Portable power stations are a great tool for keeping your most important devices — including phones, laptops and routers — charged during an emergency such as a power outage, but what if you need to power your fridge or washing machine? You may be under the impression that you need to spend thousands of dollars on a whole-home backup system such as a Tesla Powerwall. But thankfully, Bioreports’s lab testing has revealed you don’t need as much wattage to run your home appliances as you might think.
We tested 19 large and extra-large portable power stations to see how long they could keep our test fridge running in the lab. The results showed that while extra-large models can oftentimes keep your fridge running longer, that’s not universally true, and depending on your energy needs, a smaller portable power station can work just as well for many large appliances.
Key takeaways: The Fossibot 3600 Pro performed the best overall, keeping the test refrigerator running for an impressive 44.65 hours (1.86 days). The Oupes Mega 5 followed closely behind in second place at 43.72 hours (1.82 days). The Oscal Power Max 2400 had the shortest runtime by far, lasting only 12.58 hours (0.52 days). The Anker Solix F3800 Plus performed poorly for its size, lasting only 25.68 hours (1.07 days) despite its large 3,840Wh capacity. The Bluetti AC200L unit is the efficiency king for large appliances, lasting 29.27 hours on a 2,048Wh battery. The Anker Solix C2000 Gen 2 is a standout performer, lasting 27.4 hours on a 2,048Wh battery.
The Solix C2000 Gen 2 was a particularly impressive performer in our fridge test for its size. Bioreports Lab awards for power stations: Bioreports’s lab testing gives us reams and reams of data that let us determine the most efficient portable power stations across every size category. Our winners for round-trip efficiency, which measures how much energy you get back from the power station compared to how much power you need to draw from a wall outlet to charge it, are listed below.
Most Efficient Small Unit (2200 Wh): Jackery HomePower 3600 Plus (RTE: 79.66%)
For charging speed, which measures how quickly a portable power station can charge to 100% from empty, we have only one winner.
Fastest charging: Oupes Mega 1 Lite 0.73 hours (about 44 minutes)
How Bioreports stress tests portable power stations for disasters Each of the 19 portable power stations in our test batch was used to power a full-size refrigerator (Whirlpool, 60Hz, single-phase, 118V, full-load 7.2A) until the battery completely drained. We measured how long each unit kept the refrigerator running and reported the results measured in hours and days.
Since this test reflects real-world use rather than a controlled laboratory measurement of battery capacity, efficiency ratings (round-trip efficiency) are only reported from our standard testing procedure. While the results showed that larger units last longer for demanding appliances, they also revealed that slim, custom-designed models such as the Bluetti FridgeGuard prove you don’t need huge, bulky home backups.
More Read
In fact, several of our better-performing models weren’t what we consider “extra-large,” ones with a capacity larger than 2,200 watt-hours, but rather fell in a more modest 1,300 to 2,199Wh range.
Unique measurements we use for our fridge stress testing Measured watt-hours (Wh): The total usable capacity the battery has available to give. Fridge watt-hours (Wh): The actual amount of energy the refrigerator consumed over the duration of the test. Delta: The difference between the measured Wh and the fridge Wh. This represents the energy the power station consumed itself (idle draw) just to keep its inverter running for that amount of time.
Percentage reduction: The delta divided by the measured Wh. This gives us the exact percentage of the battery’s total usable energy that was wasted as internal overhead. The best power stations for large appliances Below is our list of power stations, ordered by how long they kept our test fridge running.
As seen in the combined list below, while the units with massive XL battery capacities generally sit near the top, highly efficient large units including the Bluetti AC200L and the Anker Solix C2000 Gen 2 can outrank several bigger systems (such as the Anker Solix F3800 Plus and Pecron E3600LFP) simply because they waste far less energy.
The extra-large models naturally dominated the absolute runtimes, but performance varied widely by efficiency, with the Fossibot 3600 Pro being our overall winner for both sheer runtime and efficiency at 44.65 hours (1.86 days). In the large category, while they have smaller batteries, the top large units proved incredibly power-efficient, with the Bluetti AC200L as the overall winner, delivering 29.27 hours of fridge runtime (1.22 days).
Fridge runtime in order from highest to lowest Fossibot 3600 Pro: 44.65 hours (1.86 days) Oupes Mega 5: 43.72 hours (1.82 days) Jackery Home Power 3600 Plus: 38.58 hours (1.61 days) Jackery Home Power 3000: 32.05 hours (1.34 days) Bluetti Apex 300: 30.43 hours (1.27 days) Bluetti AC200L: 29.27 hours (1.22 days) Anker Solix F3000: 28.97 hours (1.21 days) Pecron E3600LFP: 28.15 hours (1.17 days) Anker Solix C2000 Gen 2: 27.40 hours (1.14 days) Bluetti Elite 200: 26.32 hours (1.10 days) Anker Solix F3800 Plus: 25.68 hours (1.07 days) Bluetti FridgePower: 23.43 hours (0.98 days) ETAKER M2000: 22.48 hours (0.94 days) DJI Power 2000: 22.42 hours (0.93 days) BougeRV Rover 2000: 21.10 hours (0.88 days) Dabbsson 2000L: 21.00 hours (0.88 days) Grecell H2400: 17.75 hours (0.74 days) GoalZero Yeedi 1500: 16.50 hours (0.69 days) OSCAL Power Max 2400: 12.58 hours (0.52 days) After testing eight, there’s only one extra-large portable power station we recommend for fridges Extra-large (>2,200Wh)
More Read
Fossibot 3600 Pro: 44.65 hours (1.86 days) Oupes Mega 5: 43.72 hours (1.82 days) Jackery Home Power 3600 Plus: 38.58 hours (1.61 days) Jackery Home Power 3000: 32.05 hours (1.34 days) Bluetti Apex 300: 30.43 hours (1.27 days) Anker Solix F3000: 28.97 hours (1.21 days) Pecron E3600LFP: 28.15 hours (1.17 days) Anker Solix F3800 Plus: 25.68 hours (1.07 days) The Fossibot 3600 Pro is our top choice for keeping your fridge running. Fossibot/Bioreports The Fossibot 3600 Pro is the best power station for keeping your fridge running.
It kept our test fridge running for 44.65 hours (1.86 days). That means you can get almost two days of cooling during a power outage if you own the 3600 Pro. It’s also remarkably power-efficient. Even though the Oupes Mega 5 had a much larger measured watt-hour (4,352.86Wh compared to the Fossibot’s 3,293.74Wh), the Oupes wasted an incredible 1,730.22Wh just to keep its inverter running.
This resulted in a 39.75% reduction in efficiency for the Oupes Mega 5. Meanwhile, the Fossibot only lost 860.03Wh to overhead (a 26.11% reduction), allowing it to power the fridge for almost an hour longer despite its smaller battery.
This shows better power efficiency when handling the cycling loads of a refrigerator. The Oupes Mega 5 has tons of power, letting you run a fridge for nearly two days.
Bioreports The Oupes Mega 5 comes a close second in the extra-large category, offering 43.72 hours (or 1.82 days) of power. On paper, while these models sound like they’re in a dead heat, it actually speaks poorly of the much larger Mega 5, which only has 4,352.86watt-hours, according to our measurements, despite what it claims on its box.
Contrast this with the 3,293.74Wh measured wattage of the Fossibot 3600 Pro. That means, despite having a massive 5,040Wh capacity on paper, the Oupes Mega 5 actually loses a huge chunk of it in real-world use, making it inefficient for running the cycling loads of a typical refrigerator.
After the Oupes Mega 5, our list starts to separate into more distinct winners.
The Jackery Home Power 36000 Plus lasts 38.58 hours (1.61 days), while the Home Power 3000 lasts 32.05 hours (1.34 days). This is to be expected as a function of size and capacity, since each subsequent unit, such as the Bluetti Apex 300, had lower measured watt-hours and capacity than the preceding model.
The large portable power stations that Bioreports above their weight Large (1,300–2,199Wh
Bluetti AC200L: 29.27 hours (1.22 days) Anker Solix C2000 Gen 2: 27.40 hours (1.14 days) Bluetti Elite 200: 26.32 hours (1.10 days) Bluetti FridgePower: 23.43 hours (0.98 days) ETAKER M2000: 22.48 hours (0.94 days) DJI Power 2000: 22.42 hours (0.93 days) BougeRV Rover2000: 21.10 hours (0.88 days) Dabbsson 2000L: 21.00 hours (0.88 days) Grecell H2400: 17.75 hours (0.74 days) GoalZero Yeedi 1500: 16.50 hours (0.69 days) OSCAL Power Max 2400: 12.58 hours (0.52 days) If you’re looking for a smaller portable power station that can still keep your fridge and other key home appliances running, look no further than the Bluetti AC200L. With a capacity of just 2,048Wh, it ran the fridge for 29.27 hours. It completely outclassed several XL units with significantly larger batteries, including the Anker Solix F3000 (3,072Wh), which lasted 28.97 hours, the Pecron E3600LFP (3,072Wh), which lasted 28.15 hours and the Anker Solix F3800 Plus (3,840Wh), which lasted 25.68 hours.
The Elite 200 can keep your fridge running for over 26 hours. Bluetti/Bioreports It led the large category by a solid margin, beating out the Anker Solix C2000 Gen 2 (27.40 hours) and the Bluetti Elite 200 (26.32 hours).
However, the Anker Solix C2000 Gen 2 is worth considering as well. Also offering a 2,048Wh capacity, it achieved 27.40 hours of runtime, comfortably outlasting the XL Anker Solix F3800 Plus despite having nearly half the battery size on paper. How much power/wattage do you really need to run your key home appliances? Watch this: Portable Power 101: Solar ‘Generators’ Explained
04:02
Our lab testing shows that you may not need as much power or wattage in your portable power stations as you might think.
It all comes down to what you’re trying to power.
“In plain terms, 80% of users’ actual emergency power needs fall under 200W,” Sean Tan, PR manager at Anker Solix, said, referencing data from a survey of 759 Anker power station customers. “Fridges, Wi-Fi routers, lights, phone/laptop charging. Not air conditioners. Not power tools. The ‘wattage arms race’ has been optimizing for the 20% edge cases while the 80% majority pays a premium for capability they never use.”
For fridges specifically, you need to consider that they’re intermittent loads.
That means they cycle on and off, drawing power heavily for short periods and then entering a low-power standby mode. Because of this, a power station’s inverter efficiency and self-consumption (idle draw) matter more than just battery size. That’s why a portable power station such as the Fossibot F3600 Pro can beat something like the Oupes Mega 5, which looks larger on paper in terms of capacity.
The Jackery HomePower 3600 has a huge amount of capacity for fridge backup. But despite winning a lab award, it surprisingly wasn’t our top performer. Jackery/Bioreports “We generally recommend a 1kw or 2kw power station for common kitchen appliances such as refrigerators, microwaves and coffee makers,” said Brian Essenmacher, head of North American business development for EcoFlow. “These mid-sized units can typically power a fridge for a half day or full day.”
“A smaller 10- to 15-cubic foot refrigerator during a short four-hour outage may only require around a 1kWh power station,” said Marc Deng, R&D manager at Bluetti, concurring with the power estimate, though he pointed out that for US consumers, the requirement may be on the higher end.
“But the reality for many American households is different. Larger French-door and side-by-side refrigerators are often in the 18- to 28-cubic-foot range, with typical power consumption around 80 to 190W. For families preparing for longer outages caused by hurricanes, winter storms or grid failures, around 2kWh becomes a much more practical starting point.”
What you need to know before buying a power station for a fridge “The biggest trap is looking at capacity alone,” said Tan. “Capacity tells you how much energy is stored, not how much actually reaches the device.” He points to two things that matter more: light-load efficiency and idle consumption.
“A home fridge runs at 100–200W, cycling on and off. Most of the time the power station is operating well below its rated output.
Efficiency at these light loads varies dramatically between units.” As more idle consumption, “When the fridge compressor is off, the power station is essentially sitting idle, but still burning power. Industry typical idle draw is 15–20W. That adds up fast.”
Those looking for a reliable emergency fridge backup should prioritize low idle power consumption and high small-load efficiency over buying the largest, heaviest battery available.
A well-optimized 2,000Wh unit can easily outlast a poorly optimized over 3,000Wh unit, as our data shows. By default, all portable power stations waste some energy; the key is to find the one that wastes the least, while also providing stable power.
Bluetti/Bioreports Ideally, you also want one with an uninterruptible power supply (or UPS), which helps maintain stable, continuous power. “Modern refrigerators often rely on electronic controls and variable-frequency compressors, which are designed to operate continuously under stable power conditions,” said Marc Deng, R&D manager at Bluetti.
“A good rule of thumb is that the UPS transition time should be below 20 milliseconds, with around 10 milliseconds being ideal. If the transfer is too slow, the refrigerator’s internal electronics may reset, causing the compressor and control system to restart unnecessarily.
Over time, repeated interruptions can create additional stress on the appliance.”
It’s also important not to overlook the surge power stat that many portable power stations advertise. Deng pointed out that depending on the refrigerator model, the startup surge can range from around 600W to well over 1,200W. “Surge power matters a lot,” Tan said.
“Compressor startup pulls several times the running wattage. A station needs 2,500–3,000W peak to reliably handle most residential fridges.”
The FridgeGuard is thin enough that it can sit on top of a fridge or in a tight corner. Jackery You also need to consider the percentage of energy wasted as overhead.
The Anker Solix F3800 Plus wasted 46.63% of its energy just keeping itself running, which explains its short runtime. The Pecron E3600LFP had the lowest overhead loss with a tiny 15.75% reduction, while other highly efficient units included the Anker Solix C2000 Gen 2 (18.21% loss) and the Bluetti AC200L (22.16% loss). These low-loss units ensure that power actually reaches the refrigerator rather than being lost as internal heat.
In the XL category, our undisputed winner is the Fossibot F3600 Pro, which is $2,600 at full price, but frequently on sale for less. It lasted the longest and wasted the least energy in the XL category. For the large power stations, our winner is the Bluetti AC200L. It punched above its size and power capacity, offering excellent efficiency and the longest fridge runtime of any large portable power station.
Do you need a portable power station specially designed for fridges? The FridgePower lets you pair multiple BlueCell batteries with it, giving you up to four days of runtime.
Bluetti It’s worth noting that there’s a new category of portable power stations, with slim models designed to sit on or be mounted behind a fridge.
Examples include the new Bluetti FridgePower and the Jackery FridgeGuard, both of which I’m testing at home, while Anker’s Solix S2000 is a more traditional take on the capability.
Of these, we’ve only been able to run lab tests on the FridgePower, and the results are impressive. It falls into the upper tier of large portable power, keeping our test fridge running 23.43 hours (0.98 days), so it lasts nearly a full day. Of its 1,621.09Wh measured capacity, the FridgePower only lost 328.08Wh (a 20.24% reduction) to internal inverter overhead. This compares favorably with other, more efficient models.
While it won’t keep the fridge running for multiple days, even the bulky Fossibot 3600 Pro is hard-pressed to do that. The design is its biggest selling point: The FridgePower is slim, lightweight and can be out of sight and out of mind, unlike hooking up your fridge to a traditional power station.
So while it’s not required to power a fridge, the FridgePower won’t look out of place in your kitchen and it provides sufficient power to get you through an outage.
