Pair your load with the right power.

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 nobody publishes one 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 23 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.

Electric kettle 3,000 W Start-up: None published Welder (stick / MIG) 2,300–11,500 W Start-up: None published Pancake air compressor 935–1,800 W Start-up: Category envelope Air fryer 1,500–1,700 W Start-up: None published Electric space heater (1500 W) 900–1,500 W Start-up: None published Coffee maker 1,400 W Start-up: None published Portable air conditioner 1,300 W Start-up: Nameplate figure Washing machine 1,200–2,300 W Start-up: None published Window air conditioner 739–1,118 W Start-up: Nameplate figure Sump pump 598–1,116 W Start-up: Nameplate figure Well pump 660–1,215 W Start-up: Nameplate figure Mini-split heat pump 560–1,740 W Start-up: Nameplate figure Mini fridge 81–161 W Start-up: Nameplate figure LED TV 32–171 W Start-up: None published Electric blanket 60–92 W Start-up: None published Full-size refrigerator 55–88 W Start-up: Category envelope Chest freezer 30–34 W Start-up: Category envelope Starlink Mini Running draw under review Start-up: Manufacturer-stated CPAP machine 7.0–44 W Start-up: None published Desktop PC 2.3–37 W Start-up: Manufacturer-stated Router + modem 3.1–17 W Start-up: None published LED light bulb 8.5–15 W Start-up: None published Laptop computer 3.9–13 W Start-up: Manufacturer-stated

RV & vanlife 15 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.

Electric kettle 3,000 W Start-up: None published Pancake air compressor 935–1,800 W Start-up: Category envelope Portable induction cooktop 100–1,800 W Start-up: None published Air fryer 1,500–1,700 W Start-up: None published RV rooftop air conditioner 1,690–2,050 W Start-up: Nameplate figure Coffee maker 1,400 W Start-up: None published LED TV 32–171 W Start-up: None published 12V portable fridge/freezer 78–125 W Start-up: Manufacturer-stated Electric blanket 60–92 W Start-up: None published Diesel air heater 4.0–40 W Start-up: Manufacturer-stated Starlink Mini Running draw under review Start-up: Manufacturer-stated CPAP machine 7.0–44 W Start-up: None published Router + modem 3.1–17 W Start-up: None published LED light bulb 8.5–15 W Start-up: None published Laptop computer 3.9–13 W Start-up: Manufacturer-stated

Camping 16 loads

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

Electric kettle 3,000 W Start-up: None published Pancake air compressor 935–1,800 W Start-up: Category envelope Portable induction cooktop 100–1,800 W Start-up: None published Electric space heater (1500 W) 900–1,500 W Start-up: None published Coffee maker 1,400 W Start-up: None published Portable air conditioner 1,300 W Start-up: Nameplate figure Mini fridge 81–161 W Start-up: Nameplate figure LED TV 32–171 W Start-up: None published 12V portable fridge/freezer 78–125 W Start-up: Manufacturer-stated Electric blanket 60–92 W Start-up: None published Diesel air heater 4.0–40 W Start-up: Manufacturer-stated Starlink Mini Running draw under review Start-up: Manufacturer-stated CPAP machine 7.0–44 W Start-up: None published Router + modem 3.1–17 W Start-up: None published LED light bulb 8.5–15 W Start-up: None published Laptop computer 3.9–13 W Start-up: Manufacturer-stated

Home solar 13 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.

Electric kettle 3,000 W Start-up: None published Portable induction cooktop 100–1,800 W Start-up: None published Washing machine 1,200–2,300 W Start-up: None published Window air conditioner 739–1,118 W Start-up: Nameplate figure Well pump 660–1,215 W Start-up: Nameplate figure Mini-split heat pump 560–1,740 W Start-up: Nameplate figure LED TV 32–171 W Start-up: None published 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 published LED light bulb 8.5–15 W Start-up: None published Laptop computer 3.9–13 W Start-up: Manufacturer-stated

Elsewhere on the site