How to Size a Backup Power Station for Your Household

Buying a power station that is too small leaves you without power when you need it most. Buying one that is too large means paying for capacity you will never use. Here is how to actually size it right.

Step 1: List what you actually need to power

Write down only the essentials: phone chargers, a router, a few lights, and maybe a mini fridge. Skip anything you can live without for a day or two.

Step 2: Add up the watts

Most devices list their wattage on a label or in the manual. A router might use 10 to 20 watts, a phone charger 10 to 20 watts, LED lights 5 to 10 watts each. These add up slowly, which is good news for smaller power stations.

Step 3: Think in hours, not just watts

A power station rated in watt hours tells you how long it can sustain a given load. A 500 watt hour station running 50 watts of devices will last around 10 hours before recharging.

For a starting point that covers most small households, our GridBackup Starter Kit is built exactly for this kind of essentials only setup.

When to size up

If you need to run a fridge for more than a few hours, or you expect outages to last multiple days, size up to a larger capacity station or add a solar panel for recharging.