55–88 W Start-up: Category envelope Starlink Mini 20–40 W Start-up: Manufacturer-stated Chest freezer 30–34 W Start-up: Category envelope CPAP machine 7.0–44 W Start-up: None found Desktop PC 2.3–37 W Start-up: Manufacturer-stated Router + modem 3.1–17 W Start-up: None found LED light bulb 8.5–15 W Start-up: None found Laptop computer 3.9–13 W Start-up: Manufacturer-stated Aquarium air pump 1.5–3.8 W Start-up: None found

RV & vanlife 18 loads

Everything here shares one constraint: it runs off a battery that is also the vehicle’s, and the roof air conditioner is the load that decides which machine you can buy.

Hair dryer 1,875 W Start-up: None found Pancake air compressor 935–1,800 W Start-up: Category envelope Portable induction cooktop 100–1,800 W Start-up: None found Air fryer 1,500–1,700 W Start-up: None found RV rooftop air conditioner 1,690–2,050 W Start-up: Nameplate figure Electric kettle 1,500 W Start-up: None found Coffee maker 1,400 W Start-up: None found Video projector 102–386 W Start-up: None found Home oxygen concentrator 275–639 W Start-up: None found LED TV 32–171 W Start-up: None found 12V portable fridge/freezer 78–125 W Start-up: Manufacturer-stated Electric blanket 60–92 W Start-up: None found Starlink Mini 20–40 W Start-up: Manufacturer-stated Diesel air heater 4.0–40 W Start-up: Manufacturer-stated CPAP machine 7.0–44 W Start-up: None found Router + modem 3.1–17 W Start-up: None found LED light bulb 8.5–15 W Start-up: None found Laptop computer 3.9–13 W Start-up: Manufacturer-stated

Camping 17 loads

Small draws, long durations, cold mornings. The watt-hours matter more than the watts, right up until somebody brings a kettle.

Pancake air compressor 935–1,800 W Start-up: Category envelope Portable induction cooktop 100–1,800 W Start-up: None found Electric kettle 1,500 W Start-up: None found Electric space heater (1500 W) 900–1,500 W Start-up: None found Coffee maker 1,400 W Start-up: None found Portable air conditioner 1,300 W Start-up: Nameplate figure Video projector 102–386 W Start-up: None found Mini fridge 81–161 W Start-up: Nameplate figure LED TV 32–171 W Start-up: None found 12V portable fridge/freezer 78–125 W Start-up: Manufacturer-stated Electric blanket 60–92 W Start-up: None found Starlink Mini 20–40 W Start-up: Manufacturer-stated Diesel air heater 4.0–40 W Start-up: Manufacturer-stated CPAP machine 7.0–44 W Start-up: None found Router + modem 3.1–17 W Start-up: None found LED light bulb 8.5–15 W Start-up: None found Laptop computer 3.9–13 W Start-up: Manufacturer-stated

Home solar 16 loads

The loads a balcony or small off-grid array is sized against — the ones that run all day, not the ones that run for five minutes.

Portable induction cooktop 100–1,800 W Start-up: None found Electric kettle 1,500 W Start-up: None found Portable split air conditioner (hose-through-window) 950–1,500 W Start-up: None found Washing machine 1,200–1,320 W Start-up: None found Window air conditioner 667–1,000 W Start-up: Nameplate figure Inverter window air conditioner (U-shaped) 500–800 W Start-up: None found Well pump 660–1,215 W Start-up: Nameplate figure Variable-speed pool pump 121–627 W Start-up: None found Mini-split heat pump 560–1,740 W Start-up: Nameplate figure LED TV 32–171 W Start-up: None found Full-size refrigerator 55–88 W Start-up: Category envelope Chest freezer 30–34 W Start-up: Category envelope Desktop PC 2.3–37 W Start-up: Manufacturer-stated Router + modem 3.1–17 W Start-up: None found LED light bulb 8.5–15 W Start-up: None found Laptop computer 3.9–13 W Start-up: Manufacturer-stated

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