Every portable power station lists a watt-hour (Wh) capacity on the box, and it’s tempting to assume that number tells you how long it’ll run your fridge. It doesn’t, not on its own — you need to know what your fridge actually draws first.
Why fridges are deceptive to size for
A refrigerator’s compressor doesn’t run constantly. It cycles on and off to maintain temperature, and most modern fridges average somewhere between 100-200 watts while running, but only run maybe 30-40% of the time in a typical day. So a fridge rated at 150 watts might only average 50-60 watts continuously — but the startup surge when the compressor kicks on can spike to 3-4x that for a second or two, which matters for the power station’s peak output rating, not just its capacity.
The rough math
Take a 1,000Wh power station and a fridge averaging 60 watts continuously: 1,000 ÷ 60 ≈ 16-17 hours, before accounting for the inverter’s own efficiency loss (typically 85-90%, so realistically closer to 14-15 hours). Bigger units — the 2,000Wh-plus class like a BLUETTI Elite 200 V2 or a Jackery HomePower 2000 Plus v2 — roughly double that.
How to check your own fridge
Look for a sticker inside the fridge door or on the back panel listing amps or watts, or check the manufacturer’s spec sheet online. If you want a precise number instead of an estimate, a cheap plug-in watt meter will show you exactly what your specific fridge draws over a full day-night cycle before you commit to a power station size.