Camping day: 12V fridge, laptop, light, phone
What size portable power station do I need for a day of camping?
A camping load is dominated by the 12V fridge and by whether you plan to work from the site. It is a gentler load than a home outage, with a much smaller startup surge.
The answer
- Battery to shop
- 809 Wh
- Daily energy
- 573 Wh
- Startup surge
- 500 W
- All devices at once
- 136 W
Nameplate capacity, after inverter loss and a 20 percent reserve, for 1 day.
4 devices after duty cycle, before conversion losses.
The highest single-device motor start in this load.
Continuous output the station has to hold if nothing is staggered.
The 12V fridge startup is real but modest, near 500 W, so most mid-size stations clear it. Capacity, not output, is usually the binding limit.
The load, row by row
| Device | Watts | Hours | Duty | Wh per day |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Portable 12V fridge (van, camping)A 12V compressor fridge cycles through the day. | 55 W | 12 h | 40% | 264 Wh |
| LaptopWorking from the site draws more than a charged laptop running alone. | 60 W | 4 h | 100% | 240 Wh |
| LED lampEvening light. | 9 W | 5 h | 100% | 45 Wh |
| Phone chargeOne phone charge. | 12 W | 2 h | 100% | 24 Wh |
| Total | 573 Wh |
Duty cycle is the share of each hour a device actually draws power. A compressor fridge cycles, so its average draw sits well below its nameplate.
What this load needs from a station
- Capacity.At least 809 Wh of nameplate capacity, which is 573 Wh of daily draw divided by 85 percent inverter efficiency and multiplied by a 1.2 reserve.
- Continuous output.At least 136 W if every device runs at once, or less if you stagger them.
- Startup surge.At least 500 W of inverter surge. A resistive boost rating does not clear a motor start, so stations publishing only that figure are excluded here.
- Solar, if you plan to recharge off grid.About 135 W of panels to replace a day of draw in 5 peak sun hours. Check the station's published solar input limit, because a larger array than it accepts is wasted.
Verified models that cover it (22)
Smallest adequate model first, since the useful answer is the least you can buy that clears every limit.
BLUETTI Elite 100 V2Smallest that fits1,024 Wh / 1,800 W / 3,600 W surge · 215 Wh spare
EcoFlow DELTA 31,024 Wh / 1,800 W / 3,600 W surge · 215 Wh spare
EcoFlow DELTA 3 Classic1,024 Wh / 1,800 W / 3,600 W surge · 215 Wh spare
EcoFlow DELTA 3 Plus1,024 Wh / 1,800 W / 3,600 W surge · 215 Wh spare
Jackery Explorer 1000 v21,070 Wh / 1,500 W / 3,000 W surge · 261 Wh spare
46 models in the database publish a resistive boost rating instead of an inverter surge, so they are not counted here against the motor start in this load. Their capacity is still listed on their own pages.
What to cut if nothing fits
Dropping the laptop hours is the fastest way to shrink the recommendation, because four hours of a 60 W charger is a quarter of the day.
Questions
Is a 12V fridge easier to run than a home fridge?
Yes, on both figures. Its running draw is lower and its compressor start is smaller, which is why a mid-size station can clear it where a full-size home fridge would block.
Should I size for one day or two?
Size for the days you will be away from a wall outlet. The backup days control multiplies the recommendation directly, so changing it from one to two doubles the battery you are shopping for.
The formulas and constants behind every figure on this page are documented on themethodology page. Source URLs for the specifications sit on eachmodel page.