What do you need to keep running?
Tick what has to stay on and say how long the power might be out. You will get the watts and watt-hours you need, which products can do it, and which cannot — with the reason for each.
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.