How many watts does a portable AC use?

Cooling Also called: portable ac, portable ac unit, rolling air conditioner

Two numbers decide whether a power station runs a portable air conditioner, and readers arrive using them interchangeably. Watts are the ceiling on what the inverter can hold at any instant — this load needs 1,300 W of them while it runs, and 7,800 W for the moment it starts. Watt-hours are how much energy the battery holds. A machine can have plenty of one and not enough of the other.

Nothing in our library of 26 machines runs it outright. That is the answer, and the list below shows how close each one gets and which constraint stops it — every verdict is a calculation against that machine’s continuous output, its surge ceiling and its inverter waveform, not a lookup table.

The three numbers a power station is judged against

Running power 1,300 W Official spec · verified 2026-08-01 · high confidence

Start-up surge 6,900 W engine checks 7,800 W Official spec · verified 2026-08-01 · medium confidence

Duty cycle 18% Official spec · verified 2026-08-01 · high confidence

Start-up figure: Manufacturer nameplate (locked-rotor)

This record publishes both an absolute inrush and a multiple of running power. They do not agree exactly, so the engine checks against the more demanding of the two — 7,800 W — rather than picking the flattering one.

Measured duration 200 ms · Official spec · verified 2026-08-01 · low confidence

Two ways to read a duty cycle

A duty cycle can be read two ways and they are not the same number. One is the constant a test procedure assumes so that a label figure is reproducible; the other is what the machine does in a real room, which depends on the weather, the door and the thermostat. This record keeps both ends: 12% to 90%, with the default above. The named readings below each carry their own source and date, so you can see which one a figure came from rather than being handed a blend of the two.

Residential, outdoor 83°F 12% Official spec · verified 2026-08-01
Residential, outdoor 95°F default 18% Official spec · verified 2026-08-01
Continuous use, outdoor 95°F 90% Official spec · verified 2026-08-01

officialverified 2026-08-01appliance record

What actually decides it

A motor load: the first half-second decides it

An induction motor with a stationary rotor is close to a short circuit. For the fraction of a second before it turns, it pulls several times its running current, and that peak — not the running figure — is what trips an inverter. This is why a machine drawing well under a station’s continuous rating can still fail to start on it, and why the start-up figure at the top of this page matters more than the running one.

How long the start-up actually lasts

The inrush lasts a couple of tenths of a second, which is the window a station’s surge rating is written for. This is the one case where the surge figure and the surge ceiling are directly comparable.

Watts are not what the inverter is holding

At a power factor of 0.97 this load presents 1,340 VA to the inverter. An inverter is sold in watts and limited in volt-amps, so a machine that looks comfortable on the watt figure can be at its ceiling on the VA one. The engine checks both.

Which power stations run it

Every row is a live calculation against that machine's continuous output, surge ceiling and inverter waveform. Of 26 machines, 0 run it, 2 are a tight fit and 24 are out of reach. The percentage is this load as a share of that machine's continuous output; anything past 82% drops out of the green. Rows are ordered by verdict, then by price — cheapest first inside each band.

EcoFlow DELTA Pro 3 EcoFlow · US 120 V 4,000 W continuous · 8,000 W surge ceiling 33%

limited by surge ceiling 234 Wh per hour — averaged over this load’s duty cycle No runtime in hours: EcoFlow publishes no depth of discharge or inverter efficiency for this model, so there is no defensible usable-capacity figure to divide. $2,399 · checked 2026-08-01 Show the working →

EcoFlow DELTA Pro 3 EcoFlow · EU 230 V 4,000 W continuous · 8,000 W surge ceiling 33%

EcoFlow RIVER 3 Plus EcoFlow · US 120 V 600 W continuous · 1,200 W surge ceiling 217%

BLUETTI Elite 30 V2 BLUETTI · US 120 V 600 W continuous 217%

limited by continuous output 1.0 h — on a full charge, with the station’s own 9.0 W idle draw in the denominator BLUETTI publishes no surge rating for this model. The start-up check runs against its continuous output as a conservative floor, which is ours, not a manufacturer specification. $299 · checked 2026-08-01 Show the working →

Jackery Explorer 300 Plus Jackery · US 120 V 300 W continuous · 600 W surge ceiling 433%

limited by continuous output 234 Wh per hour — averaged over this load’s duty cycle No runtime in hours: Jackery publishes no depth of discharge or inverter efficiency for this model, so there is no defensible usable-capacity figure to divide. $299.99 · checked 2026-08-01 Show the working →

BLUETTI Elite 100 V2 BLUETTI · US 120 V 1,800 W continuous · 3,600 W surge ceiling 72%

limited by surge ceiling 3.4 h — on a full charge, with the station’s own 10 W idle draw in the denominator $499 · checked 2026-08-01 Show the working →

Jackery Explorer 1000 v2 Jackery · US 120 V 1,500 W continuous · 3,000 W surge ceiling 87%

limited by surge ceiling 234 Wh per hour — averaged over this load’s duty cycle No runtime in hours: Jackery publishes no depth of discharge or inverter efficiency for this model, so there is no defensible usable-capacity figure to divide. $499 · checked 2026-08-01 Show the working →

EcoFlow DELTA 3 Plus EcoFlow · US 120 V 1,800 W continuous · 3,600 W surge ceiling 72%

Jackery Explorer 2000 Plus Jackery · US 120 V 3,000 W continuous · 6,000 W surge ceiling 43%

EcoFlow DELTA 2 Max EcoFlow · US 120 V 2,400 W continuous · 4,800 W surge ceiling 54%

Jackery Explorer 1000 Plus Jackery · US 120 V 2,000 W continuous · 4,000 W surge ceiling 65%

BLUETTI Elite 200 V2 BLUETTI · US 120 V 2,600 W continuous 50%

limited by surge ceiling 6.5 h — on a full charge, with the station’s own 10 W idle draw in the denominator BLUETTI publishes no surge rating for this model. The start-up check runs against its continuous output as a conservative floor, which is ours, not a manufacturer specification. $1,099 · checked 2026-08-01 Show the working →

EcoFlow STREAM Ultra EcoFlow · US 120 V 800 W continuous 163%

limited by continuous output 234 Wh per hour — averaged over this load’s duty cycle No runtime in hours: EcoFlow publishes no depth of discharge or inverter efficiency for this model, so there is no defensible usable-capacity figure to divide. EcoFlow publishes no surge rating for this model. The start-up check runs against its continuous output as a conservative floor, which is ours, not a manufacturer specification. $1,279 · checked 2026-08-01 Show the working →

Anker SOLIX C300 Anker SOLIX · EU 230 V 300 W continuous · 600 W surge ceiling 433%

BLUETTI Elite 30 V2 BLUETTI · EU 230 V 600 W continuous 217%

Jackery Explorer 300 Plus Jackery · EU 230 V 300 W continuous · 600 W surge ceiling 433%

EcoFlow RIVER 3 Plus EcoFlow · EU 230 V 600 W continuous · 1,200 W surge ceiling 217%

EcoFlow STREAM Ultra EcoFlow · EU 1,200 W continuous 108%

BLUETTI Elite 100 V2 BLUETTI · EU 230 V 1,800 W continuous 72%

limited by surge ceiling 3.4 h — on a full charge, with the station’s own 10 W idle draw in the denominator BLUETTI publishes no surge rating for this model. The start-up check runs against its continuous output as a conservative floor, which is ours, not a manufacturer specification. €699 · checked 2026-08-01 Show the working →

Jackery Explorer 1000 v2 Jackery · EU 230 V 1,500 W continuous · 3,000 W surge ceiling 87%

EcoFlow DELTA 3 Plus EcoFlow · EU 230 V 1,800 W continuous · 3,600 W surge ceiling 72%

Anker SOLIX Solarbank 3 E2700 Pro Anker SOLIX · EU 1,200 W continuous 108%

limited by continuous output 234 Wh per hour — averaged over this load’s duty cycle No runtime in hours: Anker SOLIX publishes no depth of discharge or inverter efficiency for this model, so there is no defensible usable-capacity figure to divide. Anker SOLIX publishes no surge rating for this model. The start-up check runs against its continuous output as a conservative floor, which is ours, not a manufacturer specification. €999 · checked 2026-08-01 Show the working →

Jackery Explorer 1000 Plus Jackery · EU 230 V 2,000 W continuous · 4,000 W surge ceiling 65%

EcoFlow DELTA 2 Max EcoFlow · EU 230 V 2,400 W continuous · 4,800 W surge ceiling 54%

BLUETTI Elite 200 V2 BLUETTI · EU 230 V 2,600 W continuous 50%

limited by surge ceiling 7.2 h — on a full charge, with the station’s own 13 W idle draw in the denominator BLUETTI publishes no surge rating for this model. The start-up check runs against its continuous output as a conservative floor, which is ours, not a manufacturer specification. €1,299 · checked 2026-08-01 Show the working →

Jackery Explorer 2000 Plus Jackery · EU 230 V 3,000 W continuous · 6,000 W surge ceiling 43%

Our pick for this load

EcoFlow DELTA Pro 3 · US 120 V

Nothing we hold runs a portable air conditioner with room to spare. This is the cheapest that gets there at all, and the surge ceiling is what keeps it out of the green.

$2,399 · price checked 2026-08-01

The buy link is in the bar at the bottom of the screen — one action per page, and it goes to the merchant we last checked the price at.

What changes the numbers

At 28.3 °C ambient ×0.7 Applied to how OFTEN it runs, not to how hard it pulls while running. The verdict does not move; the energy it costs you over a day does. Official spec

At 35 °C ambient ×1 Applied to how OFTEN it runs, not to how hard it pulls while running. The verdict does not move; the energy it costs you over a day does. Official spec

Between the anchors Only the anchor points above have a source. This site does not interpolate between them: a curve drawn through two published points is a number we invented, and it would arrive on the page wearing the same official label as the points it was drawn from.

Mains standards on record US 120 V · EU 230 V The figures above are recorded per mains standard, because the same appliance class is built differently on 120 V and 230 V. Where only one standard is on record, the ranking still lists machines from both regions — each row states its own.

Everything else we hold on this load

Each figure carries the tier it came from and the date it was checked. Sizing guidance is kept apart from measured draw on purpose: one says what the machine pulls, the other says what a manufacturer or a standard thinks you should buy for it.

Measured and published draw

Power factor 0.97 Official spec · verified 2026-08-01 · low confidence

The inverter is loaded to 1,340 VA — 1,300 W ÷ 0.97 — which is the figure its ceiling is actually measured against.

Sizing guidance — not a draw figure

Minimum continuous output 1,300 W Official spec · verified 2026-08-01 · high confidence

A sizing figure, not a draw: it is what this class needs a machine to be RATED at, headroom included.

Where to go next

Questions people ask about this load

How many watts does a portable air conditioner use?

1,300 W while it is running, with 7,800 W demanded at the instant it starts. Those are different questions and most pages answer only the first. The running figure decides whether a machine can hold it; the start-up figure decides whether it can get it going at all, and it is usually the one that fails. The start-up figure here is the manufacturer’s own..

What size power station do I need for a portable air conditioner?

Bigger than anything in our library, on today's data. All 26 machines we hold were run against a portable air conditioner at 1,300 W running and 7,800 W at the start, and none of them clears it: 2 get there but only just, and 24 are short outright. The list above names the constraint that stops each one, which is the useful part — if it is the surge ceiling, a bigger battery on the same inverter rating will not help you.

How long will a power station run a portable air conditioner?

It depends entirely on the machine, which is the part most pages skip. Against 1,300 W of running draw, our figures put the BLUETTI Elite 30 V2 at about 1.0 h, and the BLUETTI Elite 100 V2 at about 3.4 h. Those hours come from usable-capacity figures derived from the manufacturers’ own published depth of discharge and inverter efficiency, with each machine’s idle draw in the denominator — not from dividing a nameplate watt-hour number by a label wattage. Most machines in the list carry no hours at all: their brands publish nothing that makes a usable-capacity figure defensible, so those rows give an energy rate instead of a number we would have had to invent.

Why does a portable air conditioner need so much more power to start?

The start-up figure is the manufacturer’s own locked-rotor rating, off a spec sheet for a real model in this class — not a category multiple. Where a standards table and the nameplate disagree, this library uses the nameplate: the standards figure is a selection envelope for breakers and controllers, and sizing a battery to it over-specifies the machine by two to four times. The engine works the check against 7,800 W, which is what a station's surge ceiling has to cover for the moment the machine starts. A station whose continuous rating is comfortably above the running figure can still refuse the start, and that is the single most common way a purchase goes wrong for this class.

Does a portable air conditioner draw that continuously?

No, and the difference is most of the energy question. This record holds more than one duty-cycle reading, each with its own source: Residential, outdoor 83°F at 12%, Residential, outdoor 95°F at 18%, Continuous use, outdoor 95°F at 90%. The one a page picks silently is the one that decides whether your battery lasts the night, so this site names them and lets you choose in the calculator rather than blending them into a single average.