What it draws
Refrigerator
The fridge is the load that makes people buy a large power station, and it is the one where the arithmetic is least like the label. Two things pull in opposite directions: the compressor demands far more current to start than to run, and it spends most of the hour switched off.
Typical draw, and the number that actually applies
A modern household refrigerator commonly draws somewhere between 100 and 200 W while the compressor is running. The nameplate inside the door or on the back is the figure that applies to yours, and it is a maximum rather than a typical reading.
Read the nameplate. It is usually a sticker on the back, inside a door, or on the power adapter, and the figure printed there is a maximum for that specific unit rather than a typical reading. Any range on this page is a starting point for arithmetic, not a substitute for that label.
- Running watts used here
- 150 W
- Duty share applied
- 35%
- Average draw for the estimate
- 52.5 W
Hours from a 1024 Wh battery
Estimated hours from the reference battery at 52.5 W average draw. An estimate, not a guarantee.
The arithmetic, in full
hours = (rated Wh x 0.85) / average watts
average watts = 150 W running x 0.35 = 52.5 W
= (1024 x 0.85) / 52.5 W = 870 Wh / 52.5 W
The estimate below applies the duty share to the running wattage before dividing. It assumes a closed door, a room at ordinary temperature, and a compressor in good condition. Opening the door, a hot kitchen, and an older unit all move the answer down.
The derate of 0.85 covers inverter conversion loss and the share of rated capacity a pack will not hand back. It is one planning figure applied to every unit on this site, not a measurement of any particular model.
Starting surge
The compressor draws several times its running current for a fraction of a second at startup. An inverter either supplies that spike within its peak rating or faults and shuts the output down, which from outside looks like the battery refusing to work. A unit whose continuous rating comfortably exceeds the fridge's running wattage can still refuse to start it.
Duty cycle
A refrigerator compressor does not run continuously. It runs until the box is cold, stops, and starts again as it warms, so the average draw across an hour is well below the running wattage. This site uses a duty share of 35 percent, which is a planning figure and not a measurement of your appliance.
How to get by without powering it
Every watt-hour you do not spend is one you still have. These are the moves that cost nothing.
- Keep the door shut. An unopened refrigerator holds its temperature for hours on its own, and every opening costs more than most people would guess.
- Move what matters into the freezer compartment or a cooler with ice before the battery is even considered.
- Decide in advance what is worth saving and what is not, so the door gets opened once rather than six times.
- Follow published food safety guidance on how long refrigerated food stays safe and what to discard. That decision is about temperature and time, not about watt-hours.
Where this sits in the sequence
This load becomes realistic at stage 3, and not before. Read that stage including the part about what it does not cover, because the limits are the useful half.
Related gear
Products live on the gear pages rather than here, because the decision on this page is about arithmetic and the decision there is about hardware.