How long will a power station run a refrigerator?
Updated October 12, 2026.
A new full-size fridge uses about 53 W on average (460 kWh a year, the middle of 2,923 ENERGY STAR certified models). On a power station, plan on about 83 W, or 2,000 Wh a day.
A 1 kWh station runs it about 9.3 hours.
A 2 kWh station runs it about 17 hours.
How we got 83 W: the most common kind, a bottom-freezer fridge, averages 63 W, and we add 20 W for the station’s own draw, doors opening and a warm room. A fridge runs only part of the time, so it averages far less than the watts on its label. When the motor starts it pulls 2 to 3 times its running watts for a moment, so we check every station against a hard start of 2,900 W. A “1000 W” station is not a 1 kWh station: watts say what it can run at once, watt-hours how long. Hours are on one full charge, counting the power each station uses just to stay on.
Hours on our three refrigerator picks, and on a freezer
These are the 2 stations we pick for a fridge, from a 3.1 kWh unit to a 3.6 kWh one. Each cell is hours on one full charge. A freezer uses less than a fridge, so it runs longer on the same battery.
| Appliance | Average draw |  EcoFlow DELTA 3 Ultra (3072Wh)2,520 Wh usable $1,299 at Amazon |  EcoFlow DELTA Pro2,780 Wh usable $1,799 at Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|
| A typical fridge (our middle figure) | 83 W | about 26 h | about 26 h |
| A hard-working fridge (old and big, warm room, door opened often) | 130 W | about 18 h | about 19 h |
| An efficient fridge (new, cool room) | 54 W | about 36 h | about 34 h |
| Chest freezer (ENERGY STAR certified)1 | 25 W | about 61 h | about 49 h |
| Upright freezer (ENERGY STAR certified)2 | 45 W | about 41 h | about 37 h |
| A typical chest freezer (our middle figure) | 52 W | about 37 h | about 34 h |
Hours count the power each station uses just to stay on, from independent tests where they exist. Freezer figures from ENERGY STAR are for certified, efficient units; an older freezer, or one opened often, uses more. All 2 picks publish a peak output above the 2,900 W a hard-starting fridge compressor can pull. Prices checked November 1, 2026. Why these three: best portable power station for a refrigerator.
- ENERGY STAR: freezers, read September 30, 2026: “An ENERGY STAR certified chest freezer uses about 215 kWh of electricity and costs about $30 per year to run”
- ENERGY STAR: freezers, read September 30, 2026: “an ENERGY STAR certified upright freezer uses about 395 kWh of electricity and costs about $60 per year to run”
Hours of use by battery size
| Battery (listed size) | Typical | Hard-working unit | Efficient unit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 500 Wh | about 4.9 h | 3.2 h | 7.3 h |
| 1,000 Wh | about 9.3 h | 6.2 h | 13 h |
| 2,000 Wh | about 17 h | 11 h | 23 h |
| 3,000 Wh | about 23 h | 16 h | 30 h |
| 5,000 Wh | about 32 h | 24 h | 40 h |
Hours count the power a typical untested station of each size uses just to stay on. Typical uses about 83 W; hard-working about 130 W; efficient about 54 W (ENERGY STAR figures, see the table below). The station must also start it: see which units can, below.
How much battery a typical one needs
| Outage | Battery needed, typical |
|---|---|
| 12 hours | about 1,500 Wh |
| 24 hours | about 2,900 Wh |
| 3 days | about 8,700 Wh |
Listed watt-hours, counting the inverter loss and the power the station uses to stay on. Past a day, most plans add solar or a generator rather than a bigger battery.
How long a power station runs each kind of fridge
Find your fridge’s kWh per year on its yellow EnergyGuide label for your own number. These are the middle certified models of each kind. “Plan on” adds 20 W for the station’s own draw and real use. The old-fridge row adds ENERGY STAR’s “about 20% more” for an old fridge.
| Fridge | Label energy | Plan on | 1 kWh station | 2 kWh station |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Compact (mini) fridge 1,742 models, middle size 3.3 cu ft | 246 kWh/yr | 48 W | about 18 h | about 35 h |
| Top-freezer fridge 838 models, middle size 18 cu ft | 363 kWh/yr | 61 W | about 14 h | about 28 h |
| Bottom-freezer fridge (most common) 1,668 models, middle size 19.7 cu ft | 556 kWh/yr | 83 W | about 10 h | about 20 h |
| Side-by-side fridge 123 models, middle size 24.8 cu ft | 640 kWh/yr | 93 W | about 9.1 h | about 18 h |
| Side-by-side, 15+ years old 123 models, middle size 24.8 cu ft | 768 kWh/yr | 108 W | about 7.9 h | about 16 h |
Hours use our one runtime rule: the plan-on watts through the inverter, plus the power a typical untested station of that size uses just to stay on. Check: a tester ran an 18 cu ft fridge for 8–10 hours on an EcoFlow DELTA 2, close to the bottom-freezer row. With no power at all, a closed fridge keeps food cold about 4 hours and a full freezer about 48 hours (Ready.gov).
- ENERGY STAR Certified Residential Refrigerators (dataset), read 2026-10-07: “The rated yearly energy use (kWh per year) of every ENERGY STAR certified refrigerator, downloaded October 7, 2026.”
- ENERGY STAR: refrigerators, read 2026-10-11: “On average, an old refrigerator uses about 20% more energy than a model that has earned the ENERGY STAR.”
- Power Station Advisor: DELTA 2 vs DELTA 2 Max, read 2026-10-07: “the Delta 2 powered my 18 cu ft refrigerator for 8-10 hours”
- Generac support: why won't my fridge run off my portable generator, read 2026-10-11: “The surge wattage is typically 2 to 3 times the running wattage.”
- Ready.gov: power outages, read 2026-10-11: “The refrigerator will keep food cold for about four hours. A full freezer will keep the temperature for about 48 hours.”
Sized in a full plan
This load is part of a plan we ran against every unit we track, with picks: The best portable power stations for home backup; The best portable generator for home backup; Which EcoFlow DELTA 3? The whole family, judged against one plan; EcoFlow DELTA 3 vs DELTA 3 Plus: which one to buy; The home-backup class: DELTA Pro 3, SOLIX F3800 Plus, Explorer 5000 Plus and the rest; Which power station will run your refrigerator?; The best generator for a well pump; Anker SOLIX F3800 vs F3800 Plus: the real differences; Jackery Explorer 1000 v2 vs 1000 Plus: the expandable one or the cheaper one.
The numbers behind that
A fridge compressor cycles on and off. It is not drawing power continuously, which is why energy use is far lower than the running-watt figure suggests. Opening the door in a warm house keeps it running more of the time.
The planning range we check every station against: what the compressor and defrost heater can draw while on. A fridge is on only part of the time, so its average is far lower (see the table above).
The momentary surge when a motor or compressor kicks in. Undersized systems fail here, not on running watts.
Usually plugs in
Most units plug into a normal socket. If yours is wired into the wall instead, treat it as the case below.
Check this yourself
Read the label inside the door frame. A 2005 side-by-side and a 2024 Energy Star unit differ by several times.
What can run it
Hours of use on one full charge: typical, then the range from a hard-working unit to an efficient one. “Starts it” means the peak output covers even a hard-starting one; “may not start a hard-starting one” means it covers the lower end of the starting range only.
| Product | Continuous | Peak | Starts it? | Hours of use |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zendure SuperBase V6400 | 3,800W | 5,000W | starts it | about 36h 28–45h |
| OUKITEL P5000 Pro | 3,600W | not listed by the maker | maker gives no peak figure | about 32h 24–41h |
| Jackery Explorer 5000 Plus | 7,200W | 14,400W | starts it | about 27h 21–34h |
| Zendure SuperBase V4600 | 3,800W | 5,000W | starts it | about 30h 22–38h |
| EcoFlow DELTA Pro 3 | 4,000W | 8,000W | starts it | about 29h 21–38h |
| Honda EU3000iS Inverter Generator | 2,800W | 3,000W | starts it | fuel-dependent |
| FIRMAN WH03242 Dual-Fuel Inverter | 3,200W | 4,000W | starts it | fuel-dependent |
| Champion 201444 5500W Inverter | 4,000W | 5,500W | starts it | fuel-dependent |
What will not work, and why
26 of 82 products cannot run this.
- Jackery Explorer 1500 Ultra — 1,271 Wh usable runs a typical fridge about 13 hours on a charge, well short of a day.
- Jackery Explorer 1500 v2 — 1,271 Wh usable runs a typical fridge about 13 hours on a charge, well short of a day.
- Goal Zero Yeti 1500 — 1,247 Wh usable runs a typical fridge about 13 hours on a charge, well short of a day.
- Jackery Explorer 1000 Plus (JE-1000C) — 1,057 Wh usable runs a typical fridge about 11 hours on a charge, well short of a day.
- BLUETTI AC180 — 974 Wh usable runs a typical fridge about 11 hours on a charge, well short of a day.
- Jackery Explorer 1000 v2 — 887 Wh usable runs a typical fridge about 9.4 hours on a charge, well short of a day.
How many watts does a chest freezer use?
A chest freezer draws about 80–500 W while running and up to 2,200 W for a moment as it starts. It runs 15%–45% of the time, so a typical one averages about 52 W: about 1,200 Wh a day. The hours on a battery are in the table above.