How long each power station capacity lasts in a real power outage

"How long it lasts" depends entirely on what you connect — a generic hours-per-capacity answer that doesn't say with which devices is useless for deciding anything. This guide calculates the real answer with the same formula this site's runtime calculator uses, against the real power station catalog, not an invented "typical use" table.

The real power-outage combo: refrigerator, fan and router

A home refrigerator draws around 150W while running (it's cyclic: the compressor isn't on the whole time), a standing fan 55W, and a router 10W. Added up and sustained for 12 hours straight — a full night's power outage — here's how each catalog capacity performs:

The range (not a single number) reflects the inverter's real efficiency margin, which runs 80%–90% depending on the equipment — never 100%, as the Wh and runtime guide explains.

What it means when a station "can't handle it"

The table above distinguishes two ways a station can fall short, and they're not the same. "Can't sustain the continuous power" means the inverter can't sustain the refrigerator's 150W plus the rest of the combo running at the same time, the whole time. "Can't handle the startup surge" is different: the refrigerator's compressor draws a brief burst of up to 700W the moment it turns on — much more than its running consumption — and if the station can't handle that surge, it shuts off or the refrigerator never starts, even if its continuous power is more than enough. It's the same distinction explained in the peak power guide, and it's why two stations with similar Wh can give very different results against the same refrigerator.

If you add a TV to the combo

Adding one more device doesn't subtract hours evenly across all capacities — the impact is proportionally bigger on smaller stations. Adding a 32"-43" led tv (60W) to the same refrigerator, fan and router combo, here's how the range changes:

This second calculation uses the same formula and the same catalog as the first — the difference between the two tables is, literally, one more device connected. With your own devices and quantities, the runtime calculator runs this exact same calculation with no limit on devices.

What changes if the outage lasts more than one night

The EcoFlow RIVER 2 (256Wh) and the EcoFlow RIVER 3 (245Wh) are built for the basics — phone, router, light — not to sustain a refrigerator night after night with no recharge. The EcoFlow DELTA 3 (1024Wh) already covers that case with margin, per the combo above. For an outage lasting several days in a row, without depending on grid power to recharge, solar charging comes into play — the EcoFlow DELTA Pro and the EcoFlow DELTA Pro 3 are this catalog's two models built for that scenario, detailed in the guide on which EcoFlow to choose for your needs.

Quick questions about this table

Why don't the EcoFlow RIVER 2 and the EcoFlow RIVER 3 handle the refrigerator in the table, if they have plenty of battery for other things? Because the limit there isn't Wh capacity, it's the compressor's startup surge — up to 700W in a brief burst — which their inverter isn't built to handle. With smaller devices (router, lights, charging a phone) they do fine; with a home refrigerator, they don't.

Are these hours the same for any refrigerator? No — they depend on the real model: an older or larger refrigerator can draw more than the 150W this calculation uses, and its startup surge varies too. The runtime calculator lets you adjust consumption by hand if you know your specific device's spec sheet.

What if I also need air conditioning? A small window AC unit draws several times more than a home refrigerator, both while running and at startup surge — this guide doesn't include it in the example combo precisely because it changes the result entirely, and not every station in this catalog is built for that kind of load. Before assuming one can handle it, check it in the calculator with your device's real spec sheet.

Why this figure isn't the same as other sites'

An hours-per-capacity table that doesn't say which devices it included, or at what efficiency it calculated, is a figure that can't be verified or replicated with your own devices. This site's runtime calculator lets you choose your real devices, one by one, and shows the same efficiency range this guide uses — not a round number with no context. The two tables above are a starting point with a representative combo, not a replacement for calculating with your own devices: the goal is for you to be able to compare capacities with a verifiable criteria before going into the calculator, not for you to stop at these two reference scenarios.