What do you need to keep running?
Tick what has to stay on and how long the power might be out. You get the three best buys for your list, and every unit we ruled out, with the reason.
What do watts and watt-hours mean?
Watts (W) are how fast something uses power — like the speed a tap runs. A power station has a watt limit. Go over it and it shuts off, no matter how big its battery is.
Watt-hours (Wh) are how much power is stored — like the size of the bucket. A 1,000Wh battery runs a 100W device for about 10 hours, or a 500W device for about 2.
Starting watts are a short spike. Anything with a motor — a fridge, a pump, an air conditioner — pulls several times its normal power for under a second when it kicks on. That spike is what shuts down an undersized unit, so we add it before we call anything a match.
You can usually find both numbers on a label on the back or underside of the appliance.