BUYING GUIDE

How Many Watt-Hours Do You Actually Need?

The single most common question we get is some version of "which one should I buy?" Almost always, the honest answer starts with watt-hours (Wh) — the unit that tells you how much energy a station actually stores, and therefore how long it can run your stuff before it's empty.

What a watt-hour actually means

Think of it like a fuel tank size. A device rated at 100 watts running for one hour uses 100 watt-hours. Run it for two hours, that's 200Wh. A power station's capacity — say 1,024Wh — is simply the total "tank size" available before it needs recharging.

Real-world power draw (approximate)

These numbers vary by device and model, but they're a solid starting point for estimating your own needs:

• Phone charge: ~15-20Wh per full charge
• Laptop charge: ~50-100Wh per full charge
• Mini fridge: ~300-600Wh per day (varies heavily with ambient temperature and door use)
• Full-size fridge: ~1,000-2,000Wh per day
• CPAP machine: ~30-40Wh per night, more with a heated humidifier
• Router/modem: ~5-10Wh per hour — small individually, but adds up if you're running it all day
• Space heater: 1,000-1,500Wh per hour — these drain even large stations fast, worth knowing before you count on one
• String lights / LED lantern: ~5-15Wh per hour

A simple way to estimate your own number

List what you actually need to run, how many hours a day, and multiply. A weekend camper charging a phone, running a lantern for 4 hours, and topping off a laptop once might only need 150-250Wh a day — well within something like the RIVER 3. A homeowner planning to keep a fridge and a router running through a multi-day outage is looking at 1,000-2,000+Wh per day, which points toward the DELTA or DELTA Pro tier instead.

The trap most people fall into is sizing for the device they use most often (like a phone) and forgetting the one that draws the most (like a fridge or a heater). Add up your actual must-haves first, then check that number against a station's capacity — not the other way around.

Where this leaves you

If you're still unsure, our Buying Guide breaks the lineup down by use case, or you're welcome to add up your own list and reach out — we're happy to sanity-check your numbers before you order anything.